<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/montana" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Montana</a> has become the first state to completely ban <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/tiktok" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TikTok</a> after Republican Governor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/greg-gianforte" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Greg Gianforte</a> signed a bill into law on Thursday. 
The law prohibits app stores from making TikTok available for download in the state. It comes as state lawmakers accused <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">China</a> of using the social media app to spy on Americans and steal their data. 
“The Chinese Communist Party using TikTok to spy on Americans, violate their privacy, and collect their personal, private, and sensitive information is well-documented,” Gianforte <a href="https://news.mt.gov/Governors-Office/Governor_Gianforte_Bans_TikTok_in_Montana" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “Today, Montana takes the most decisive action of any state to protect Montanans’ private data and sensitive personal information from being harvested by the Chinese Communist Party.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
To protect Montanans’ personal and private data from the Chinese Communist Party, I have banned TikTok in Montana.
&mdash; Governor Greg Gianforte (@GovGianforte) <a href="https://twitter.com/GovGianforte/status/1658948119285964802?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 17, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The bill was sponsored by Republican state Sen. Shelley Vance, who <a href="https://www.kbzk.com/news/local-news/supporters-of-tiktok-ban-in-montana-say-threats-outweigh-benefits" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said that</a> TikTok was “a major threat to our national security.” TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company, and has been accused of allowing the communist country access to data on Americans. 
Entities, including TikTok or an app store, <a href="https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2023/billhtml/SB0419.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">could be fined</a> $10,000 every time someone accesses the app in the state or downloads it. Penalties will be enforced by the Montana Department of Justice. 
“I appreciate Attorney General [Austin] Knudsen and Senator Vance for their partnership on this important measure and for advancing our shared priority to protect Montanans from Chinese Communist Party surveillance,” Gianforte said. 
Jamal Brown, a spokesman for TikTok who previously worked in the Biden administration, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/tiktok-ban-montana-china-data-chinese-government-71143a3a87c9a0b692d927f72b6fec70" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> more than 200,000 people and 6,000 businesses use the app in Montana, which has a population of about 1.1 million people. 
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The law is expected to face legal challenges, including from some free speech groups. 
“We want to reassure Montanans that they can continue using TikTok to express themselves, earn a living, and find community as we continue working to defend the rights of our users inside and outside of Montana,” TikTok spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter said. 
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/stand-up-to-china-republicans-press-biden-to-take-enforcement-action-against-tiktok" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has concluded</a> that TikTok poses meaningful national security risks.
CFIUS, a board composed of nine cabinet-level officials who weigh the national security implications of international investments, ordered ByteDance in March to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/united-states-orders-chinese-company-behind-tiktok-to-sell-the-platform-or-face-nationwide-ban" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sell</a> the platform or face a nationwide ban. The agency initially concluded after a national security review in 2020 that TikTok could “impair the national security of the United States,” a revelation that nearly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-says-he-will-take-action-to-ban-chinese-owned-app-tiktok-from-u-s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prompted</a> former President Donald Trump to ban the platform via executive order.

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Montana Becomes First State To Completely Ban TikTok After National Security, Privacy Concerns

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<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/republican-party" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Republican</a> lawmakers asked President <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/biden-administration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Biden</a> to force a divestiture of <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/tiktok" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TikTok</a> to an American firm after the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) concluded that the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/social-media" target="_blank" rel="noopener">social media</a> platform poses meaningful <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/national-security" target="_blank" rel="noopener">national security</a> risks.
CFIUS, a board composed of nine cabinet-level officials who weigh the national security implications of international investments, recently ordered ByteDance, the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chinese</a> technology firm which owns TikTok, to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/united-states-orders-chinese-company-behind-tiktok-to-sell-the-platform-or-face-nationwide-ban" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sell</a> the platform or face a nationwide ban. The agency initially concluded after a national security review in 2020 that TikTok could “impair the national security of the United States,” a revelation that nearly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-says-he-will-take-action-to-ban-chinese-owned-app-tiktok-from-u-s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prompted</a> former President Donald Trump to ban the platform via executive order.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC) and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry (R-NC) said in a Friday <a href="https://www.banking.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/letter_to_implement_tiktok_executive_order.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> to the White House that the findings should be enforced as concerns over the platform continue to surface. “We urge you to stand up to China and enforce this directive now. Congress stands ready to support you in doing so,” the lawmakers wrote. “However, in the absence of decisive presidential action, Congress will take the steps necessary to address the national security risks presented by TikTok.”
Scott and McHenry added that the current administration “already possesses the existing authorities necessary to address the national security issues” as a result of the review.
“As public servants, we bear a profound responsibility to protect the well-being of future generations by mitigating potential hazards. In the digital realm, this entails equipping users with the knowledge required to navigate online risks,” the letter continued. “We must empower parents with the tools to effectively monitor and comprehend their child’s online activities without compromising their child’s future.”
Another <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/republican-and-democrat-senators-join-forces-in-call-for-tiktok-crackdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> issued in March by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) urged Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to force the divestment of TikTok from ByteDance. The lawmakers referenced the CFIUS requiring that Beijing Kunlun Company divest itself of the dating site Grindr and healthcare platform PatientsLikeMe under the Trump administration.
ByteDance acknowledged at the end of last year that staff members had “spied on the private data of journalists and others in order identify sources behind articles critical of the company.” The revelation confirmed an earlier <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tiktoks-parent-company-in-china-planned-to-use-platform-to-track-locations-of-specific-americans-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from Forbes which indicated that ByteDance planned to track the location of specific American citizens.
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Brooke Oberwetter, a spokeswoman for TikTok, said in reference to the divestiture order imposed earlier this year, which appears to remain unenforced, that divestment would not “solve the problem” of safeguarding national security since “a change in ownership would not impose any new restrictions on data flows or access.”
Beyond the national security concerns, some lawmakers have drawn <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tiktok-ceo-reveals-the-details-of-platforms-massive-censorship-operation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">attention</a> to the censorship practices implemented by TikTok and asserted that the company allows members of the Chinese Communist Party to access user data. Shou Zi Chew, the chief executive of TikTok, likewise insisted in his <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tiktok-ceo-swears-company-is-not-an-agent-of-china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">testimony</a> before the House Energy and Commerce Committee two months ago that a forced sale of TikTok to an American company would not resolve the issues.
“I am well aware that the fact that ByteDance has Chinese founders has prompted concerns that our platform could be used as or become a tool of China or the Chinese Communist Party,” the executive remarked. “Divestment doesn’t address the fundamental concerns that I have heard, as a change in ownership would not impose any new restrictions on data flows or access. This is not an issue of nationality.”

‘Stand Up To China’: Republicans Press Biden To Take Enforcement Action Against TikTok

Republicans Press Biden To Take Enforcement Action Against TikTok

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<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/tiktok" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TikTok</a>, whose parent company ByteDance is controlled by communist China, is reportedly under federal criminal investigation for surveilling U.S. citizens.
The news comes as U.S. lawmakers <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-admin-gets-behind-bipartisan-bill-that-would-allow-u-s-to-ban-tiktok-take-against-other-foreign-threats" target="_blank" rel="noopener">released</a> bipartisan legislation earlier this month that would allow the U.S. to ban the app. The Biden administration has stated that it supports the legislation.
Forbes <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilybaker-white/2023/03/16/fbi-doj-investigating-bytedance-tiktok-surveillance-journalists/?utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=socialflowForbesMainTwitter&amp;utm_source=ForbesMainTwitter&amp;sh=38f38657a6fc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that the FBI, Department of Justice Criminal Division, Fraud Section, and U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia opened the criminal investigation over TikTok&#8217;s spying on American journalists.
Prosecutors have subpoenaed ByteDance over &#8220;efforts by its employees to access U.S. journalists’ location information or other private user data using the TikTok app.&#8221;
Forbes was the first to report that the Beijing-based company was surveilling U.S. journalists, and later <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilybaker-white/2022/12/22/tiktok-tracks-forbes-journalists-bytedance/?sh=2ecf173c7da5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that TikTok admitted that it happened.
TikTok General Counsel Erich Andersen wrote in an internal company email obtained by Forbes that “in this case individuals misused their authority to obtain access to TikTok user data.”
ByteDance spokesperson Jennifer Banks confirmed to the publication that the spying did occur. &#8220;We have strongly condemned the actions of the individuals found to have been involved, and they are no longer employed at ByteDance,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Our internal investigation is still ongoing, and we will cooperate with any official investigations when brought to us.&#8221;
The Biden administration <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/united-states-orders-chinese-company-behind-tiktok-to-sell-the-platform-or-face-nationwide-ban" target="_blank" rel="noopener">demanded</a> this week that ByteDance sell the vertical video application or face an outright ban in the United States.
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The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, a board composed of nine cabinet-level officials who weigh the national security implications of international investments, recently ordered ByteDance to sell the platform, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal released on Wednesday. The company vowed to spend $1.5 billion to protect American user data and ensure that Chinese officials could not access the information.
FBI Director Chris Wray <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fbi-director-wray-communist-china-can-take-control-of-millions-of-americans-phones-with-tiktok" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stunned</a> U.S. senators last week during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing when he revealed the capabilities that the app gives communist China.
In response to a line of questioning from ranking member Marco Rubio (R-FL), Wray said that communist China can use TikTok to control data on millions of users, to control the software on millions of devices, and that they can use it to drive narratives to pit Americans against each other.
Wray then warned that not only can China use TikTok to control narratives in the U.S., but also that U.S. officials are “not sure that we would see many of the outward signs of it happening if it was happening.”
“And I think the most fundamental piece that cuts across every one of those risks and threats that you mentioned that I think Americans need to understand is that something that’s very sacred in our country, that difference between the private sector and the public sector, that’s a line that is non-existent in the way that CCP operates,” Wray said.
Rubio then noted the differences in what users in China see on TikTok as opposed to what users in the U.S. see on TikTok. “For example, in the U.S. kids are being encouraged to choke themselves out, we’ve had kids die,” Rubio noted. “In China, they’re encouraged to focus on math and science and building the country.”
Wray agreed with Rubio’s assessment that the “poison” that China is pumping into the feeds of U.S. users is one of the many ways that China is using the app to weaken and damage the U.S.
Ben Zeisloft contributed to this report.

TikTok And Flags Photo Illustrations

TikTok Under Federal Criminal Investigation For Spying On American Citizens: Report

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Dutch farmers just won’t stay home.
Two large protests unfolded in the Netherlands last week as citizens headed to vote in a provincial election yesterday. One protest was led by people with legitimate, tangible skin in the game: Farmers, fishermen, and their supporters. Dutch land, way of life, and time-tested traditions of success are under threat and being taken and destroyed. 
 
The second protest was an assembly of autonomous human drones, fueled by the information war. These victims of &#8220;menticide&#8221; are the &#8220;extinction rebellion&#8221; — brainwashed meatbots — from the same information ecosystems that created Antifa and Black Lives Matter. 

While the Dutch provincial election took a <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/european-farmers-fed-climate-policies-shock-political-establishment" target="_blank" rel="noopener">favorable turn</a> for the farmers, many believe the threat to their autonomy still remains. 
Dutch farmers are under a severe information attack of their own, with accusations that farming causes “stickstoff poisoning,” — nitrogen poisoning. The accusation is so fraudulent that to even discuss the merits is to lose the fight. A famous Dutch medical doctor and psychoanalyst, Joost Meerloo, wrote extensively about such menticide in his classic book on brainwashing, &#8220;Rape of the Mind,&#8221; published in 1956. In the book, Dr. Meerloo explained exactly what we are seeing today, including methods for countering this mental martial art. A paraphrase of Dr. Meerloo’s advice: Do not engage in discussion of details when the bedrock details of the argument are lies. To discuss the merits of the meritless is to lose. 
 
The nitrogen argument put forth by Dutch prime minister Rutte and his globalist friends is fake. Unworthy of discussion. Instead, they should fix their gaze higher — ad hominem in this case — on the communists and other tyrants who wield the information swords.
The argument is as prima facie fallacious as the accusation that calling Holland “Holland” is somehow wrong. Their true goal is total control. Control of the simplest acts of existence, such as eating, which words we use, and calling oneself Dutch or American. According to the Dutch government, the name “Holland” is now outdated and should no longer be used by Dutch government officials. Yes, the term Holland is now canceled.
In a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/b" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent interview</a>, Dr. Jordan Peterson pointedly and repeatedly called this country, the Netherlands, Holland. If any man understands the immense power of a single word, the man is Dr. Peterson. Dr. Peterson knows compelled speech is slavery and slavery leads to spiritual death.
Last year, I stood outside a venue in the Netherlands where Dr. Peterson was speaking to a full house. He travels with a security detail due to serious, credible threats. Antifa protested the event, attempting to intimidate those who will listen to men who study, stand, and speak the truth.
I have spent months with Antifa in the past — in Portland, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Hong Kong (yes), and Washington D.C. I know their ways and how they work tirelessly to intimidate, using an information war as their highest form of warfare. 
The information war currently spreading across the Dutch &#8220;mindscape&#8221; is the real poison. The Dutch government is openly in the grips of a beastly alliance of the WEF and the CCP — The World Economic Forum and the Chinese Communist Party. Klaus Schwab, chairman of the WEF, has publicly, effusively praised Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the Netherlands version of Justin Trudeau.
These globalists need the farmland to create their planned Utopia called &#8220;Tristate City,&#8221; a megalopolis, comprising most of the Netherlands, parts of Germany, and Belgium. And while the brainchild behind the massive blueprint, urban planner Peter Savelberg, recently <a href="https://www.politico.eu/newsletter/global-policy-lab/living-cities-taking-on-period-poverty-tristate-city-conspiracy-monumental-women/">walked back his proposal</a>, it doesn&#8217;t diminish the WEF&#8217;s vision of a human farm where every movement will be tracked, recorded, and analyzed in real time by people such as Chinese agents.
<div id="attachment_513883" style="width: 570px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-513883" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-513883" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image.png" alt="" width="560" height="366" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/03/image.png 560w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/03/image-300x196.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px" />www.tristatecity.nl</div>
Tristate City includes the two busiest ports in Europe: Rotterdam and Antwerp. If China has its way, its new growing <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/war-in-ukraine-challenging-china-s-train-routes-to-europe/6530632.html">Asian rail infrastructure</a> will chug across the middle of the Tristate City to Rotterdam. The Tristate City is set to become a giant Chinese port city. 
<div id="attachment_513887" style="width: 933px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-513887" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-513887" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image-2-923x576.jpeg" alt="" width="923" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/03/image-2-923x576.jpeg 923w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/03/image-2-300x187.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/03/image-2-768x479.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/03/image-2-1536x958.jpeg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/03/image-2-2048x1277.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 923px) 100vw, 923px" />Getty Images</div>
WEF/CCP needs and wants the land. Standing in the way, of course, are the farmers and a strong Dutch spirit. If the western WEF members, who now cooperate so deeply with CCP, succeed they will eventually fight over the spoils. Stated more plainly — though WEF and CCP are today wedded in unholy marriage, they are destined for bloody divorce. 
 
Why so herculean an effort to destroy Dutch culture including farmers and fishermen? Control: Control of food supply, freedom of movement, association, and commerce. Dutch farmers — among the most efficient and responsible in the world — are working in large parts on land that was reclaimed from the sea. Not primal forests, but underwater. Their family lines go back centuries. They are literally the original tribespeople, as it were. If this were any place other than Europe, the Frisians and others might be labeled indigenous, in need of protection. 

WATCH: New <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/b">Dr. Jordan B. Peterson podcast</a>, &#8220;Dutch Farmers: Canaries in the Globalist Coal Mine, with Michael Yon &amp; Eva Vlaardingerbroek&#8221;
<a href="https://michaelyon.com/">Michael Yon</a> became one of America’s youngest Green Berets at 19-years-old. Michael has lived over half of his life abroad living or traveling to about 90 countries. Author of three books in the United States and three others in Japan, he is America’s most experienced combat correspondent. Follow him on Twitter: @Michael_Yon, and http://michaelyon.locals.com
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Farmers protest against the government in Netherlands

How A Globalist Drive For A Utopian Super City Is Pushing Dutch Farmers To Protest

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Senate Intel Chairman Mark Warner (D-VA) on Sunday called for Chinese-controlled TikTok to be banned in the U.S., saying the company poses a national security threat.
Warner made the remarks during an interview with Martha Raddatz on ABC News&#8217;s &#8220;This Week&#8221; while discussing the communist nation.
&#8220;National security is not simply about guns and ships and tanks anymore. It is about technology competition. It&#8217;s about who&#8217;s going to win the struggle around artificial intelligence, quantum computing, synthetic biology,&#8221; Warner said. &#8220;It&#8217;s one of the reasons why I put together a bipartisan piece of legislation, seven Democrats, seven Republicans, the president supports and I’ve got interest from the Speaker on making sure Chinese and other technology companies that pose national security risks like TikTok, that we give the Secretary of Commerce the tools to either require a divesture or frankly even ban them.&#8221;
&#8220;And just very quickly, do you think TikTok should be banned?&#8221; Raddatz asked.
&#8220;Absolutely,&#8221; Warner responded. &#8220;Literally 100 million Americans are on TikTok an average of 90 minutes a day. That data is residing in China no matter what TikTok says, and the truth is TikTok can be used as a propaganda mechanism for the Communist Party of China. That I believe is a national security concern.&#8221;
&#8220;What we don’t &#8212; what we don’t &#8212; what we need though is a rules-based approach that doesn&#8217;t simply single out a single application because it was Huawei, the Chinese telecom company earlier, TikTok today. There will be other technology applications,&#8221; he added. &#8220;We need a rules-based approach that will look at this foreign-based technology from China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and we&#8217;ve got to have the tools to make sure that we can take them down.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/MarthaRaddatz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MarthaRaddatz</a>: “Do you think TikTok should be banned?” 
Senate Intelligence Committee chair Mark Warner: “Absolutely…TikTok can be used as a propaganda mechanism for the Community Party of China. That, I believe, is a national security concern.” <a href="https://t.co/KNf4mVLxyB">https://t.co/KNf4mVLxyB</a> <a href="https://t.co/uYviCys2y2">pic.twitter.com/uYviCys2y2</a>
&mdash; This Week (@ThisWeekABC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ThisWeekABC/status/1634912614013894657?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 12, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
TRANSCRIPT:
<blockquote>MARTHA RADDATZ: This week, we heard China&#8217;s President Xi level very direct criticism to the U.S., something he rarely does.
How concerned are you about our relationship with China?
SEN. MARK WARNER (D-VA): We should be concerned. We&#8217;re in enormous competition with China. National security, we had all the intelligence leaders before our committee this week.
National security is not simply about guns and ships and tanks anymore. It is about technology competition. It&#8217;s about who&#8217;s going to win the struggle around artificial intelligence, quantum computing, synthetic biology.
It&#8217;s one of the reasons why I put together a bipartisan piece of legislation, seven Democrats, seven Republicans, the president supports and I’ve got interest from the speaker on making sure Chinese and other technology companies that pose national security risks like TikTok, that we give the secretary of commerce the tools to either require a divesture or frankly even ban them.
We&#8217;ve seen, for example, TikTok already banned in India. We’ve seen the Canadian government, the EU urge taking that off phones in their systems.
We&#8217;ve got this technology competition which China, and they have been stealing our intellectual property at the rate of $500 billion a year. We have to be worried.
China&#8217;s a great country. Our beef is with the communist party. It&#8217;s not with the Chinese people. But Xi Jinping, we should not underestimate both his aggressiveness and his authoritarian regime.
RADDATZ: And just very quickly, do you think TikTok should be banned?
WARNER: Absolutely. I, you know, this is a &#8212; literally 100 million Americans are on TikTok an average of 90 minutes a day. That data is residing in China no matter what TikTok says, and the truth is TikTok can be used as a propaganda mechanism for the Communist Party of China. That I believe is a national security concern.
What we don’t &#8212; what we don’t &#8212; what we need though is a rules-based approach that doesn&#8217;t simply single out a single application because it was Huawei, the Chinese telecom company earlier, TikTok today. There will be other technology applications.
We need a rules-based approach that will look at this foreign-based technology from China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and say &#8212;
RADDATZ: Okay, thanks, Senator.
WARNER: &#8212; we&#8217;ve got to have the tools to make sure that we can take them down.
RADDATZ: Okay. Thanks very much, Senator, for joining us this morning.
WARNER: Thank you.</blockquote>

‘A National Security Concern’: Top Democrat Senator Calls For China’s TikTok To Be Banned In U.S.

Top Democrat Senator Calls For China's TikTok To Be Banned In U.S.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-house-speaker-mccarthy-plans-meet-taiwans-president-us-sources-2023-03-06/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">plans</a> to meet with the president of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, in California — where she&#8217;s been invited to speak at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. In addition to the likely April meeting in the Golden State, McCarthy also reportedly plans to visit Taiwan itself this year.
That may seem like a relatively benign diplomatic mission for the man who is second in line to the presidency, but it&#8217;s a move that is almost sure to cause outrage in Beijing. A visit to Taiwan by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last year so perturbed the Chinese Communist Party that it conducted military &#8220;operations&#8221; that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/china-launching-targeted-military-operations-encircling-taiwan-after-pelosi-lands-on-island" target="_blank" rel="noopener">encircled</a> the entire island with Chinese military assets and even <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-china-threatens-to-shoot-down-pelosis-plane-if-she-tries-to-visit-taiwan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">threatened</a> to shoot down Pelosi&#8217;s plane in a vain effort to forestall her diplomatic overture.
The CCP has had its eye on conquering Taiwan since the de facto end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, and the party&#8217;s leadership has become more hawkish on reunification in recent years. In January, U.S. Air Force General Michael Minihan issued a memo that predicted an invasion of the island in 2025, but some analysts have <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jillgoldenziel/2023/01/31/chinas-ferry-tale-taiwan-invasion-is-a-legal-nightmare/?sh=a2e85d65ceb1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">argued</a> that an invasion could come even sooner if the Red Army levies civilian boats for use as landing craft.
Much like with U.S. support for Ukraine after the Russian invasion in 2022, any direct aid to Taiwan in the event of an attack will likely receive intense criticism from non-interventionist elements in both major parties. However, a U.S.-aligned Taiwan provides both an economic and geopolitical ally in the region to counterbalance the growing threat from communist China.
The CCP&#8217;s territorial claim on the island, and its desire to enforce it, may be the focus of current foreign policy discussions in the region, but it&#8217;s often forgotten that Taiwan likewise has a claim on the Chinese mainland, indicated by the country&#8217;s official name — The Republic of China.
The current government of Taiwan is descended from the Chinese Nationalists, also known as the Kuomintang, that fled to the island in 1949 after they were defeated by the communists under Mao Zedong. Since then, two ideological factions have emerged in Taiwanese politics.
The traditional camp is embodied by the Kuomintang — which continues to see itself as the sole legitimate government of all China and opposes a separate Taiwanese national identity or independence.
The Kuomintang had previously operated as the official national government of all China since 1928 (after defeating various warlords who had carved up the country into their own personal domains). The current flag and national emblem of Taiwan is the same one that flew over all of China under the Nationalists, and the current constitution of Taiwan is the same constitution that was adopted by China as a whole in 1947, before the communist takeover. Taiwan also held China&#8217;s seat on the United Nations as well as one of the five permanent seats on the extremely important U.N. Security Council until 1971.
In 1979, the U.S. formally <a href="https://adst.org/2013/12/the-u-s-recognizes-communist-china-not-taiwan-january-1-1979/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">established</a> relations with communist China and ended its recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign state. An act from Congress, the Taiwan Relations Act, in 1980 maintained de facto relations with Taiwan.
The Kuomintang ruled the island as a one-party state until democratic reforms were enacted in the mid-1980s and continued to dominate the country&#8217;s politics until the 2000 presidential election.
The current ruling party, the Democratic Progressive Party, broke off from the Kuomintang during the democratic reforms of the &#8217;80s. It supports a separate national identity for Taiwan and Taiwan&#8217;s full independence from mainland China. Tsai Ing-wen, the DPP&#8217;s candidate, won the 2020 presidential election by almost 20 points in the midst of the CCP&#8217;s crackdown in Hong Kong.
Either position could be used to the United States&#8217; benefit. If the Kuomintang become popular again, the U.S. could reverse course and support its claim as the true government of China, undermining the CCP&#8217;s legitimacy in the region. If public opinion in Taiwan continues to swing toward full independence, the U.S. can promote closer relations on the grounds of protecting an autonomous, democratic nation from authoritarian aggression — perhaps gaining the support of other East Asian democracies like South Korea and Japan. The CCP has <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2021/08/why-taiwan-matters-to-the-united-states/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">declared</a> that any official American support for Taiwanese independence constitutes a &#8220;red line.&#8221;
Taiwan&#8217;s geographic position — 100 miles off the mainland — potentially provides a central link in a chain of alliances and partnerships the U.S. is forging in the western Pacific Rim to counter the CCP&#8217;s expansionist aims, especially its moves in the South China Sea.
The mutual defense treaty between the U.S. and Taiwan ended in 1980 — around the same time the United States recognized the communists as the legitimate government of China — but there is still an implicit understanding that the U.S. would intervene if the CCP launched an invasion. Taiwan <a href="https://time.com/6245036/taiwan-conscription-military-comparison/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">currently</a> supports 169,000 active military personnel and can call upon up to 1.6 million reservists in the event of an attack. The country has compulsory conscription, and President Ing-wen extended the timeframe of mandatory service from four months to a year in 2022. Additionally, the U.S. has provided billions in defense aid for the island&#8217;s military.
In addition to its strategic importance, Taiwan has implemented a highly successful free market economy of considerable value to the United States. Once the Kuomintang established itself on the island, it implemented land reform and an industrialization scheme that allowed for rapid development over the next few decades. Further market liberalization efforts in the 1960s and &#8217;70s turned into an &#8220;economic miracle&#8221; during which the island nation was able to overcome challenges like a lack of natural resources to become a manufacturing powerhouse. According to the Heritage Foundation, Taiwan is <a href="https://www.heritage.org/index/country/taiwan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ranked</a> number four globally in economic freedom and number two in Asia after Singapore.
Taiwan&#8217;s industrial success stems primarily from its position in the tech industry&#8217;s supply chain. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is the largest semiconductor foundry in the world, and HIWIN Technologies is one of the leading producers of machinery components used in automated manufacturing. The country&#8217;s tech companies are pioneering the use of advanced technology in manufacturing processes, which HIWIN Chairman Eric Chuo called &#8220;Industry 4.0,&#8221; <a href="https://www.bbc.com/storyworks/future/transforming-taiwan/taiwan-and-the-next-industrial-revolution" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the BBC.
As more and more communist Chinese-made products are <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/defense-officials-worry-about-new-chinese-espionage-threat-report-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revealed</a> to contain spying technology, Taiwan&#8217;s wares could provide a far safer alternative. Though the Biden administration is trying to <a href="https://www.commerce.gov/news/press-releases/2023/02/biden-harris-administration-launches-first-chips-america-funding" target="_blank" rel="noopener">incentivize</a> domestic semiconductor and microchip production, Taiwan&#8217;s products will still be of strategic importance to the nation until those efforts are fully realized.
Beijing&#8217;s sensitivity toward closer U.S.-Taiwan relations necessitates a delicate approach from U.S. diplomats, but it&#8217;s a relationship the Biden administration must pursue if it&#8217;s serious about countering China in the Pacific. Taiwan&#8217;s strong economic position supplies a boon to the U.S. tech industry at the expense of communist China, its geographic location provides a first line of defense against communist expansionism, and the island&#8217;s politics could furnish the U.S. with an ideological rallying cry for other democratic nations in the region.
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Grunge flags illustration of three countries with conflict and political problems (cracked concrete background) | USA, China and Taiwan

Why A Free And Democratic Taiwan Is Essential For Pacific Rim Stability

Foreign Policy

Taiwan

Xi Jinping

A former employee of the company that controls <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/tiktok" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TikTok</a> told Sen. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/josh-hawley" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Josh Hawley</a> (R-MO) that members of the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chinese</a> Communist Party can access data from American users of the social media platform.
The allegations occur as TikTok, which is owned by Chinese technology company ByteDance, faces scrutiny for <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/national-security" target="_blank" rel="noopener">national security</a> concerns and reported data privacy breaches. Hawley said in a <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23698254-2023-03-07-hawley-letter-to-yellen-tiktok" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> sent to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday that employees, including members of the Chinese Communist Party who are on the company’s payroll, can allegedly switch between Chinese and American data with “nothing more than the click of a button.”
Workers allegedly use several proprietary software tools created in China that reduce foreign scrutiny and allow engineers to “insert software backdoors,” Hawley described on the basis of the unnamed whistleblower’s account. One such tool allegedly permits employees to access American data with the approval of a manager and a dataset owner.
“I have seen first-hand China-based engineers flipping over to non-China datasets and creating scheduled tasks to backup, aggregate, and analyze data,” the whistleblower told Hawley. “TikTok and ByteDance are functionally the same company. They use the same data analysis tools and chat apps, and managers are in constant contact.”
Hawley noted that TikTok has repeatedly claimed that members of the Chinese Communist Party cannot access American user data but said “it seems more and more likely that they do” with the new accusations about the company’s activities. The lawmaker cited an earlier <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tiktoks-parent-company-in-china-planned-to-use-platform-to-track-locations-of-specific-americans-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from Forbes which said ByteDance planned to track the location of specific American citizens.
Yellen serves as chair of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, a board with nine cabinet-level officials tasked with reviewing the national security risks of foreign ventures. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CA) and Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/republican-and-democrat-senators-join-forces-in-call-for-tiktok-crackdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">contended</a> last month that Yellen should force ByteDance to jettison operations for TikTok within the United States.
Beyond the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-unanimously-votes-to-ban-tiktok-on-government-devices" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prohibition</a> of TikTok on federal devices issued by President Joe Biden and similar actions from multiple state governments, several lawmakers have urged regulators and technology companies to limit access to the platform. Renewed controversy over the site occurs after at least one Chinese surveillance balloon recently traversed the continental United States: the vessel crossed Montana, the location of many defense assets and missile silos, then <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/chinese-spy-balloon-flies-out-of-montana-and-over-new-u-s-state" target="_blank" rel="noopener">traveled</a> over states such as Kansas and Missouri before the object was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-military-shoots-down-chinese-spy-balloon-after-biden-let-it-travel-across-country" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shot down</a> by the American military off the coast of the Carolinas.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Sen. John Thune (R-SD) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-admin-gets-behind-bipartisan-bill-that-would-allow-u-s-to-ban-tiktok-take-against-other-foreign-threats" target="_blank" rel="noopener">unveiled</a> the Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology Act, abbreviated as the RESTRICT Act, earlier this week to grant the Commerce Department authority to review information communications and technology transactions that pose undue risk to American economic and national security.
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White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/03/07/statement-from-national-security-advisor-jake-sullivan-on-the-introduction-of-the-restrict-act/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> he fully supports the measure.
“This legislation would empower the United States government to prevent certain foreign governments from exploiting technology services operating in the United States in a way that poses risks to Americans’ sensitive data and our national security,” he said. “This bill presents a systematic framework for addressing technology-based threats to the security and safety of Americans.&#8221;

TikTok Whistleblower Says Chinese Communist Party Can Access American User Data

TikTok Whistleblower Tells Josh Hawley China Can Access American User Data

Global Politics

Janet Yellen

Josh Hawley

President Joe Biden&#8217;s administration said Tuesday afternoon that it supports a bipartisan piece of legislation that was just introduced by a group of senators that would allow the U.S. to ban TikTok and take action against other foreign adversaries.
Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and John Thune (R-SD), ranking member of the Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications, Media and Broadband, led a group of 12 bipartisan senators to introduce the Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology (RESTRICT) Act.
The legislation <a href="https://www.warner.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/2/b/2b4f7206-6125-4edb-b925-7e4c64f14bdb/620D5CBA3AE75F38CE6C4D38537684C2.final-two-pager.pdf">empowers</a> the Department of Commerce to review, prevent, and mitigate information communications and technology (ICT) transactions that pose undue risk to U.S. economic and national security.
“Today, the threat that everyone is talking about is TikTok, and how it could enable surveillance by the Chinese Communist Party, or facilitate the spread of malign influence campaigns in the U.S. Before TikTok, however, it was Huawei and ZTE, which threatened our nation’s telecommunications networks. And before that, it was Russia’s Kaspersky Lab, which threatened the security of government and corporate devices,” said Warner. “We need a comprehensive, risk-based approach that proactively tackles sources of potentially dangerous technology before they gain a foothold in America, so we aren’t playing Whac-A-Mole and scrambling to catch up once they’re already ubiquitous.”
The White House issued a statement from national security adviser Jake Sullivan about the legislation in which Sullivan signaled that the administration supports it and wants to sign it into law as fast as possible.
&#8220;This legislation would empower the United States government to prevent certain foreign governments from exploiting technology services operating in the United States in a way that poses risks to Americans’ sensitive data and our national security,&#8221; Sullivan said. &#8220;This bill presents a systematic framework for addressing technology-based threats to the security and safety of Americans. This legislation would provide the U.S. government with new mechanisms to mitigate the national security risks posed by high-risk technology businesses operating in the United States.&#8221;
&#8220;Critically, it would strengthen our ability to address discrete risks posed by individual transactions, and systemic risks posed by certain classes of transactions involving countries of concern in sensitive technology sectors,&#8221; Sullivan added. &#8220;This will help us address the threats we face today, and also prevent such risks from arising in the future.&#8221;
The bipartisan group of senators put out a summary explaining what the RESTRICT Act would do, including:
<ul>
<li>Require the Secretary of Commerce to establish procedures to identify, deter, disrupt, prevent, prohibit, and mitigate transactions involving information and communications technology products in which any foreign adversary has any interest and poses undue or unacceptable risk to national security.</li>
<li>Prioritize evaluation of ICT products used in critical infrastructure, integral to telecommunications products, or pertaining to a range of defined emerging, foundational, and disruptive technologies with serious national security implications.</li>
<li>Ensure comprehensive actions to address risks of untrusted foreign ICT by requiring the Secretary to take up consideration of concerning activity identified by other USG entities.</li>
<li>Educate the public and business community about the threat by requiring the Secretary of Commerce to coordinate with the Director of National Intelligence to provide declassified information on how transactions denied or otherwise mitigated posed undue or unacceptable risk.</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
A lot of bipartisan support for Warner&#39;s RESTRICT Act that would take aim at foreign-owned companies like TikTok. But I&#39;m still not sure I understand how this would be substantially different than the CFIUS process.
&mdash; Daniel Flatley (@DanielPFlatley) <a href="https://twitter.com/DanielPFlatley/status/1633203471477526528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 7, 2023</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
&quot;CFIUS requires a transaction&quot; to start its process, Warner says. This legislation would enable the government to act absent an acquisition or investment.
&mdash; Daniel Flatley (@DanielPFlatley) <a href="https://twitter.com/DanielPFlatley/status/1633205315595542529?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 7, 2023</a></blockquote>
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This is a breaking news story; refresh the page for updates.

Biden Admin Gets Behind Bipartisan Bill That Would Allow U.S. To Ban TikTok, Take Action Against Other Foreign Threats

Biden Admin Gets Behind Bipartisan Bill That Would Allow U.S. To Ban TikTok, Take Against Other Foreign Threats

Americans breathed a sigh of relief when the U.S. Air Force shot down a Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina on February 4. The balloon had floated almost entirely across the country after it was first sighted in Montana.
The Biden administration refrained from shooting down the balloon while it was over land, despite it moving past several military installations, because of concerns that the debris from the airship could cause collateral damage to civilians below. The U.S. quickly began to collect the debris from the craft to discern what kind of tech it carried.
Since the downing of China&#8217;s would-be instrument of high-altitude espionage, several more strange craft have been spotted and downed over America&#8217;s skies. U.S. intelligence officials have <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/02/07/china-spy-balloon-intelligence/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated</a> that the balloon is part of a vast spy network that has been used by the communist country to surveil military bases in countries like Japan, India, and Taiwan. President Joe Biden said Thursday that the U.S. does not believe that these additional objects are part of China&#8217;s spy program, but apprehension about China&#8217;s attempts to spy on the United States has come to the forefront of the national consciousness.
But in reality, the CCP has employed far more subtle and sophisticated methods to glean information from Americans than simple balloons.
Corporate espionage is a favorite tactic of the CCP in its ongoing economic struggle with the United States. Of the 160 publicly revealed instances of Chinese espionage since 2000, 51% of the incidents attempted to steal American commercial technology, compared to 34% of incidents that tried to acquire military tech and 16% that attempted to get information on government agencies or politicians, <a href="https://www.csis.org/programs/strategic-technologies-program/archives/survey-chinese-espionage-united-states-2000" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
Chinese spies have been caught trying to smuggle data on everything from nanotechnology to pharmaceuticals to artificial intelligence back to the CCP, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-64206950">according</a> to the BBC. These espionage efforts also include some of the largest companies in the U.S. — a Chinese national was sentenced to 20 years in prison in January for trying to steal information about jet turbines from General Electric.
During a meeting in London to discuss the threat of Chinese spy programs, FBI Director Christopher Wray <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/06/politics/fbi-mi5-wray-china/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that law enforcement had caught people paid by Chinese companies trying to steal genetically modified seeds from fields in rural areas. Intellectual property theft by Chinese agents could cost the U.S. up to $600 billion a year, <a href="https://www.nbr.org/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/publications/IP_Commission_Report_Update.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to a report from the National Bureau of Asian Research.
Chinese agents and affiliates have also managed to infiltrate American universities and laboratories, stealing valuable research.
In 2020, the U.S. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/10/us-cancels-1000-china-student-visas-claiming-ties-to-military" target="_blank" rel="noopener">canceled</a> over 1,000 visas belonging to Chinese students and researchers at American universities due to concerns that they had ties to the Chinese military.
China&#8217;s Thousand Talents Program, which aims to partner with leading foreign researchers, has been accused of facilitating the theft of research. Between 1987 and 2021, over 160 researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, one of the nation&#8217;s top locations for nuclear research, returned to China, with dozens returning under the Thousand Talents program. Those researchers went on to &#8220;advance key military and dual-use technologies in areas such as hypersonics, deep-earth penetrating warheads, unmanned aerial vehicles, jet engines, and submarine noise reduction,&#8221; a <a href="https://www.striderintel.com/wp-content/uploads/Strider-Los-Alamos-Report.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from Strider Technologies said.
Over a quarter of perpetrators in Chinese espionage schemes are non-Chinese agents, according to CSIS.
Charles Lieber, the former head of Harvard University&#8217;s Chemistry Department, was <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-22/harvard-professor-found-guilty-of-hiding-ties-to-china#xj4y7vzkg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found guilty</a> in December 2021 of hiding his ties to the Thousand Talents Program. For his involvement in the program, Lieber had received $50,000 a month from the Wuhan University of Technology as well as $1.5 million in grants, which he failed to disclose. Prosecutors said that Lieber wrote articles and applied for patents on behalf of the Chinese university.
One suspected Chinese spy who enrolled at an American university was Christine Fang. From 2011 to 2015, she made connections with several powerful California politicians, and allegedly developed sexual relationships with two Midwestern mayors. One of her principal targets was Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell. She helped fundraise for his 2014 re-election campaign as well as place an intern in Swalwell&#8217;s office, sources told Axios.
Fang&#8217;s behavior caught the attention of federal law enforcement, and the congressman severed ties with her after they gave him a briefing on their findings. Fang left the country in 2015 before the investigation was concluded.
Swalwell&#8217;s office told the outlet that he &#8220;provided information about this person — whom he met more than eight years ago, and whom he hasn’t seen in nearly six years — to the FBI.&#8221;
Though Swalwell&#8217;s alleged association with Fang has become a meme among conservatives, intelligence officials are concerned that it&#8217;s part of a larger effort to cultivate influence among U.S. politicians.
&#8220;She was just one of lots of agents,&#8221; an intelligence official <a href="https://www.axios.com/2020/12/08/china-spy-california-politicians" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Axios. The FBI <a href="https://www.axios.com/2020/02/12/fbi-china-us-political-influence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">created</a> a unit in 2019 solely dedicated to countering Chinese political influence schemes.
Balloons aren&#8217;t the only way the Chinese have tried to spy on key U.S. military installations out West. The Chinese telecom giant Huawei provided cheap equipment to small providers in rural America.
The sheer amount of Chinese-made equipment being installed in rural areas caught the attention of federal investigators, who discovered that in many cases Huawei was selling the technology at an unprofitable price to providers near U.S. military assets. One company, Viaero, had 1,000 Huawei-equipped towers spread across five states, and the company&#8217;s coverage area happened to contain several missile silos and military bases.
Multiple sources <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/23/politics/fbi-investigation-huawei-china-defense-department-communications-nuclear/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> CNN that the Huawei-made tech on the cell towers had the ability to intercept and even disrupt highly sensitive U.S. Strategic Command communications — including those related to the nation&#8217;s nuclear weapons. Cameras mounted on Viaero&#8217;s towers to monitor weather and traffic could also provide the Chinese with intel on U.S. military movements in the area.
The Federal Communications Commission effectively banned companies from using Huawei equipment in 2019. Even though billions of dollars were appropriated by Congress in order to help get rid of the equipment, as of 2022 not all of the technology has been removed, according to CNN.
Installing technology that can spy on military bases in the American West is one thing, but in 2017 federal officials killed a $100 million project that could have allowed China to position similar equipment at the perfect location to eavesdrop on lawmakers in the nation&#8217;s capital.
The Chinese government <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/china-infiltrates-critical-u-s-infrastructure-can-disrupt-nuclear-response-and-spy-on-u-s-military-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">offered</a> to pay $100 million to install a lavish garden, complete with a pagoda, at the National Arboretum. The planned 70-foot structure would have been placed at one of the highest points in Washington, D.C., and only two miles from the Capitol Building, according to CNN. One red flag that caught the eye of counterintelligence officials was the fact that China insisted that the materials that would be used to build the garden should be shipped to Washington in diplomatic pouches, which would prevent U.S. Customs from examining them before they entered the country. Suspicious U.S. officials soon put an end to the project.
Then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in 2020 that the Chinese consulates in Houston, San Francisco, and New York City were hotbeds for Chinese spies. The espionage activity at the Houston embassy was so bad that the U.S. government ordered it to be closed, with one Justice Department official <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-consulate-houston/houston-consulate-one-of-worst-offenders-in-chinese-espionage-say-u-s-officials-idUSKCN24P1XT" target="_blank" rel="noopener">telling</a> Reuters, &#8220;The sum total of the Houston consulate’s activities went well over the line of what we’re willing to accept.&#8221;
The consulate in New York City was allegedly being <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/07/28/chinese-consulates-in-nyc-san-francisco-identified-as-spy-hubs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">used</a> to spy on anti-Chinese Uyghur and Tibetan groups, while the one in San Francisco helped Chinese agents steal secrets from Silicon Valley.
Spy balloons ominously floating across the American countryside may make for more sensational reporting in most media outlets, but in reality, Xi Jinping has far more subtle and effective methods of intelligence gathering at his disposal — including ones that don&#8217;t end up in the Atlantic Ocean.
U.S. intelligence officials are aware of and in many cases have taken action against these spying efforts, but the economic and political necessities of maintaining close ties with the communist nation ensure that their efforts to steal, bribe, and spy their way to the top of the geopolitical order will continue apace on U.S. soil.

China’s Standing Committee Members Of The 20th CPC Central Committee Meet With Press

Spy Balloons May Grab Headlines, But China Has Far More Subtle And Effective Methods Of Spying On Us

California

New York

Washington D.C.

A suspected <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/communist-china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chinese</a> reconnaissance balloon device was seen flying over the United States this week, according to U.S authorities, and it is still being tracked.
Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier General Pat Ryder <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinese-spy-balloon-seen-over-u-s-this-weekofficials-11675376397" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that the United States “has detected and is tracking a high altitude surveillance balloon that is over the continental United States right now.”
“We continue to track and monitor it closely,” Ryder said. “Once the balloon was detected the U.S. government acted immediately to protect against the collection of sensitive information.”
“The balloon is currently traveling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic and does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground,” Ryder also <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/02/politics/us-tracking-china-spy-balloon/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
According to The Wall Street Journal, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and other major defense authorities told President Joe Biden about the situation on Wednesday. Biden suggested that the balloon be shot out of the sky after people saw it from a commercial plane, officials noted. The Pentagon was against such an action due to the risk of civilian deaths.
The balloon was <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/suspected-chinese-spy-balloon-found-northern-us-rcna68879" target="_blank" rel="noopener">seen</a> above Billings, Montana, on Wednesday after it traveled above the Aleutian Islands and through Canada. A top defense official said the device is still over the country, but did not say where it is located at this time, per NBC.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin got top military leaders together and they considered how to react to the balloon, choosing against recommending a kinetic take-down due to the possible danger for people below. They delivered the different response scenarios to Biden on Wednesday.
“Currently we assess that this balloon has limited additive value from an intelligence collection perspective over and above what the PRC can do through other means,” the senior defense official said, per NBC News. “Nevertheless we are taking all necessary steps to protect against foreign intelligence collection of sensitive information.”
The official said that the military will keep an eye on the device and will maintain the possibility of taking it down.
“We are tracking it in minute detail in real time and we will constantly update our assessment,” the official said. “We are in constant surveillance of this thing through a bunch of different means.”
The official also said that the United States is sure that the device is one of China’s and have conveyed that to the Chinese government “through multiple channels both here in D.C. and in Beijing.”
While this has happened in the past, according to the official, this time is not the same because the device is maintaining its presence over the country for more time than is typical.

“OCTOBER 18: Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder holds a press briefing”

Chinese Spy Balloon Hovering Over United States: Report

Chinese Spy Balloon Hovering Over U.S.: Report

A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/north-dakota" target="_blank" rel="noopener">North Dakota</a> mayor has moved to block approval of a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chinese</a>-owned corn mill in his town after the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/u-s-air-force" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Air Force</a> warned that it could potentially be a national security threat. 
Grand Forks Mayor Brandon Bochenski, a Republican and former NHL player, said with the city council’s approval, he would block the opening of the mill operated by Fufeng USA, an American <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/31/us/corn-mill-fufeng-china-north-dakota.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">subsidiary</a> of a Chinese company. 
“The federal government has requested the city’s help in stopping the project as geo-political tensions have greatly increased since the initial announcement of the project,” Bochenski <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/chinese-corn-mill-project-in-north-dakota-to-be-terminated_5024900.html?ea_src=frontpage_A_topstory&amp;ea_med=list" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a statement. 
“The only remedies the city has to meet this directive is to refuse to connect industrial infrastructure and deny building permits. As mayor of the city of Grand Forks, I am requesting these remedies be undertaken and the project be stopped, pending City Council approval,” Bochenski continued. 
Bochenski’s announcement followed a <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/623090728/Airforce-Fu-Feng-Letter#" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> sent to Sen. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/john-hoeven" target="_blank" rel="noopener">John Hoeven</a> (R-ND) and Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) from the Air Force which detailed its concern about the project. The site of the proposed mill facility would be about 12 miles from Grand Forks Air Force Base. 
The Republican senators had inquired about whether the mill would present any security concerns. 
“[The] Department’s view is unambiguous: the proposed project presents a significant threat to national security with both near- and long-term risks of significant impacts to our operation in the area,” a letter from the Air Force read. 
North Dakota Republican Governor Doug Burgum <a href="https://www.governor.nd.gov/news/burgum-issues-statement-air-force-letter-citing-significant-threat-fufeng-project-grand-forks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> he supported the move to pull approval for the mill. 
“As we said previously, our top priority is the security of our citizens and our nation,” he said in a statement. “Given these concerns, we support the decision by the City of Grand Forks to initiate steps to stop the project with Fufeng Group and will support the city in finding another partner for a corn milling operation.”
If approval for the project, which was initially given in July 2022, is pulled, Fufeng USA would still have ownership of the 370 acres that it had purchased for the project. 
“It goes to show you that the people still have the ability to rise up and overcome. If they’d listened to us in the beginning, it would’ve saved them a year’s worth of time and a lot of money,” Ben Grzadzielewski, a Grand Forks resident, told The Epoch Times. 
The issue of Chinese companies or operatives purchasing agricultural land in the U.S. has become a prominent focus of some lawmakers at both the federal and state level. Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) has <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/chip-roy-introduces-bill-keep-china-from-snapping-up-us-farmland" target="_blank" rel="noopener">introduced</a> legislation to prohibit anyone linked to the Chinese Communist Party from buying farmland in the U.S., while Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/desantis-vows-to-bar-chinese-communist-party-operatives-from-buying-up-florida-property" target="_blank" rel="noopener">proposed</a> a similar measure in the Sunshine State.

Pouring corn grain into tractor trailer after harvest at field

North Dakota Mayor Moves To Block Chinese-Owned Corn Mill After Warning From Air Force

John Hoeven

North Dakota

U.S. Air Force

Two members of the House of Representatives are urging ESPN to drop TikTok after the social media platform sponsored halftime shows during recent college football bowl games broadcast on the sports television network.
Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) sent a letter to ESPN CEO James Pitaro on Monday.
&#8220;The U.S. government considers TikTok a national security threat because it is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, which is subject to the direction of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP),&#8221; the House members <a href="https://gallagher.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/gallagher.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/letter_espn-tiktok_1.9-pdf.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>.
&#8220;We are concerned that despite these widely known issues with the app, ESPN has allowed TikTok to sponsor NCAA bowl game halftime shows,&#8221; they added.
The letter requested answers about what vetting procedures ESPN uses when reviewing potential corporate sponsors of its programming.
Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi asked if ESPN was &#8220;aware that TikTok is, through ByteDance, effectively controlled by the CCP and that the U.S. government has determined that it is a national security threat?&#8221;
The lawmakers concluded by challenging ESPN to commit to ending its commercial relationship with TikTok, ByteDance, and other Chinese companies determined by the U.S. government to pose national security threats.
TikTok is one of the most popular social media apps in the U.S., with more than 100 million users. The national security concerns, however, have led to a growing number of restrictions and bans from lawmakers.
At least 15 states have banned the download and use of TikTok on state-issued devices over data privacy and national security concerns. Both New Jersey and Ohio joined the growing movement over the past week, showing that the anxiety is held by states led by Republican and Democratic governors.
Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine said in his <a href="https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/OHIOGOVERNOR/2023/01/09/file_attachments/2373098/Signed%20Executive%20Order%202023-03D.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">executive order,</a> &#8220;these surreptitious data privacy and cybersecurity practices pose national and local security and cybersecurity threats to users of these applications and platforms and the devices storing the applications and platforms.&#8221;
In addition, the app was banned on devices issued by the federal government as part of the $1.7 trillion spending passed in December. The “No TikTok on Government Devices Act” was introduced by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) in the Senate.
“TikTok is a Trojan Horse for the Chinese Communist Party. It’s a major security risk to the United States, and until it is forced to sever ties with China completely, it has no place on government devices,” Hawley said in a <a href="https://www.hawley.senate.gov/hawley-bill-ban-tiktok-government-devices-passes-senate-unanimously" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> in December. “States across the U.S. are banning TikTok on government devices. It’s time for Joe Biden and the Democrats to help do the same.”
The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/seattle-public-school-district-sues-big-tech-over-mental-health-crisis-among-youth" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that Seattle Public School District officials filed a <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.wawd.317950/gov.uscourts.wawd.317950.1.0.pdf">lawsuit</a> on Friday against social media platform owners, including TikTok, for fueling a youth mental health crisis.
The lawsuit argued that students experiencing mental health issues perform worse in school and are less likely to attend class, which “directly affects Seattle Public School’s ability to fulfill its educational mission.”

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Lawmakers Urge ESPN To Drop TikTok Sponsorships Over National Security Concerns

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