Tag: china

Federal Judge Imposes $24 Billion Judgement Against China For COVID Cover-Up As Missouri Moves To Seize Assets

A federal judge in Missouri has found that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) covered up the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and hoarded protective equipment – costing the world precious time and lives. Now, Missouri officials are vowing to go after CCP assets.

Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. on Friday ordered China to pay a staggering $24 billion for their role in the disaster, a ruling that could pave the way for Missouri to seize Chinese-owned assets – including farmland, the NY Times reports.

The lawsuit, filed by the Missouri attorney general’s office in April 2020, during the early months of the pandemic, accused the Chinese government of withholding information about the existence and spread of the virus and then of cutting off the supply of personal protective equipment, or P.P.E., from the rest of the world. Chinese officials said Friday that they did not accept the judge’s decision.

Limbaugh wrote in his decision that “China was misleading the world about the dangers and scope of the Covid-19 pandemic,” and had “engaged in monopolistic actions to hoard P.P.E.,” which hampered early response to the pandemic.

The ruling in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri imposed the judgement against China, the ruling CCP, local governments in China, a Chinese health agency, and the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Limbaugh, a Bush W. Bush appointee, had initially dismissed Missouri’s lawsuit, only to have it returned to him by an appellate court – after which he held a bench trial in January at the federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. China did not show up to the hearing.

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DOJ Identifies Chinese Nationals and Companies Directly Aiding Mexican Drug Cartels and Supplying Fentanyl Precursors to Mexico

The Department of Justice has identified Chinese nationals and companies that have been directly aiding the Mexican drug cartels. This raises troubling questions, especially if the cartels are designated as foreign terrorist organizations.

One of the executive orders signed by President Donald Trump on Jan. 20 is called “Designating Cartels and Other Organizations as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists.” This order was a presidential direction to add the Mexican drug cartels to the list of foreign terrorist organizations.

The scourge of fentanyl can be traced directly to the cartels and is killing thousands of Americans per month. Combined drug overdoses in the United States leave about 120,000 people dead per year. At this rate, if no action is taken to address it, the number of overdoses will surpass the number of Americans killed in World War II—407,000—within a couple of years.

In the executive order, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was given the lead to develop the final list of groups to be designated as terrorist groups. The State Department is reported to have created a tentative list of eight groups to be placed on the formal terrorist organization list.

On “The Megyn Kelly Show” podcast on Jan. 30, Rubio said Mexico has significant amounts of ungoverned territory.

“They’re controlled by drug cartels,” he said. “They are the most powerful force on the ground, and they are plowing into the United States. … They’re facilitating illegal migration, but they are also bringing in fentanyl and deadly drugs to our country.

“That’s a national security threat, and that needs to stop.”

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U.S. Indicts 12 Chinese Nationals in ‘Hackers-for-Hire’ Conspiracy

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday announced 12 Chinese nationals have been indicted in a global “hackers-for-hire” scheme to “inflict digital harm on Americans who criticize the Chinese Communist Party.”

Court documents unsealed on Wednesday accused China’s Ministry of Public Security (MPS) and Ministry of State Security (MSS) of directing and financing the hackers to “conduct computer intrusions against high-value targets in the United States and elsewhere.”

“Victims include U.S.-based critics and dissidents of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a large religious organization in the United States, the foreign ministries of multiple governments in Asia, and U.S. federal and state government agencies, including most recently in 2024,” DOJ said.

“By employing these hackers-for-hire, the PRC government further allowed these same hackers to profit by committing additional computer intrusions around the world with impunity, and then to sell stolen data through Chinese data brokers,” DOJ added.

The first two Chinese nationals indicted in the case, Yin “YKC” Kecheng and Zhou “Coldface” Shuai, were allegedly linked to a state-sponsored Chinese hacking group known as APT27, “LuckyMouse,” or “Emissary Panda.” 

The group has been active since 2010, with an early emphasis on cyber-espionage attacks against corporate and government systems in the Western world, the Middle East, and Taiwan. APT27’s later exploits included profitable cyber-crimes.

DOJ charged Yin and Zhou with “sophisticated computer hacking conspiracies that successfully targeted a wide variety of US.-based victims from 2011 to the present day,” inflicting “millions of dollars worth of damages.” Both Yin and Zhou have previously been named in multiple-count indictments for fraud, identity theft, and money laundering.

A second announcement from DOJ on Wednesday added indictments for two MPS officers and eight employees of an “ostensibly private” company called Anxun Information Technology Col. Ltd., also known as i-Soon.

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FBI Arrests Three U.S. Service Members for Treason, Allegedly Selling Military Secrets to China

The FBI made a major announcement on Friday, revealing that three U.S. service members have been arrested and charged with treason for allegedly attempting to sell classified military intelligence to agents of the Chinese government. 

Two active-duty U.S. Army soldiers and a former soldier were arrested after they were accused of conspiring to transmit sensitive national defense information to Chinese agents, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). 

The DOJ identified the suspects as Jian Zhao and Li Tian, both active-duty soldiers stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord and Ruoyu Duan, a former U.S. Army soldier. The three were accused of conspiring to transmit sensitive national defense information to Chinese agents, endangering U.S. national security.

The indictment alleges that Zhao began planning to sell classified intelligence in July 2024. He is accused of transmitting “SECRET” and “TOP SECRET” materials to individuals connected to China, including sensitive data related to U.S. military capabilities. 

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China’s 6th Gen Warplanes Set To Outgun USAF

It was December 26th, 2024 – Chairman Mao’s Birthday – when a pair of unmarked, unidentified warplane screamed across the skies above Chengdu, a city that hosts the factory of the Chengdu Aerospace Corporation that is known to be currently working on a new fighter jet.

Tentatively being called the J-36 and J-XX, (no official names exist) these are believed to be 6th generation warplanes, or at least “next generation”. What generation is China on that these would be from the “next?” The current J-20 is generally referred to as having the speed, stealth, integration, payload, and maneuverability of a 5th generation fighter jet – equivalent to the US Air Force’s F-35.

In that case, one might call these 6th generation, although US strategists admit that China tends to favor greater incrementalism in its military development, compared to the Air Force, which prefers to produce larger advances across longer time spans, and so maybe it’s more appropriate to call it 5.5th generation.

Either way, with the F-35 already being the most expensive conventional weapon system ever produced for the Pentagon while still suffering several technical and performance issues, the chance is greater than not that the US has officially fallen behind in combat aircraft technology.

Although perhaps not, since no information on the J-36 or J-XX is officially available. What is available comes from observations mostly, by a group referred to as the “PLA watching community”. Some of these folks are more assertive than others. Journalist and PLA watcher Rick Joe takes a middle ground, calling the J-36 and J-XX “genuine competition” vis-à-vis the Pentagon, while also admitting that the PLA watching community’s predictions of the appearance and nature of these two aircraft have been remarkably on point.

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Governor Youngkin’s expected cannabis veto: A $3.5 billion gift to Mexican cartels and Chinese gangs

As Governor Glenn Youngkin once again faces a bipartisan bill that would establish a regulated cannabis distribution platform in Virginia, it is widely anticipated that he will act against the public’s interest just as he did in March 2024. In the twelve months since his last veto, the only certainty is that Mexican cartels and Chinese gangs have benefited from $3.5 billion in untaxed, unregulated cannabis sales while the proliferation of hemp-based THC products has skyrocketed. We anticipate that Youngkin will once again roll out his prohibitionist arguments but will fail to point to any tangible decrease in illegal cannabis sales the over the last 12-month— further proving that gifting Mexican cartels and Chinese drug dealers $3.5 billion and allowing the proliferation of illegal stores from Arlington to the Tennessee state line has only benefited organized crime at the expense of Virginians.

Youngkin’s argument hinges on a fundamental contradiction. He acknowledges that Virginia’s current system is “pervasive and dangerous,” yet refuses to implement the one policy proven to reduce illegal markets — regulation. Instead, he clings to outdated scare tactics, misrepresenting data from other states while ignoring the realities of his own.

Prohibitionists once used the same flawed logic to keep whiskey illegal, relying on bootleggers to supply demand while enriching organized crime. The parallels to cannabis today are undeniable. By refusing to regulate cannabis, Youngkin is ensuring that the only suppliers are Mexican cartels and Chinese gangs, just as Prohibition once empowered the Mafia. This policy failure is not just historical irony — it is a $3.5 billion mistake.

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Pete Hegseth says the US is ‘prepared’ to go to war with China after tariff retaliation threat

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used fighting words against one of the U.S. biggest adversaries as the trade war between the U.S. and China escalates. 

Appearing on Fox & Friends on Wednesday morning, the Pentagon chief claimed the U.S. is ‘prepared’ to go to war with China. 

Hegseth made the comments in response to a question about a post on X by the Chinese Embassy in the U.S. 

Late Tuesday the embassy X account wrote on X ‘If war is what the U.S. wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end.’

On Wednesday morning, Hegseth fired back. 

‘Well, we’re prepared. Those who long for peace must prepare for war,’ the 44-year-old responded on Fox & Friends.

 Hegseth claimed ‘that’s why we’re rebuilding our military.’

‘If we want to deter war with the Chinese or others, we have to be strong, and that president understands peace comes through strength,’ Hegseth continued. 

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JUST IN: President Trump Resumes Tariffs Against Canada, Mexico, and China

President Trump has reinstated his tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act after temporarily suspending the tariffs last month during negotiations to secure the border and stop the flow of fentanyl. 

However, the President told reporters on Monday that there is “no room left for Mexico or for Canada,” citing the “vast amounts of fentanyl” that has come into the U.S.

Trump: No room left for Mexico or for Canada. No, the tariffs, you know, they’re all set. They go into effect tomorrow… And just so you understand, vast amounts of fentanyl have poured into our country from from Mexico, and as you know, also from China, where it goes to Mexico and goes to Canada. And China also had an additional 10%, so it’s 10% plus 10%. And it comes in from Canada, and it comes in from Mexico. And that’s a very important thing to say.

Trump slapped the tariffs on the three countries under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act in February.

  • 25% tariffs on all Mexico imports
  • 25% tariffs on nearly all Canadian imports — 10% on Canadian energy resources
  • 10% tariffs on all China imports

An additional ten percent tariff on China was imposed on Tuesday, bringing the total to 20%.

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US Releases $870 Million in Military Aid for Taiwan, Angering China

The US has quietly released $870 million in funding for military aid to Taiwan after it was briefly paused during the Trump administration’s freeze on foreign aid.

Reuters first reported on February 21 that the US released the military aid for Taiwan as part of $5.3 billion in exemptions from the foreign aid pause. China, which strongly opposes US military support for Taiwan, reacted to the news on February 26.

“We are deeply concerned over relevant reports,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian. “China has all along opposed US military assistance to China’s Taiwan region, which has severely violated the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiqués, undermined China’s sovereignty and security interests, and sent a gravely wrong signal to ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces.”

Lin added that China urges the US to “stop arming Taiwan and undermining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.”

The US has always sold weapons to Taiwan since Washington severed diplomatic relations with Taipei as part of a normalization agreement with Beijing in 1979, but it wasn’t until 2023 that the US began providing US-funded military aid, a step that marked a significant escalation. In 2024, President Biden signed off on more than $1 billion in military aid for Taiwan.

The US military support is done in the name of deterrence, but it has only escalated tensions in the region. During a press conference on February 27, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian issued a strong warning against US involvement in Taiwan, which has been encouraged by the island’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

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Former NIH Director Francis Collins Abruptly Retires From Agency After Docs Previously Revealed He Lied About His Involvement with Gain-of-Function Research in Wuhan Lab

Former NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins abruptly retired from the agency on Saturday amid accusations of perjury.

In 2021, Dr. Francis Collins resigned just a few weeks after documents exposed he lied about his involvement in gain-of-function research in the Wuhan lab.

“It has been an incredible privilege to lead this great agency for more than a decade,” Collins said in a statement.

“I love this agency and its people so deeply that the decision to step down was a difficult one, done in close counsel with my wife, Diane Baker, and my family. I am proud of all we’ve accomplished. I fundamentally believe, however, that no single person should serve in the position too long, and that it’s time to bring in a new scientist to lead the NIH into the future. I’m most grateful and proud of the NIH staff and the scientific community, whose extraordinary commitment to lifesaving research delivers hope to the American people and the world every day.”

Recall, Francis Collins in the summer of 2021 said parents should wear masks at home in front of their unvaccinated children.

Collins conceded that it “may sound weird” that people should wear masks in their homes, but he advised it anyway.

“Parents of unvaccinated kids should be thoughtful about this and the recommendation is to wear masks [at home] as well,” Collins said. “I know that’s uncomfortable. I know it seems weird but it is the best way to protect your kids.”

This kind of lunacy wasn’t even advised before Covid vaccines were available.

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