Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) has introduced legislation that would impose a tax on income earned by American athletes who compete in international sporting events on behalf of foreign governments.
The proposal, titled the &#8220;Officially Limiting Yearly Money Procured by Individuals Concerning Sportsmanship Act,” or OLYMPICS Act, would apply to athletes who represent what the law defines as &#8220;foreign entities of concern.&#8221; Those countries include China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.
Although the legislation would not apply retroactively, Ogles cited freestyle skier Eileen Gu as the inspiration for the proposal, <a href="https://www.outkick.com/sports/exclusive-rep-andy-ogles-bill-targets-eileen-gu-tax-olympics-china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">OutKick</a> reported. Gu, an American-born athlete, won a gold medal and two silver medals while competing for China at the recent Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy. Her decision to represent China drew criticism in the United States. She also represented the communist government at the 2022 Beijing Games. Gu was raised in the United States by her mother, who immigrated from China.
“Any American who works with a foreign adversary has not only betrayed our country, but must be stripped of all benefits from doing so. That is why I am ensuring that the IRS takes every dollar earned by athletes like Eileen Gu,” Ogles told the outlet.
He added that the bill would impose an excise tax on athletes who compete internationally for &#8220;a foreign country of concern.&#8221;
&#8220;Being American is a privilege, and anyone who openly mocks that privilege on the world stage must be punished,” the congressman continued.
China awards prize money to Olympic medalists, but it’s unclear how much they earn, according to <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/16/2026-winter-olympics-medal-bonus-payouts-by-country-athletes-milano-cortina.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNBC</a>.
Vice President JD Vance said last week on Fox News that “someone who grew up in the United States of America, who benefited from our education system, from the freedoms and liberties that makes this country a great place, I would hope they want to compete with the United States of America.”

Freestyle Skiing – Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Day 14

GOP Rep Cites Eileen Gu In Push To Tax Athletes Competing For ‘Foreign Entities Of Concern’

GOP Rep Cites Eileen Gu In Push To Tax Athletes Competing For 'Foreign Entities Of Concern'

China

Congress

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Confucius once said, “he who chases two rabbits, catches neither.” Perhaps San Francisco native Eileen Gu should have thought about that before skiing for China in the Olympics.
Despite fawning coverage and glowing praise from the Western press, Gu has drawn sharp rebuke from Americans for snubbing her nation. But she isn’t catching much love from the Chinese public, either.
Her Chinese critics have nicknamed her &#8220;Gu Ai Qian,” a pointed play on her given Chinese name &#8220;Gu Ai Ling,” which literally translates to &#8220;Gu Loves Money.&#8221;
This insult highlights the widespread perception that Gu is an opportunist, ditching her native country to maximize personal profit in a system that, paradoxically, rewards her with state funds and endorsement riches unattainable for most Chinese citizens.
A Beijing Municipal Sports Bureau budget that was eventually scrubbed from the internet revealed China paid Gu and another athlete a combined $6.6 million ahead of the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics, with nearly $14 million paid over three years. On top of this government funding, she has also amassed enormous wealth through global luxury brand endorsements, earning around $23 million in 2025 from sponsorships with companies like Red Bull, Porsche, and Louis Vuitton, as well as Chinese firms such as Anta and TCL, making her one of the world&#8217;s highest-paid female athletes.
Ever since the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, speculation has raged over Eileen Gu&#8217;s actual citizenship status, with many wondering if she quietly holds dual citizenship with China. Gu has remained notoriously evasive whenever the topic comes up, dodging direct questions and leaving the public guessing.
This ambiguity has fueled resentment in China, where dual citizenship is strictly prohibited. Without any evidence that Gu has renounced her American citizenship, Chinese commentators bemoan her special treatment as a privileged foreign-born elite, bending rules that ordinary citizens could never get away with.
Chinese netizens have begun deploying the popular skincare mantra “Morning C, Evening A” — a reminder to use vitamin C products in the morning and vitamin A in the evening — to mock Gu’s dual loyalty. During the day, Gu competes under the Chinese flag, cheering for the motherland and reaping the rewards, only to revert to her American self off the slopes, enjoying the personal freedom and luxury brands of the West.
Other Chinese critics have openly called Gu unpatriotic — accusations which she responded to on the Chinese social media platform Douyin.
“In the past five years, I’ve represented China in 41 international competitions and have won 39 medals for China,&#8221; Gu says to the camera. &#8220;I have also introduced three chief coaches and donated freestyle skis to the national team, and continually advocated for China and women on the global stage. What have you done for the country?”
This fiery post notwithstanding, Gu has made several attempts to thread the needle on her identity, telling several media outlets that she’s American when she’s in the United States and Chinese when she’s in China. Her biculturalism and dual nationality might well be forgiven by Americans if U.S.-China tensions weren’t so heightened at the moment. If an American athlete had defected to represent the Soviet Winter Olympic team in the 1980s, she would have been branded as a traitor, universally despised by the public, and excoriated by the media.
The same accusations of dual loyalty leveled against Eileen Gu from the American side might have carried far less sting, and perhaps even been tempered with understanding, had she ever openly acknowledged and expressed genuine gratitude for the freedoms, opportunities and nurturing environment that both she and her mother, Yan Gu, enjoyed after Yan fled China decades ago to forge a new life in the United States. It was precisely those American liberties and opportunities, including access to elite education and world-class training facilities, that laid the foundation for Eileen’s extraordinary career and global success. A simple, heartfelt recognition of that debt could have softened the narrative of betrayal for many Americans.
Instead, she feels quite free to lob criticisms at her home country while remaining notably silent on China’s human rights record. When pressed on the documented repression and cultural erasure of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang by the Chinese Communist Party, Gu shrugged it off, saying, &#8220;I don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s my business.&#8221;
Of course, all of this actually endears her to the Western media elite and global consumer brands, who view Gu as the living embodiment of the Davos mindset — a borderless, fluid world citizen who transcends outdated notions of national loyalty. In this cosmopolitan worldview, sovereign allegiance is a parochial relic of a bygone era, unfit for the enlightened global class that prizes transnational flexibility and seamless access to markets above all else.
Gu’s ability to navigate and profit handsomely from both the American system that granted her mother refuge and the CCP’s vast, state-directed economy makes her the perfect poster child for this ideology. The message from glossy profiles, luxury campaigns, and elite commentary is unmistakable: true modern virtue lies not in unwavering loyalty and love of country, but in mastering the art of being everywhere and nowhere at once — especially when that strategy aligns with the interests of authoritarian capital and multinational corporations eager to court the Chinese market. In their eyes, Gu isn’t betraying anything; she’s simply ahead of the curve, a gleaming symbol of the post-national future they champion.
Perhaps Gu has unwittingly manifested her long-stated dream of serving as a bridge between China and the United States. On the ground in both countries, populist sentiment has coalesced in strikingly parallel ways: ordinary Americans decry her as an opportunistic turncoat who exploits American freedoms while cashing in on Beijing&#8217;s largesse, while Chinese citizens mock and brand her dual loyalties. Both Americans and Chinese are rejecting the notion that one can glide seamlessly between superpowers, reaping rewards from each without genuine allegiance or sacrifice.
In the end, it comes back to Confucius: If you want to catch a rabbit, you have to pick one to chase.
Melissa Chen is the managing director of Strategy Risks, a business intelligence firm dedicated to assessing and mitigating China-related risks for corporations, NGOs, and governments.
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The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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Untitled design – 2026-02-26T134447.465

Eileen Gu’s Dual Loyalties Earn Her Double Resentment

Eileen Gu

U.S. Citizens

Winter Olympics

A former U.S. Air Force fighter pilot was arrested Wednesday on allegations that he traveled to China to illegally train combat pilots with the People’s Liberation Army. 
The Justice Department<a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-us-air-force-pilot-arrested-providing-defense-services-chinese-military"> announced</a> that 65-year-old Gerald Eddie Brown, Jr. had been charged with providing and conspiring to provide defense services to Chinese military pilots without authorization in violation of the Arms Export Control Act. Brown was arrested in Jeffersonville, Indiana, and is expected to make his first court appearance on Thursday. 
“Gerald Brown, a former F-35 Lightning II instructor pilot with decades of experience flying U.S. military aircraft, allegedly betrayed his country by training Chinese pilots to fight against those he swore to protect,” said Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division. “The Chinese government continues to exploit the expertise of current and former members of the U.S. armed forces to modernize China’s military capabilities.”
The complaint accused Brown of beginning in August 2023 to conspire with foreign nationals to train People’s Liberation Army Air Force combat pilots. It said that Brown did not obtain the proper license from the State Department to train a foreign military. 
Brown served in the U.S. Air Force for 24 years. He commanded sensitive units with responsibilities that included oversight of nuclear weapons delivery systems. He led combat missions and served as a fighter pilot instructor, according to the Justice Department. Before he retired in 1996, he was known by the call sign &#8220;Runner.&#8221; Brown also worked for multiple defense contractors in recent years on flight training. 
The Justice Department said that Brown worked with Stephen Su Bin, a Chinese national who pleaded guilty back in 2016 for conspiring to hack into the computer systems of multiple defense contractors. 
Brown traveled to China in December 2023, where he allegedly answered questions about the Air Force. According to the complaint, he told a co-conspirator in a message upon landing in China that he now had &#8220;the chance to fly and instruct fighter pilots again!” He did not return to the United States until February 2026. 
“As an Air Force Officer, Brown took an oath to defend our Nation against all enemies foreign and domestic, he broke that oath, and betrayed the country, jeopardizing the safety of our servicemembers and allies,” said U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro for the District of Columbia. “We will hold Brown, and anyone conspiring against our Nation, accountable for their actions.”
The case against Brown was investigated by the FBI’s New York Field Office.

NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500

He Served The U.S. Air Force For 24 Years. He’s Now Accused Of Training CCP Combat Pilots

Former Air Force Fighter Pilot Arrested For Training CCP Combat Pilots

Air Force

Department of Justice

Military

When President Trump addresses the nation tonight, Jimmy Lai’s daughter, Claire Lai, will sit in the chamber as a reminder that the Chinese Communist Party is still punishing dissidents who dared to believe in freedom. Earlier this month, we learned of the <a href="http://google.com/search?q=jimmy+lai+sentence&amp;sca_esv=190a96a9d156750b&amp;rlz=1CAGZLV_enUS889&amp;tbm=nws&amp;sxsrf=ANbL-n4Gq5fmGsUjNbcnkqRKkx3Ey-n_Pw:1771015882615&amp;ei=yo6PafujJYSlqtsPu-XyiQc&amp;start=10&amp;sa=N&amp;ved=2ahUKEwj7sMykrNeSAxWEkmoFHbuyPHEQ8NMDegQIBhAW&amp;biw=1536&amp;bih=695&amp;dpr=1.25">near-life sentence</a> handed down to the Hong Kong democracy advocate. But Lai is not merely a symbol of Beijing’s repression. He is a British citizen. And if it takes an American president to elevate his cause before the world, it raises an uncomfortable question for Prime Minister Keir Starmer: what, exactly, is British citizenship worth?
Jimmy Lai’s life reads like a true rags-to-riches story. Born in mainland China, a 12-year-old Lai traveled by boat to what at the time was British Hong Kong with no money to his name. Finding work in the garment industry, Lai climbed his way up from the factory floor to achieve billionaire status. He could have rested on his laurels and gone quietly into retirement, but that is not who Jimmy Lai is.
Lai recognizes that his rise is thanks to the rights and freedoms Hong Kongers grew accustomed to, thanks to years as a British colony. Promising decades of autonomy and freedom under the handover, the CCP gradually whittled down the freedoms enjoyed in the city. Jimmy Lai refused to take these encroachments lying down, engaging in memorials of the Tiananmen Square Massacre and publishing pro-democracy content in the Apple Daily, the newspaper he founded. Therefore, it was no shock that Lai incurred the wrath of the CCP in the form of the National Security Law (NSL), under which he was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/10/hong-kong-media-tycoon-jimmy-lai-arrested-over-alleged-foreign-collusion#:~:text=%E2%80%9CToday%27s%20police%20action%20upends%20those,in%20protest%20against%20his%20arrest." target="_blank" rel="noopener">arrested</a> in 2020 for allegedly colluding with foreign forces.
Enter Keir Starmer, the British prime minister. While Starmer’s government has voiced opposition to Lai’s imprisonment, it has thus far been unsuccessful in securing Lai&#8217;s release. So why is the conviction of a Chinese citizen the business of Starmer or Great Britain in general? After all, a spokesman for the Chinese government <a href="https://www.bastillepost.com/global/article/5598459-jimmy-lai-should-be-severely-punished-by-law-spokesman">denounced</a> criticism of Lai’s conviction as interference in an internal affair. However, there are several reasons why this issue matters to the British Government.
First, Hong Kong is not just a former British colony — it is a city in which Britain has treaty obligations. As a signatory to the Sino-British Joint Declaration, the UK is responsible for ensuring that China fulfills its promise to allow autonomy in Hong Kong. For Jimmy Lai specifically, he is a British passport holder and therefore a British citizen. Keir Starmer is as responsible for Jimmy Lai’s safety as he is for any other British citizen unjustly detained abroad.
Jimmy Lai is not the only British citizen being held in a foreign prison. Estimates are that there are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/nov/24/its-about-political-will-is-the-foreign-office-failing-britons-detained-abroad">thousands of Brits</a> detained or arrested in foreign countries. Jagtar Singh Johal has been imprisoned in India since 2017 after he confessed to involvement in a murder after police tortured a confession out of him. Every day that Jimmy Lai, Jagtar Singh Johal, and many others sit in prison is a day that Starmer is failing his citizenry.
What can Starmer do to help people like Jimmy Lai? For starters, he can stop treating the Chinese government like a friendly nation. The Jimmy Lai conviction is one of many examples where Starmer has been soft on China. His recent visit to Beijing <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2j04lk83zo">focused</a> on trade and tourism, but Starmer claims that he <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15543421/Keir-Starmer-accused-monumental-diplomatic-failure-China-jails.html">raised</a> the issue of Lai’s release when he was in China. This casual approach isn’t going to cut it. Unjust imprisonment is not some tertiary issue in diplomacy. What good are reduced tariffs on whiskey if British citizens aren’t safe when they travel to China?
If Keir Starmer wants to free Jimmy Lai and the other dissidents in Hong Kong, he needs to get tough on the Chinese government. First, trade negotiations need to stop until Lai is released from prison. The UK is failing its obligations to Hong Kong; now is the time to change course. Second, Starmer needs to shut down the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/20/world/europe/chinese-embassy-london-starmer.html">Chinese mega-embassy</a> project in London. Not only does the mega-embassy put critical communication cables at risk, but its construction will also allow the CCP to expand the transnational repression of other Hong Kong democracy advocates living in London. If Britain can’t protect its citizens abroad, the very least it can do is protect them on British territory.
Keir Starmer’s tenure at 10 Downing Street has been a disaster for a <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-epstein-files-threaten-to-topple-keir-starmers-labour-government/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">variety of reasons</a>, but his handling of the Jimmy Lai arrest only adds fuel to the fire. While Starmer’s days as PM might be limited, he can right this wrong if he acts quickly. By securing Jimmy Lai&#8217;s freedom, Keir Starmer will establish Britain’s diplomatic influence and potentially serve as a deterrent to other regimes hoping to illegally detain British citizens.
* * *
<a href="https://www.joinyv.org/talent/matthew-cookson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Matt Cookson</a> is an alumnus of the Young Voices Contributor Program and was a Middle East History and Policy Fellow with Young Voices. He also works in the supply chain for a U.S. Defense Contractor. His commentary has appeared in the Mises Institute, Real Clear Politics, the National Interest, Providence Magazine, China Source, and the Idaho Freedom Foundation. You can follow him on X @<a href="https://x.com/MattCookson95" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MattCookson95</a> and Substack @<a href="https://substack.com/@thewaythecookiecrumbles?utm_source=user-menu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">thewaythecookiecrumbles</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Activists In L.A. Rally Outside Chinese Consulate For Imprisoned Hong Kong Media Entrepreneur Jimmy Lai

As Jimmy Lai’s Daughter Attends Trump’s Address, Britain Faces An Uncomfortable Question

Donald Trump

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Hong Kong

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Mayor Eileen Wang of Arcadia, California, declined to comment on her former fiancé’s conviction at the first City Council meeting since his sentencing, despite previously acknowledging their relationship.
Yaoning “Mike” Sun, 65, was <a href="https://apnews.com/article/china-election-interference-california-yaoning-mike-sun-d514395039bea63a8c7b8814d29d1aaa">sentenced</a> on February 10 to four years in federal prison after pleading guilty in October 2025 to acting as an illegal agent of the People’s Republic of China without notifying the U.S. attorney general, as required by law. His guilty plea was entered and sentence imposed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
Prosecutors <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/political-operative-sentenced-48-months-federal-prison-acting-covert-agent-peoples-republic">alleged</a> that from at least 2022, when Wang said she became a Democrat, to January 2024, Sun “knowingly acted within the United States as an agent of the PRC and officials of its government — without notifying the Attorney General,” a violation of federal law designed to expose foreign influence operations. 
Sun <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/chino-hills-covert-agent-china-political-advisor-yaoning-sun-john-chen/">worked</a> as the campaign advisor to a candidate identified in court filings as “Individual 1,” who was elected to a Southern California city council seat in November 2022. While the individual was not named in court papers, Sun was listed as a campaign treasurer for Wang, then an Arcadia City Council candidate, on a 2022 campaign statement filing.
During a December 2022 Arcadia City Council meeting, Wang publicly praised Sun while referring to him as her fiancé. “To my fiancé, Mike Sun, who walked streets with me every single day, who is a real leader of me,” she said at the time. 
After Sun was indicted and charged, Wang sought to distance herself from that earlier characterization. In September 2025, she said, “No. 1, he’s not my fiancé. Whoever wants to say he’s my former fiancé, please prove it.” 
Sun’s conviction stems from what prosecutors describe as extensive covert activity on behalf of the Chinese government, including the dissemination of pro-Beijing propaganda and surveillance of individuals and groups that China viewed as adversarial. According to federal prosecutors, his duties included efforts to counter pro-Taiwan independence advocacy and influence public opinion through a purported local news site. 
According to the Department of Justice, Sun &#8220;closely surveilled the then-President of Taiwan during her April 2023 visit to Southern California, reporting directly to PRC officials on her movements.&#8221; 
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg condemned Sun’s activities, saying he “received and executed taskings from Chinese government officials, distorted our public discourse by disseminating Chinese propaganda, and surveilled groups in the United States that China viewed as threatening its interests as part of a campaign of intimidation.” 
Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division also released a statement at the time of sentencing: “When Americans vote for elected officials, they expect them to represent the interests of their constituents — not those of a foreign adversary like the Chinese government,” he said. “By exploiting his position as a campaign advisor, Yaoning Sun attempted to undermine our political processes and democratic institutions for the benefit of the Chinese Communist Party.” 
At the council meeting following Sun’s sentencing, Wang declined to address questions about his conviction or their prior relationship. Wang has not been accused of wrongdoing in connection with the case, and prosecutors have not charged her with any offense. However, her prior public references to Sun — and subsequent denials of that relationship — have drawn scrutiny in local and national media coverage. 
Federal prosecutions of unregistered foreign agents are part of broader U.S. counterintelligence efforts to stem covert influence operations on domestic political processes. Criminal filings in this case made clear that individuals acting at the direction of foreign governments are required by law to register with the U.S. Attorney General, a requirement Sun failed to meet. 
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Washington Prepares For Arrival Of Chinese President Hu Jintao

From City Hall Praise To Silent Treatment: Dem Mayor’s China Agent Problem

California

Communist China

Espionage

Los Angeles County

Politics

This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/introducing-upstream-a-lifestyle-and-culture-section-of-the-daily-wire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream,</a> The Daily Wire’s new home for for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
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It is perhaps inevitable that a major global event such as the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/winter-olympics">Olympic Games</a> will become politicized. From the Nazi appropriation of the 1936 Berlin Games to the long Cold War rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union, competition has always taken on what Al Michaels <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR56GJ05IMs&amp;t=5s">once called</a> a “nationalistic sense.” But at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games happening now, the media have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-do-olympians-feel-about-representing-the-u-s-at-winter-games">pushed</a> things to a whole new level. Journalists seem intent on turning Olympians into politicians.
The real flashpoint was <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-olympian-hunter-hess-responds-trump-loser/">an interview</a> with Team USA skier Hunter Hess. During a press conference, he was goaded into expressing his personal disagreements with certain Trump administration policies. “Just because I&#8217;m wearing the flag doesn&#8217;t mean I represent everything that&#8217;s going on in the U.S.,” he said. President Donald Trump himself shot back, calling Hess a “real loser.” The whole thing has turned into a media circus, distracting from the excellence all Team USA athletes have been pursuing.
To some extent, the media’s agenda here is pretty straightforward; politicization and incendiary headlines drive clicks and social media views. But there is also a real double standard that ought to outrage all Olympics fans and American citizens. Eileen Gu, a freestyle skier born and educated in the United States but competing for the People’s Republic of China, has mostly escaped questions about the Chinese Communist Party’s totalitarian atrocities. NBC, which broadcasts the Olympics in the United States, has even <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/news/nbc-lavishes-praise-on-american-born-olympic-skier-competing-for-china/">tried making</a> Gu into a star. The Today show did not ask her about the persecution of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jimmy-lai">Jimmy Lai</a> or the genocide of the Uyghur people, even while NBC has covered statements American athletes have made about U.S. immigration policy or social issues.
Unlike China, the U.S. government does not pay our athletes. The United States Olympic Committee is a federally chartered nonprofit and funded entirely by private sources. American Olympians may receive corporate sponsorships, but putting on the red, white, and blue and competing for our people is a sacrifice in a way that is not the case for other countries. These athletes are not hirelings; they find a way to turn the pursuit of personal excellence into an act of genuine patriotism. Authoritarian regimes can try buying themselves medals by recruiting mercenaries such as Gu, but they will never be able to purchase that genuine Olympic spirit.
There have been plenty of inspiring stories about American athletes at these games, but none provides a starker contrast with Gu than Team USA figure skater Alysa Liu. She was a star as a teenager, but she <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/sports/olympics/alysa-liu-rcna252418">retired</a> at the age of 16 to focus on living a normal life. Liu made a triumphant return to the world of figure skating in 2024, and she often <a href="https://usfigureskating.org/news/2026/1/30/national-team-figure-skating-liu-rejects-conventional-wisdom-while-embracing-artistry.aspx">explains</a> that her sport has become a kind of art. Already a gold medalist in the team event, Liu is currently positioned to medal again in the individual competition. Her skating is remarkably beautiful, a true wonder to behold.
Equally fascinating, though, is the political backdrop of Liu’s young career. Like Gu, she is the daughter of a Chinese immigrant to the United States. But unlike the skier, her family holds no illusions about the CCP’s tyranny. Liu’s father Arthur was <a href="https://abc7news.com/archive/6847285/">deeply involved</a> with the Chinese Democracy Movement in the 1980s, joining the protests at Tiananmen Square and witnessing the subsequent massacre firsthand. He has always been a vocal critic of the communist regime and is, in no uncertain terms, a political refugee.
The CCP initially tried recruiting Liu to skate for it under the same “naturalization program” that sponsored Gu’s defection. Given her family’s firsthand experience of communist oppression, though, she understandably rebuffed the effort. The CCP, however, would not take no for an answer. In 2022, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/16/china-targeted-dad-of-olympic-figure-skater-alysa-liu-new-doj-case-says.html">the Department of Justice charged</a> Chinese agents with conducting an intimidation campaign against the Liu family and other Chinese Americans critical of the regime. Apparently, one spy even <a href="https://apnews.com/article/travel-sports-crime-figure-skating-beijing-3cd135005bb769b507199012cd5a0d22">pretended</a> to be a USOC official to steal information from the Lius. The State Department even had to take special precautions to protect Alysa Liu when she competed in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
Perhaps the most American part of the story, though, is that Liu has used her massive platform as a figure skating star to shine the light on her father’s sacrifices and the fight for human rights. “Honestly I would just have the main focus be my dad&#8217;s story because his story is so cool and also everything … happened because of what he did,” <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/sports/us-figure-skater-alysa-liu-opens-up-being-targeted-chinese-spying-operation-fbis-protection">she said at a media summit in 2025</a>. “So, like I feel like we got to start with the roots.” 
“We represent the people,” she said in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-NL37UpSRU">another interview</a> when asked about patriotism at the games. Liu is only 20 years old, but already she understands that the flag she competes under means something more than nationalistic pride; it symbolizes the hope of freedom for millions worldwide. 
Authoritarian regimes in places such as China, Iran, and Russia have always sought to use the Olympic Games to promote their ideologies, and the commercial media are all too willing to turn a blind eye or even become complicit. But stories such as Liu’s, and those of other patriotic American athletes, demonstrate in no uncertain terms how incompatible that goal is with the true Olympic spirit. The freedom American athletes enjoy — even to criticize their own country — is in fact the reason why we consistently embody such excellence at the games. And that’s nothing to apologize for.
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Michael Lucchese is the founder of <a href="http://www.pipecreekconsulting.com/">Pipe Creek Consulting</a>, an associate editor of <a href="https://lawliberty.org/author/mluccheselibertyfund-org/">Law &amp; Liberty</a>, and a contributing editor to <a href="https://providencemag.com/authors/michael-lucchese/">Providence</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Figure Skating – Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics: Day 1

The Olympics Controversy That’s Suddenly About America Itself

Media

Patriotism

Upstream

Leftist New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez struggled to answer when asked how the United States should respond to China&#8217;s threat to take over Taiwan.
Ocasio-Cortez was part of a panel at the Munich Security Conference on Friday, alongside Michigan Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer and U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matt Whitaker. The panel focused on discussing U.S. foreign policy, but when the moderator asked Ocasio-Cortez if the United States should &#8220;commit U.S. troops to defend Taiwan, if China were to move,&#8221; the far-Left Democrat struggled to come up with an answer.
&#8220;I think that, uh, this is such a — you know, I think that this is a, umm — this is, of course, a uh, a very longstanding, umm, policy of the United States,&#8221; she began. &#8220;Uh, and I think that what we are hoping for is that we want to make sure we never get to that point, and we want to make sure we are moving in all of our economic research and our global positions to avoid any such confrontation and for that question to even arise.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
AOC is asked if the US should defend Taiwan in the event China invades. Her answer is a word salad disaster that would even make Kamala cringe: <a href="https://t.co/jgfMWiSfmE">pic.twitter.com/jgfMWiSfmE</a>
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClayTravis/status/2022477481576440253?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 14, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Daily Wire reached out to Ocasio-Cortez&#8217;s office, asking for clarification on her response.
Earlier during the panel discussion, Ocasio-Cortez said the wedge between the United States and China is more about &#8220;competition&#8221; than &#8220;conflict.&#8221;
&#8220;I think China is, of course, an ascending global power, growing very quickly, acting in its own self interests,&#8221; she said. &#8220;And oftentimes in Washington, there&#8217;s this frame between conflict and competition. I think sometimes depending on what&#8217;s happening, that rhetoric can get a little conflict-driven, and I think that it&#8217;s really a question of competition.&#8221;
In another panel on &#8220;the rise of populism&#8221; on Friday, Ocasio-Cortez <a href="https://youtu.be/rbmPHFIFC_U?si=I6QoD5oaxBNn8r8H&amp;t=2062">attempted</a> to describe President Trump&#8217;s shift to a new strategy on foreign policy and how the rest of the world has responded. Her remark, however, left people wondering what she meant.
&#8220;I think what we are seeking is a return to a rules-based order that eliminates the hypocrisies around when too often in the West, we look the other way for inconvenient populations to act out these paradoxes, whether it is kidnapping a foreign head of state, whether it is threatening our allies to colonize Greenland, whether it is looking the other way in a genocide. Hypocrisies are vulnerabilities, and they threaten democracies globally.&#8221;
Ocasio-Cortez was mocked over her answers on foreign policy and &#8220;the rise of populism,&#8221; with some commentators making comparisons to former Vice President Kamala Harris, who regularly made head-scratching remarks on the campaign trail and in interviews.
Both Ocasio-Cortez and Whitmer are viewed as potential Democratic presidential candidates who could compete for the nomination in 2028, but neither the governor nor the congresswoman seemed prepared to answer questions on important foreign policy topics during the Munich Security Conference panel.
In one <a href="https://x.com/Th_Midwesterner/status/2022681978911309884">exchange</a>, Whitmer was asked what she viewed as the solution to the war between Ukraine and Russia, but she tried to redirect the question to Ambassador Whitaker.
&#8220;No, please, I&#8217;d love to hear your answer,&#8221; Whitaker said after Whitmer asked him to take the question.
&#8220;The two that I am on the panel with are much more steeped in foreign policy than a governor is,&#8221; Whitmer said. &#8220;I do think that Ukraine&#8217;s independence, keeping their land mass and having the support of all the allies, I think is the goal from my vantage point. Go ahead, ambassador, do a better job.&#8221;

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

AOC Spits Out Word Salad When Asked About China, Refuses To Say If U.S. Should Defend Taiwan

Foreign Policy

Global Politics

Gretchen Whitmer

Taiwan

As if the 2020s couldn’t get more surreal, the United States is no longer only a global leader in economic and military power — but it has now become the go-to international hub for mass-producing babies.
This is not hyperbole. Chinese video-game billionaire <a href="https://www.wsj.com/us-news/chinese-billionaires-surrogacy-pregnancy-7fdfc0c3">Xu Bo</a> has reportedly fathered over 100 children — 12 of whom so far have been born via surrogates in the USA, thus gaining birth-right citizenship. Bo says he wants at least 20 US-born offspring — all boys (superior to girls) to one day take over his business. When a Los Angeles Court denied Bo parentage rights over 4 of these babies in 2023 — none of whom he had actually met yet, as he had been “busy” — it exposed the uncertain terrain of international surrogacy arrangements. Where, and to whom, did these children now belong?
In another disturbing story in the press this week, a surrogate mother in Nevada is now suing a Chinese couple in California, alleging she was deceived about their identities and intentions, learning only after giving birth that she had carried the twenty-sixth child for the same pair in quick succession. Some of the babies had been hospitalized by abuse. According to reports, the FBI is now <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/02/04/us-news/surrogate-sues-chinese-parents-of-26-she-claims-duped-her-tell-me-the-truth-about-the-baby-i-carried/">investigating</a> whether the couple were selling these babies they were producing at scale.
Meanwhile, members of Congress are <a href="https://blakemoore.house.gov/media/press-releases/representatives-blake-moore-john-moolenaar-introduce-legislation-to-prevent-foreign-adversaries-from-abusing-american-surrogacy-industry">scrambling</a> to address federal loopholes that allow foreign nationals to use American surrogacy services while securing birthright citizenship for those children.
The free market is one of the great engines of American prosperity, but it has never meant that anything and everything may be bought and sold. America prohibits the sale of organs, the sale of votes, and the sale of citizenship. Western countries do so not because we oppose free markets, but because we understand that some things are too fundamental to human dignity and national integrity to be reduced to commerce.
Surrogacy crosses that line. Under surrogacy, a child becomes a commodity exchanged for cash. Women become raw materials to be exploited for reproductive gain. Payment structures, abortion clauses, ‘selective reduction’ decisions in the case of twins or triplets — all are negotiated with a “surrogate” mother in advance, and are usually at the discretion of the “commissioning party”. Whatever sales language is used — “intended parents,” “journey,” “compassion” — the structure is unmistakably commercial. And increasingly, it is international. <a href="https://eggdonorandsurrogacy.com/surrogacy-trends-2025/">Projections</a> suggest the global surrogacy market will exceed $129 billion by 2034.
Even in situations outside of the extreme, surrogacy is harmful to children. Every surrogacy deal, no matter how well-intentioned, deliberately inflicts a severance wound on a newborn baby – isolating her from the only mother she has ever known – and places her in the care of the adults who commissioned its trauma. Psychologists warn that this kind of early separation can produce lasting harm — post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, attachment disorders, developmental delays, and behavioral issues in later childhood. What adults call a miracle, the child experiences as loss. We don’t allow puppies or kittens to be separated from their mothers until at least 8 weeks following their birth. The commodification of human newborns is striking in comparison.
A national ban on surrogacy is obviously necessary to protect babies from being commercialized, and women’s bodies from being commodified as wombs-for-rent. But a domestic ban will not be enough to fully prevent this exploitation. It isn’t only Chinese billionaires who look to take advantage of reproductive technologies abroad.
Where American couples have found the cost of surrogacy prohibitive at home, they’ve looked to economically vulnerable women in lower-GDP countries – Mexico, Guatemala, Nigeria, across Southeast Asia – to rent their wombs for less. To end exploitation, America must shut down their own role as a consumer in the global trade too.
National bans have turned into an international cat-and-mouse chase. When India banned surrogacy for foreigners after years of operating as a hub for cheaper “reproductive tourism,” international surrogacy clinics quickly migrated to Nepal and Thailand. When Thailand restricted commercial arrangements following scandals, agencies shifted operations over to Cambodia. After Cambodia shut them down, they popped up in Laos. Bans move in the right direction, but we need a global crackdown, fast, to prevent the overseas baby trade from flourishing from one country to the next.
The U.N. Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls, Reem Alsalem, is in agreement. She called for a complete global abolition of surrogacy in her <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/10/un-expert-calls-recognition-surrogacy-system-violence-exploitation-and-abuse">recent report</a> to the United Nations, highlighting human rights abuses intrinsically interwoven in the use of women’s bodies as gestational vessels. The United States is in a powerful international position to embrace this mandate and take a lead on the world stage.
A national ban on surrogacy is an imperative to prevent exploitation at home, but further work must be done to ensure that wealthy American couples don’t continue this unethical practice by buying babies from overseas. For this administration, that means pursuing international cooperation on the issue; negotiating agreements to prohibit such trade; and promoting a shared commitment to protect human dignity across borders. America should have no part in the global trade of human life — be it as consumers or suppliers of the goods. Babies simply aren’t for sale.
* * *
Lois McLatchie Miller (@LoisMcLatch) is a writer and commentator from Great Britain.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Doctor examining a pregnant woman

How America Became A Hub For Global Surrogacy

babies

Children

Pregnancy

Surrogacy

WASHINGTON—When President Donald Trump heads to Beijing this spring, he&#8217;ll have the opportunity to do what pretty much no one else in the world can: convince Chinese President Xi Jinping to free Jimmy Lai, a pro-democracy newspaper publisher and media tycoon imprisoned by the Chinese Communist Party.
The 78-year-old Lai was sentenced Monday to 20 years in prison under a national security law used by the Chinese Communist Party to crack down on dissenters. At his age, and with his declining health, the CCP&#8217;s sentence means he&#8217;ll die in prison.
Lai is a Chinese-born British citizen who published &#8220;Apple Daily&#8221; in Hong Kong from 1995 to 2021. Chinese authorities arrested top executives at the publication and froze its assets in 2021, and, after a two-year trial and five-year detention, Lai was convicted in December 2025 of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and publish seditious material.
Authorities paint him as &#8220;the mastermind and behind-the-scenes manipulator,&#8221; celebrating the 20-year-sentence.
His daughter, who advocates on her father&#8217;s behalf in the United States, describes him very differently. In an interview with The Daily Wire, Claire Lai praised her father&#8217;s courage in the face of oppression. She shared that he mails her letters from prison — letters that include prayers of deep faith and acceptance, offering his sufferings up to Jesus Christ and encouraging his fellow prisoners to do the same.
&#8220;From the very first day I went to visit him, I remember I was very emotional,&#8221; Claire told The Daily Wire. Her father comforted her, she says, by telling her that &#8220;he&#8217;s in God&#8217;s good hands, and he&#8217;ll find ways to serve him from behind bars.&#8221; 
&#8220;I know that God will continue to give him the strength to persevere in faith,&#8221; she said. &#8220;We need to persevere in fighting for his freedom.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_1041709" style="width: 429px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/?attachment_id=1041709" rel="attachment wp-att-1041709"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1041709" class="wp-image-1041709 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-10-at-11.59.53-AM-419x576.png" alt="Claire Lai with her father Jimmy Lai. " width="419" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-10-at-11.59.53-AM-419x576.png 419w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-10-at-11.59.53-AM-218x300.png 218w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-10-at-11.59.53-AM-768x1055.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-10-at-11.59.53-AM.png 1026w" sizes=" (max-width: 419px) 100vw, 419px" /></a>Claire Lai with her father Jimmy Lai.</div>
Trump has said that he will do everything he can to save Lai. He will head to Beijing in April, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/04/trump-and-chinas-xi-speak-by-phone-ahead-of-beijing-trip-00764343">POLITICO reports</a> (though the White House says dates have not yet been finalized), where Lai&#8217;s family hopes the president will make the case for their father&#8217;s freedom.
“I feel so badly,” Trump said in December after Lai&#8217;s conviction. “I spoke to President Xi about it, and I asked to consider his release. He’s not well. He’s an older man and he’s not well, so I did put that request out. We’ll see what happens.”
On Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the Hong Kong High Court’s decision to sentence Lai to 20 years, calling it &#8220;an unjust and tragic conclusion to this case.&#8221; Rubio urged the authorities to grant Lai humanitarian parole, arguing that Lai and his family &#8220;have suffered enough.&#8221;
&#8220;It shows the world that Beijing will go to extraordinary lengths to silence those who advocate fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong, casting aside the international commitments Beijing made in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration,&#8221; Rubio said.
Asked by The Daily Wire about Lai&#8217;s fate during the White House press briefing Tuesday, Karoline Leavitt <a href="https://x.com/realDailyWire/status/2021301791229411718?s=20">suggested that the president may advocate for Lai</a> in April.
“This is something I&#8217;ve heard the President advocate for, both publicly and privately,&#8221; she told The Daily Wire. &#8220;I had the honor of being in that meeting with President Trump and President Xi in South Korea that took place, and this was brought up by the President himself. It is important to him, and he looks forward to visiting China in April.”
Lai&#8217;s daughter is incredibly grateful for the strong American interest in her father&#8217;s plight and hopeful that American intervention might save her father.
&#8220;We are extremely grateful,&#8221; she said, &#8220;to [Trump] and to his administration, [that has] a proven track record of freeing those [who] were unjustly detained abroad and doing so with a high degree of success. We are just hopeful that our father will be one of them.&#8221; 
Lai&#8217;s friends and family have highlighted his plight for years. Claire&#8217;s brother Sebastian Lai lives in London, where he leads the international campaign to free his father. Her mother remains in China and was present at Jimmy&#8217;s sentencing on Monday.
In interviews, they describe how he was arrested and detained, and forced to spend more than 1,800 days in solitary confinement.
China&#8217;s 2020 National Security Law is so vaguely worded and so arbitrarily applied that Claire Lai knows she could face retribution for speaking out in her father&#8217;s defense while in China. She has lived in the United Kingdom and the United States for the past few years as she begs the world to help save her father.
She takes great solace in her Catholic faith, which she shares with both her mother and her father. Jimmy Lai is a Catholic convert with a deep love for Jesus Christ. His daughter shares that he used to draw pictures of Jesus Christ on the cross for other prisoners until he was told by his prison guards that he was no longer permitted to do so.
From prison, he writes to his daughter, offering her prayers of comfort and solace.
&#8220;The day that [British Prime Minister Keir Starmer] flew to China, I was feeling quite uneasy,&#8221; she reflected to The Daily Wire, recalling the day that Starmer went to China to meet with President Xi. She went to mass at Immaculate Conception Church, a parish in Washington D.C., and prayed for the strength to accept whatever happened to her father.  
&#8220;A few days later I got a letter from Dad,&#8221; she shared, &#8220;and in his letters he sends me his prayers and he basically echoed what I was feeling in that moment&#8230;he was in our Lord&#8217;s good hands.&#8221; 
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/?attachment_id=1041967" rel="attachment wp-att-1041967"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-1041967 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/IMG_3081-1024x360.png" alt="" width="1024" height="360" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/IMG_3081-1024x360.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/IMG_3081-300x106.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/IMG_3081-768x270.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/IMG_3081.png 1199w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
&#8220;I think that that&#8217;s what has seen him through the last few years,&#8221; she said. &#8220;And at times it&#8217;s really just our good Lord which has seen him through the bad days.&#8221; 
Claire Lai shared copies of her father&#8217;s prayers exclusively with The Daily Wire, prayers in which Jimmy Lai surrenders his future to Jesus Christ, asking Jesus Christ to &#8220;work in me and through me.&#8221;
<blockquote>
You are the all-seeing, all-knowing God. Your eyes, oh Lord, are in every place&#8230;You are present and conscious of all I think, every deed or act, however slight, every word, however quick&#8230;every thought of my heart, however secret, however momentary. However forgotten, you see, O Lord, you see and note down&#8230; “Whither shall I go from your Spirit?” (Ps 139:7) I am in your hands, O Lord, absolutely.
</blockquote>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/?attachment_id=1041969" rel="attachment wp-att-1041969"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-1041969 size-large aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/IMG_3079-821x576.png" alt="" width="821" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/IMG_3079-821x576.png 821w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/IMG_3079-300x210.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/IMG_3079-768x539.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/IMG_3079.png 1282w" sizes=" (max-width: 821px) 100vw, 821px" /></a>
In another prayer, Jimmy Lai acknowledges the longevity of his imprisonment thus far, offering his sickness and confusion up for &#8220;some great end which is quite beyond us&#8221; and arguing that Jesus Christ &#8220;does nothing in vain.&#8221;
<blockquote>
We are all created to His glory. We are created to do His will. Therefore: I will trust him&#8230;if I am sick; my sickness may serve Him; in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him; if in sorrow, my sorrow may serve him. My sickness or my perplexity or my sorrow may be necessary causes of some great end which is beyond us. He does nothing in vain. Lord, deign to fulfill your high purposes in me whatever they may be. Work in me and through me.
Cheers, Dad.
</blockquote>
And in yet another letter, he tells his daughter that his suffering over the past few years has brought him closer to God.
<blockquote>
I am actually most grateful for God to have put me through this suffering in order for me to get closer to His presence. What a joy and treasure for this life and next. God’s action confounds us but always turns out to be marvellous for us.
</blockquote>
Lai&#8217;s daughter is also deeply religious, mentioning multiple Catholic saints during her conversation with The Daily Wire, including Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish priest imprisoned by Nazis in Auschwitz who offered to die in the place of another prisoner. When she is particularly worried about her father, she shared, she goes to mass in the evenings and receives the Eucharist, which is a huge source of comfort to her.
&#8220;In that moment I know what Maximilian Kolbe meant,&#8221; she said, quoting the Catholic martyr, who is remembered saying: “If angels would be jealous of men, they would be so for one reason: Holy Communion.”
&#8220;It&#8217;s exactly what I needed, and I think it was our good Lord giving me comfort. I don&#8217;t think anyone can convince me otherwise. I know he&#8217;s giving my father strength to persist in faith.&#8221;
For Catholics, receiving the Eucharist at Mass is of pivotal importance, since Catholics believe that receiving the Eucharist allows the faithful to be closely united with Jesus Christ himself. But for about two and a half years, Claire says, her father was denied the Eucharist in prison. The Chinese government told them that he was receiving the Eucharist regularly, but she insists they were lying.
&#8220;I counted,&#8221; she said. &#8220;He received it, in 2.5 years, a total of 11 times. That is not regular.&#8221; 
<div id="attachment_1041687" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/?attachment_id=1041687" rel="attachment wp-att-1041687"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1041687" class="wp-image-1041687 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-456234504-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-456234504-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-456234504-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-456234504-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-456234504.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>Hong Kong media tycoon and pro-democracy supporter Jimmy Lai attends a rally near the government headquarters in Hong Kong on September 28, 2014.  (Photo by ALEX OGLE/AFP via Getty Images)</div>
Outside pressure occasionally leads to better treatment for her father, but over the past five years, his treatment has gone from bad to worse. She speaks to him through physical letters that they mail to each other. She writes to him about once a week, but often doesn&#8217;t receive his responses for up to a month as they are processed.
His health is failing him. He has been diabetic for over 30 years, and throughout his imprisonment, Claire and the rest of his family have watched Jimmy&#8217;s pre-existing health conditions worsen due to a lack of care. She says his blood sugar is checked once every three weeks, and he&#8217;s developed new health conditions — heart issues, blood pressure problems, an enlarged spleen, and more.
The United Kingdom and the United Nations have requested that the Chinese government send an independent consultant in to check on him, she says, but that has been rejected.
&#8220;We are extremely worried for his health and the conditions in which he&#8217;s kept,&#8221; she said.
&#8220;His body is failing, but he is such a spirited man.&#8221; 
<div id="attachment_1041713" style="width: 856px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/?attachment_id=1041713" rel="attachment wp-att-1041713"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1041713" class="wp-image-1041713 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-10-at-11.57.52-AM-846x576.png" alt="Claire Lai with her parents. " width="846" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-10-at-11.57.52-AM-846x576.png 846w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-10-at-11.57.52-AM-300x204.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-10-at-11.57.52-AM-768x523.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-10-at-11.57.52-AM-1536x1046.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-10-at-11.57.52-AM.png 1924w" sizes=" (max-width: 846px) 100vw, 846px" /></a>Claire Lai with her parents.</div>
Jimmy Lai is imprisoned with a number of other political prisoners in Hong Kong, his daughter shared. Many of them are not Catholic or even Christian, and Jimmy has sought to convert his fellow prisoners by drawing the crucifixion for them.
&#8220;On the other side, he would write instructions on how to pray, sometimes what to read, and sometimes he would ask me to get certain books, or get the Bishop Barron&#8217;s &#8216;Word on Fire&#8217; for them,&#8221; she explained, referring to the work of Bishop Robert Barron. 
&#8220;One day, the guards told him that he has to stop sending it to prisoners because some people have decided to convert as a result,&#8221; she said sadly. 
There was one agnostic prisoner, imprisoned a few months after her father, who was struggling intensely with his new life in prison. His distress finally prompted him to ask Jimmy for help learning how to pray, she said, and the two men began exchanging letters back and forth. Her father drew a picture of Jesus Christ crucified for the agnostic prisoner, telling him, according to his daughter, that &#8220;when the suffering gets too much for you, just pretend like you&#8217;re hiding under his feet, and offering your suffering up to him.&#8221; 
&#8220;That would make it all better,&#8221; Claire says, &#8220;because&#8230;if you&#8217;re looking for God&#8217;s grace, you really don&#8217;t have to look far.&#8221; 
The other prisoner wasn&#8217;t immediately convinced. But one day, Claire says, her father got a letter from the prisoner, saying: &#8220;I know what you mean now.&#8221;
&#8220;That really touched me,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I have always been Catholic, but if I was agnostic and I was going through a whole different, and intense suffering, I&#8217;m not sure if I could have done that, but he did.&#8221;
That is the legacy Jimmy Lai will be remembered for in his Hong Kong prison, by his family, and by his many supporters throughout the world: a man who prayed through his suffering and taught others to pray with him.
His daughter is still hopeful that he will be freed. Yet, at the same time, she knows that the grief-stricken past few years have taught her exactly what he wished.
&#8220;At the start of his imprisonment he said all he wanted was for us, his children, to see the reality of the world through the grace and mercy of God,&#8221; she said. &#8220;And I am reminded that is what he always did.&#8221;

Jimmy Lai Collage

Why Donald Trump’s Visit To Beijing Could Decide Jimmy Lai’s Fate

Marco Rubio

President Donald Trump tore into Canada again on Monday, threatening to prevent the opening of a bridge connecting Ontario to Michigan — a project finally nearing completion after almost eight years of construction.
Trump blasted Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney for holding trade talks with China as Canada continues to levy tariffs on U.S. products. The president said that Canada must treat &#8220;the United States with the Fairness and Respect that we deserve,&#8221; and until that happens, he will not allow the bridge to open.
&#8220;The Tariffs Canada charges us for our Dairy products have, for many years, been unacceptable, putting our Farmers at great financial risk. I will not allow this bridge to open until the United States is fully compensated for everything we have given them, and also, importantly, Canada treats the United States with the Fairness and Respect that we deserve,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116043090074364624">wrote</a> on Truth Social. &#8220;We will start negotiations, IMMEDIATELY.&#8221;
The bridge, which is named after Detroit Red Wings hockey legend Gordie Howe, would connect Windsor, Ontario, to the Motor City. The Canadian government paid for its construction and would jointly own the bridge with the state of Michigan, The Detroit News <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2026/02/09/trump-threatens-to-block-gordie-howe-international-bridge-from-opening-michigan-ontario-canada/88597688007/">reported</a>.
The Gordie Howe International Bridge is slated to open sometime this year, but Trump&#8217;s threat could throw a wrench in those plans. While the bridge would be partly owned by Michigan, Trump could prevent the bridge from being operational by declining to staff the port of entry with U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, however, promised Michigan&#8217;s Democratic senators last year that the crossing would be staffed.
Trump complained that Canada constructed the bridge &#8220;with virtually no U.S. content,&#8221; adding, &#8220;They own both the Canada and the United States side.&#8221; Trump also criticized former President Barack Obama for &#8220;stupidly&#8221; granting Canada a waiver &#8220;so they could get around the BUY AMERICAN Act, and not use any American products, including our Steel.&#8221;
Michigan Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who met with Trump in the Oval Office last year, wasn&#8217;t concerned with the bridge&#8217;s grand opening being pushed back because of Trump&#8217;s comments.
&#8220;It&#8217;s going to open one way or another, and the governor looks forward to attending the ribbon cutting,&#8221; a Whitmer spokeswoman said on Monday. The spokeswoman said the Gordie Howe Bridge is &#8220;a tremendous example of bipartisan and international cooperation.&#8221;
The bridge would allow people to cross the border by bike, on foot, or in a vehicle. There are currently two ways for vehicles to cross from Detroit into Windsor, or vice versa: through the Windsor Tunnel, which runs under the Detroit River, or across the Ambassador Bridge, a 96-year-old suspension bridge. The Gordie Howe International Bridge would help with traffic congestion at the U.S.-Canada border crossing while also providing a more direct connection between I-75 and Ontario&#8217;s Highway 401.
Last month, Canada and China reached a preliminary agreement on trade that would lower some tariffs, including on Chinese electric vehicles shipped to Canada. After Prime Minister Carney and Chinese President Xi Jinping held trade talks, Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115950424403894234">threatened</a> to increase U.S. tariffs on Canadian products to 100% if the two countries reached a deal. Trump also warned Carney against allowing China to use Canada as a &#8220;drop off port&#8221; to send its goods into the United States.
&#8220;China will eat Canada alive, completely devour it, including the destruction of their businesses, social fabric, and general way of life,&#8221; the president said. &#8220;If Canada makes a deal with China, it will immediately be hit with a 100% Tariff against all Canadian goods and products coming into the U.S.A.&#8221;
On Monday, Trump warned that if Canada agrees to a deal with China, &#8220;The first thing China will do is terminate ALL Ice Hockey being played in Canada, and permanently eliminate The Stanley Cup.&#8221;

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Trump Rips Canada, Threatens To Shut Down Grand Opening Of Bridge Connecting Ontario To Michigan

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The latest release of FBI files reveals little evidence that Jeffrey Epstein ran a sex-trafficking ring, Vice President JD Vance becomes the highest-ranking American official to visit Armenia, and a Hong Kong court sentences pro-democracy CCP critic Jimmy Lai to prison.
It’s Tuesday, February 10, 2026, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">FBI’s Epstein Files Findings</h2>
Analysis of newly released Epstein documents shows that the FBI found little evidence that Jeffrey Epstein was running a sex-trafficking ring for powerful individuals. According to an analysis of millions of documents released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the FBI found insufficient evidence that Epstein was operating a sex-trafficking ring involving other wealthy or influential people. While the files confirm that Epstein sexually abused underage girls, there was not enough evidence to prove that he supplied minors to other powerful men. These conclusions are based on media reports of released DOJ and FBI documents, such as internal memos, and the DOJ has not issued an independent statement confirming these findings. Some politicians and commentators say there are far too many redactions and not enough of the documents have been released. The DOJ says many documents could not be made public for several reasons, including victim privacy.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Vance’s Historic Armenia Trip</h2>
Vice President Vance became the first president or vice president in American history to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-new-beginning-jd-vance-signs-nuclear-deal-in-historic-visit-to-armenia?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=%E2%80%98A+New+Beginning%E2%80%99%3A+JD+Vance+Signs+Nuclear+Deal+In+Historic+Visit+To+Armenia">travel</a> to Armenia this week. He met on Monday with Armenia’s Prime Minister, who signed a document reaffirming Armenia’s commitment to peace with Azerbaijan. The peace was negotiated six months ago by President Donald Trump after more than 30 years of conflict. The vice president also announced a deal for the United States to sell Armenia $11 million in drone technology, and that the two countries are working on a civil nuclear agreement. Stepan Sargsyan, a former Armenian governor who works closely with the prime minister, spoke to The Daily Wire about Armenia’s geopolitical importance: “The United States has a strategic interest into region because, both Armenia and Azerbaijan, being in the South Caucasus, represent an important corridor which serves as a bridge between East and West, be it for various oil and gas pipelines or trade between China and Europe.”
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Jimmy Lai Sentenced</h2>
In what’s being seen as a major blow to the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong, British businessman Jimmy Lai was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hong-kong-court-sends-ccp-critic-pro-democracy-publisher-jimmy-lai-to-prison-for-20-years">sentenced</a> to 20 years in prison on Monday. Lai’s newspaper, Apple Daily, was widely seen as the last free press outlet in Hong Kong. Lai is now 78 years old, which means he could very likely spend the rest of his life in prison. His chances of escaping now lie with President Trump, according to Robert Sirico, a Catholic priest and longtime friend of Lai. Trump has previously pushed for Lai’s release, and he has another meeting scheduled with Xi Jinping, head of China&#8217;s ruling Communist Party, in April. That could be where a deal for Lai is negotiated. Sirico told The Daily Wire in December, after Lai was convicted, that Lai’s release should be a top priority, despite the complexity that bargaining over Lai’s life would cause in international relations. “We are being judged by this, the way we react to this man. This man needs to be a Solzhenitsyn. He needs to be a Mandela. He needs to be seen in that light,” said Sirico.

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Morning Brief: The FBI’s Epstein Findings, JD Vance In Armenia, & Jimmy Lai Sent To Prison

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Pro-democracy newspaper publisher Jimmy Lai was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Hong Kong on Monday under a national security law imposed by Beijing and widely used to crack down on critics of the Chinese Communist Party. 
Lai, a 78-year-old Chinese-born British citizen and media tycoon, was convicted in December 2025 of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and to publish seditious material. His newspaper, Apple Daily, was published in Hong Kong from 1995 to 2021, when authorities froze its assets and arrested top executives, forcing it to shut down.  
China governs Hong Kong as a special administrative region, but Beijing has tightened its grip in recent years, imposing the law used to prosecute and sentence Lai.
Lai was accused of supporting the massive pro-democracy protests that broke out in Hong Kong in 2019 and has been detained since his arrest in August 2020, spending more than 1800 days in solitary confinement. He was held under the 2020 National Security Law, which punishes speech or conduct that the government claims threatens its authority. 
“We welcome the court’s heavy sentence of 20 years for Jimmy Lai. It highlights his role as the mastermind and behind-the-scenes manipulator,” Hong Kong police official Steve Li after the sentencing on Monday. 
The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/02/08/world/jimmy-lai-sentenced-hong-kong">reported</a> that Lai smiled and waved to supporters in the courtroom gallery after his sentencing. Six former Apple Daily employees were also sentenced Monday, receiving prison terms ranging from six to ten years.  
British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper <a href="https://x.com/FCDOGovUK/status/2020740332262961171">said</a> Lai’s prosecution was “politically motivated” and that he was punished for expressing his viewpoints. 
&#8220;For the 78-year-old, this is tantamount to a life sentence. I remain deeply concerned for Mr Lai’s health, and I again call on the Hong Kong authorities to end his appalling ordeal and release him on humanitarian grounds, so that he may be reunited with his family,” she said. 
Claire Lai, Jimmy Lai’s daughter, called the sentence “heartbreakingly cruel.” 
“If this sentence is carried out, he will die a martyr behind bars,” she said. 
Sebastian Lai said that his father had &#8220;decided to dedicate his life to defending the freedoms of Hong Kong&#8221;.
&#8220;For that heroism, he&#8217;s being punished, he&#8217;s essentially getting a death sentence for that,&#8221; he <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cq5yv581e9yt">told</a> the BBC. &#8220;Surely a man who has given so much for liberty, for freedom, deserves a bit of it himself.&#8221;
The State Department condemned the sentencing and called for Lai&#8217;s release. 
&#8220;The Hong Kong High Court’s decision to sentence Jimmy Lai to 20 years is an unjust and tragic conclusion to this case. It shows the world that Beijing will go to extraordinary lengths to silence those who advocate fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong, casting aside the international commitments Beijing made in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration,&#8221; Marco Rubio said. &#8220;After enduring a trial lasting two years, and detention in prison for more than five, Mr. Lai and his family have suffered enough.  The United States urges the authorities to grant Mr. Lai humanitarian parole.&#8221;
Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI), the chair of the House Select Committee on China, said that the sentencing was the “latest stain on the human rights record of the Chinese Communist Party.” 
“Lai and his Apple Daily colleagues are being punished for exposing the truth about the CCP&#8217;s attacks on the rights of Hong Kongers,” he said. “President Trump made it abundantly clear to General Secretary Xi in October that Lai should be freed and allowed to leave Hong Kong to be with his family.”

China Imposes National Security Law In Hong Kong

Hong Kong Court Sends CCP Critic, Pro-Democracy Publisher Jimmy Lai To Prison For 20 Years

Beijing-Imposed Law Sends 78-Year-Old CCP Critic, Pro-Democracy Publisher To Prison For 20 Years

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