China’s Exploitation of Biden’s Border Insecurity
How the Biden Administration is enabling China’s expansion of espionage and intellectual property theft in the U.S.
One aspect of America’s border insecurity has largely escaped media attention but poses a dire threat: China’s massive campaign to infiltrate American public and private institutions in an effort to sap from them strategic intelligence and intellectual property in aid of China’s quest for global dominion. The United States is inundated with spies for China. In addition to tech and intelligence theft, Chinese spies are discovering and aiding in means to disrupt essential American infrastructures vital to energy production, water treatment, web communication, and national security.
Every Chinese citizen, company, and enterprise destined for interaction with American citizens, businesses, universities, laboratories, and non-profits understands from China’s Ministry of State Security and domestic laws that each must serve the motherland by spying on, stealing from, and otherwise interfering with enterprises in the United States when called upon by the CCP to do so. Indeed, state approval for visas to America and interaction with Americans and American businesses hinges on each Chinese citizen’s comprehension of a legal duty to aid China in espionage and statecraft. Failure to obey requests made of China’s citizens abroad by China’s Ministry of State Security yields severe consequences.
Through a series of actions against America’s vital national interests -- and through repeated instances of inaction in the face of new and expanding threats--the Biden Administration is effectively complicit with China’s campaign to sap America’s intellectual property and strategic intelligence. If the Biden Administration truly meant to defend the United States, it would have taken immediate and significant steps to counteract China’s massive espionage and exploitation campaign. With its effective open border policy, however, President Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas invite all manner of destructive elements to invade the United States and wreak havoc here, not least of which are terrorists and foreign agents. Biden’s utter failure to stem the tide of Chinese theft of intellectual property and strategic intelligence is but part of this larger national security disaster whereby he leaves America defenseless against all manner of nefarious elements entering into the country and defenseless against loss of the vital technological, military, and strategic advantages we must maintain to prevent China from surpassing the United States as the world’s superpower.
By contrast, President Trump not only took action to secure our Southern Border but also approved several specific measures to counteract China’s espionage and theft campaign in the United States, among them: his DOJ’s “China Initiative” (which identified and prosecuted agents of China engaged in trade secret theft, hacking, and economic espionage and protected from nefarious compromise American infrastructure and supply chains); his ban on CCP surveillance via CCP-connected entities WeChat and TikTok; and his refusal to grant licenses for CCP-connected Huawei to purchase hundreds of millions of dollars of auto chips. Biden has systematically removed those impediments to illicit Chinese operations. He has proven by his actions and inactions that he is an enabler of the Chinese communist regime, at the direct and palpable expense of the United States.
Biden has enabled China’s massive espionage and exploitation campaign despite the stark reality that China has, uniquely, weaponized its citizens, businesses, universities, and public policy groups and associations—all having social, economic, educational, military, technological, or political ties to Americans and American firms--to steal American intelligence and technology and disrupt American business, communications, military and government. While Trump fought back against these threats, Biden has vigorously waived a white flag in the face of CCP’s aggression, making the United States more vulnerable than ever to China.
China intelligence expert Nicholas Eftimiades, who spent 34 years in key positions at the CIA, the U.S. Department of State, and the Defense Intelligence Agency, explains in Chinese Espionage: Operations and Tactics that while other nations of the world use intelligence gathering to identify and counteract threats to their national security, China uses espionage for the broader purpose of stealing trade secrets, technology, and strategic intelligence to augment its domestic efforts to dominate world markets, establish military supremacy, and further its goal of global domination. China obeys none of the norms of international behavior or law, routinely breaking all laws that interfere with its access to the means by which it may control the world. Unlike other nations which gather intelligence through professional intelligence services and agents, the CCP weaponizes its people and firms under threat of severe sanctions for disobedience with CCP commands. Eftimiades explains: “The CCP uses all elements of society to support its global espionage elements” (inducting into the global criminal enterprise everyone from individual Chinese citizens visiting the United States to university professors, think tank members, overseas educational program members and participants, student association members and participants, exchange students, etc.).
Eftimiades explains that in “2014, 2015, and 2017, the National People’s Congress and State Council made public the requirement that all Chinese citizens and companies operating in China or Chinese companies abroad) must collaborate in gathering intelligence.” Indeed, Article 22 of China’s Counter-Espionage Law and Article 7 of China’s National Intelligence Law compel Chinese citizens and organizations to serve state intelligence as it requests or suffer severe punishment. China has legally compelled its entire country to rove the world and copy, steal, and export back to China everything of potential economic, political, military, and strategic value. If China cannot invent its way to global supremacy, it plans to claw, copy, and steal its way to that supremacy.
Given the enormity of this threat (including the weaponization of Chinese citizens bound for the United States), it is clear that the Biden Administration through commission and omission is enabling China’s expansion of espionage and intellectual property theft operations in the United States, doing so by liberally keeping our borders open and disabling Trump Administration counterespionage programs.
Rather than invite our destruction, as Biden is so willingly doing, he should act promptly to protect our nation by securing our borders and acting against China’s use of its own citizens as agents of espionage and theft. At a minimum, in light of China’s weaponization of its citizens to spy on the United States, he should prohibit emigration to the United States of Chinese nationals and deport all present here except for those who genuinely seek asylum and American citizenship, upon renunciation of their citizenship in the Peoples Republic of China and proof of a consistent history of compliance with American laws.
Schumer Strips Anti-China Security Provision From Major Semiconductor Bill
Republican senators balk at $250 billion CHIPS Act over China concerns
Joseph Simonson •Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) removed an anti-China security measure from a bill that invests billions of dollars in the U.S. technology sector, a move Republicans say would allow China to benefit from the spending bill and could kneecap the legislation.
At issue are provisions written by Sen. Rob Portman (R., Ohio) that bar U.S. companies from manufacturing products in China, such as semiconductors, that were developed using federally funded research. Myriad government and private investigations conclude that the Chinese government routinely steals trade secrets from U.S. companies, government agencies, and universities.
Schumer earlier this month removed Portman's provisions from the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America Act, throwing a wrench into the vote for Republicans who were under the impression it would be included and planned to vote for the bill, according to multiple interviews and internal documents viewed by the Washington Free Beacon.
The reason Schumer removed Portman's anti-China provision is unclear. Some say he caved to lobbying efforts from various interest groups and the White House. The Senate last year passed a version of Portman's measure with bipartisan support, but the House never put it up for a vote.
The removal puts a bipartisan bill that appeared to be headed toward approval in jeopardy. Opponents of the CHIPS Act now include several Republican senators who initially supported the funding for the domestic production of semiconductors. Even if it passes, the lack of meaningful guardrails against the Chinese raise grave questions about whether a bill initially meant to counter China may backfire.
Schumer did not respond to a request for comment.
The CHIPS Act puts a staggering $250 billion for domestic science investment and education, making it the largest domestic industrial investment scheme in U.S. history. But Republicans say the act, prompted by concerns that the United States is losing its technological edge to China on such critical goods as semiconductors, could end up benefiting adversaries.
Senior staffers from six Republican offices in the Senate and House spoke to the Free Beacon on the condition of anonymity to criticize Schumer's decision. In interviews, several expressed bewilderment at the modification while others said they were misled by Senate leadership.
"Legislators are talking about pouring hundreds of billions into industry subsidies and federal R&D, ostensibly to strengthen American competitiveness and to compete with China," one Senate staffer told the Free Beacon. "Spending that level of taxpayer dollars without meaningful safeguards to ensure they don’t end up in Beijing’s hands—either through Chinese Communist Party espionage, corporate malfeasance, or inept bureaucrats—would be a colossal mistake."
Exactly why Portman's measure was removed is a matter of ongoing debate on Capitol Hill. One office blamed Rep. Frank Lucas (R., Okla.), the ranking member on the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Two Republican offices pointed the finger at Senate Republican staff tasked with whipping support for the CHIPS Act for failing to communicate that the provision was removed ahead of a procedural vote earlier this month. Another office said the decision to remove the guardrail provision was entirely Schumer's and couldn't be stopped by Republicans.
Guardrail provisions such as the ones in Portman's bill are unpopular with universities with large research departments, as well as some corporations. Universities object for ideological reasons, namely the belief that their research should be enjoyed by everyone around the world. Universities in the last several weeks have been lobbying Republican members including Lucas particularly hard, Republican sources told the Free Beacon.
"Lucas has been turned by the lefty universities," the individual said. "Disappointing that he's going soft on China for them."
One House Republican source called the idea that a single member in the minority party could tank the provision preposterous, and that the negotiations took place entirely in the Senate. A staffer for Lucas on the House Committee on Science and Technology concurred with that characterization.
"The House was shut out of any negotiations after the Senate ended four-corner discussions and then picked up this legislation on their own," said Heather Vaughan, communications director for the House Committee on Science and Technology. "If the Senate can't read their own legislative language ahead of a vote or negotiate effectively with each other, that's simply not within our control."
No matter the explanation, the lack of guardrails means several Senate offices that were potential "Yes" votes on the CHIPS Act are working behind the scenes to tank it. Other senators, such as Marco Rubio (R., Fla.), are pushing for new guardrail provisions.
Rubio on July 22 filed legislation that would, among other things, establish a counterintelligence screening process to "certify that anyone receiving funds under the bill has sufficient protections against government threats." Such guardrails are missing from the CHIPS Act, he said.
"America needs to make things again, especially critical chips and other tech, but we need to do it in a way that benefits our country and our workers," Rubio said. "Unless we add meaningful safeguards in this package, we should call this for what it is: the China Investment Bill."
The Senate is expected to hold a final vote this week on the CHIPS Act. Original supporters of domestic semiconductor funding, including Rubio, are expected to vote against it.
Republicans Investigate Biden Admin for Selling China Oil From US Reserves
Free Beacon report sparks probe
Adam Kredo and Collin Anderson • July 22, 2022 3:10 pmCongressional Republicans launched a formal investigation into the Biden administration on Friday following its decision to sell a Chinese state-controlled company nearly one million barrels of oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, according to a copy of the probe obtained exclusively by the Washington Free Beacon.
The probe comes on the heels of a Free Beacon report detailing how the Biden administration sold China oil from the U.S. reserves amid a crippling energy crisis that has sent consumer prices skyrocketing. Rep. Pat Fallon (R., Texas), a member of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, is spearheading the investigation along with six of his GOP colleagues, including Reps. Ronny Jackson (Texas) and Ralph Norman (S.C.).
Fallon and his colleagues are demanding the White House turn over a trove of documents detailing the behind-the-scenes decision-making about these sales, as well as others potentially made to "foreign adversaries."
The Biden administration came under intense criticism earlier this month after it was disclosed that it sold Chinese state-controlled energy firm Unipec 950,000 oil barrels from the U.S. reserves, which historically are tapped in response to emergencies. The White House claimed the sale would "address the pain Americans are feeling at the pump" and "help lower energy costs." But critics say the administration is exploiting the reserves to appease foreign countries while it cuts production domestically to appease the Democratic Party’s far left flank.
"Your policies are harming American energy independence and benefiting our adversaries," the lawmakers write. "Draining the [U.S. reserves] to historic lows for the sake of political expediency … threatens the national security of our nation, and contemplates no long-term strategy to ensure the energy independence of the United States."
Information included in the Republican probe shows that the White House sold China 2.5 million barrels in October and another 1.5 million in November. Millions more were sold to other foreign countries during this time period. Amid these sales, the U.S. reserves dipped below 500 million barrels—the lowest level since 1986. China, on the other hand, has around 926 million barrels stored as it continues to import illicit Russian and Iranian oil to offset the rising price of crude. Current projections show the U.S. reserves "will be drained to approximately 130 million barrels by 2031," according to figures included in the probe.
"The American people can’t afford to put gas in their tanks and our Strategic Petroleum Reserve is at its lowest level in decades, yet Joe Biden is wasting our money and resources by sending oil that’s intended for emergencies to the Chinese Communist Party," Jackson told the Free Beacon. "Helping our adversaries and setting America up for failure in the event of a major disaster or national security threat is no way for an American president to govern. Taxpayers deserve better."
The lawmakers say the "depletion of emergency supplies is troubling to the American public and puts the United States at a disadvantage should there be a real disaster or a national security threat."
As China drains the American reserves, it also is "benefitting from loopholes in current sanctions against Russia and from your lack of sanctions enforcement," the lawmakers write. "It is troubling that the United States is exporting [reserved] crude to China as China continues to align itself with our adversaries."
While China has said that it would stop importing Russian oil amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, it has not made good on these promises. It also is importing illegal Iranian crude oil at record amounts, behavior that has been enabled by the Biden administration’s decision to loosen sanctions on Tehran as part of an effort to cajole it into signing a revamped version of the 2015 nuclear accord.
"Biden has taken these inappropriate steps as China continues to build their own reserve capabilities with cheap Russian and Iranian oil," Fallon told the Free Beacon. "Our Strategic Petroleum Reserve was created to address national or weather emergencies, not for political expediency and personal profit."
The Republican lawmakers instructed the White House to provide them with internal documents related to the sell-off of America’s strategic oil reserves. This includes "all documents and communications, from January 20, 2021, to present" that relates to U.S. crude "being shipped to foreign adversaries—specifically, the People’s Republic of China." The White House must also furnish in-depth information about China’s own oil reserves, as well as any draft plans to potentially replenish America’s stockpile.
"Our strategic reserves are for national security, not to satisfy global oil markets, and certainly not to cover for President Biden’s failed energy policies," Norman told the Free Beacon. "This administration owes our nation immediate answers to these questions."
Chinese Biggest Investor in U.S. Real Estate Last Year – $6.1 Billion on Homes in Florida, California
The Chinese are snapping up real estate in the United States, including $6.1 billion in homes and land last year.
Those buyers include the Chinese Communist Party, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, the U.S. real estate market report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) showed.
The investors spent an average of $1 million per property transaction, with nearly 31 percent of the purchases involving property in California, according to the report.
The New York Post reported on the NAR report:
Earlier this week, senior economists warned that the US housing market could be on the verge of a “meltdown” following this week’s release of data showing a collapse in home builder confidence in July.
U.S. home builder confidence plummeted 12 points to 55 in July, according to the latest data from the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index released Monday.
“Due to rising interest rates, overall home sales will decline in the US this year,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in the Post report. “Foreign buyers, however, are likely to step up purchases, as those making all-cash offers will be immune from changes in interest rates.”
“In addition, international flights have increased in recent months with the lifting of pandemic-related travel restrictions,” Yun said.
Other top investors in U.S. real estate, in order from second, are Canada ($5.5 billion), India ($3.6 billion), Mexico ($2.9 billion), and Brazil ($1.6 billion).
Florida was the state that has the most real estate purchases, according to the NAR report, and represents the 14th consecutive year that foreign investors picked that state as a top pick.
Florida accounted for 24 percent of all international real estate purchases in the U.S., with California ranked second at 11 percent.
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