President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping have barely finished shaking hands in Washington, and they already have two more face-to-face meetings on the calendar.
Xi announced Friday that he and Trump will meet again in November at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit November 18-19 in Shenzhen, China,  and then again in December at the G20 summit at Trump National Doral in Miami.
If both meetings take place as planned, Trump and Xi will have met face-to-face four times in 2026 — an “unprecedented” frequency for the leaders of the world’s two largest economies, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-23/donald-trump-xi-jinping-meeting-washington-trade-ai/107179684">according</a> to Wu Xinbo, director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University.
 The meetings will mark a remarkable burst of personal diplomacy between Washington and Beijing. Trump and Xi first met this year in May, when Trump traveled to Beijing. They met again this week during Xi’s three-day state visit to Washington, and will meet in Shenzhen in November before returning to the United States for the G20 in December.
The sheer frequency of the encounters comes as the United States and China continue to manage a sprawling list of disputes, including trade, critical minerals, artificial intelligence, Taiwan and China’s relationship with Iran.
Xi made the announcement during a tea ceremony with Trump in the White House’s Red Room on Friday. “Looking ahead to the remainder of this year, there will be two more opportunities for us to meet each other,” Xi said. “Firstly, the APEC meeting in China, and then the G20 summit in the United States.”
“I do welcome you, Mr. President, and the first lady to visit China,” Xi added.
Trump responded, “We will, and we’ll be speaking a lot.”
Trump later confirmed the meetings on <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump?gsid=0ef48d72-f8ab-4c33-ab4e-1f2472204583">Truth Social</a>, writing that Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, had departed Washington for China after a visit marked by “Friendship, Strength, and Success.”
“We will be meeting again in November, in China, and then at the G20 in December, in Miami, Florida,” Trump wrote. “Much has been, and will be, accomplished.” The announcement came as the two sides wrapped up a summit that emphasized personal diplomacy but produced few breakthroughs on the biggest disputes between Washington and Beijing.
The United States and China agreed to extend their trade truce by two months, through January 10, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, giving the two governments more time to negotiate rather than letting tariffs and export restrictions escalate immediately.
Trump also said he and Xi discussed the war in Iran during their private 90-minute meeting, while U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/video/2026/09/25/u-s-amb-to-china-david-perdue-on-trump-xi-summit-ai-arms-race-and-u-s-china-trade-relations.html">said</a> Trump had made clear that Washington considers Chinese assistance to Tehran unacceptable.
But the summit did not produce major new agreements on artificial intelligence, critical minerals or the broader structure of the economic relationship. Some analysts questioned how much substantive progress had been made beyond extending the existing arrangement.
That leaves the next two meetings with unusual significance. The November APEC summit will bring the leaders together in China just weeks after the American midterm elections, while the December G20 will give them another opportunity to address the unresolved economic and strategic disputes between their countries.
Scott Kennedy, a China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, cautioned that the symbolism of repeated meetings should not be confused with concrete policy achievements. &#8220;I don&#8217;t see the US being able to wrangle any large concessions out of China on any big issues for the rest of the year,” Kennedy said. &#8220;Most of this will be theatre … [I&#8217;m] not expecting large deliverables.&#8221; 
The unusually frequent contact could nevertheless give Trump and Xi more opportunities to intervene personally when negotiations between their governments get stuck.

President Trump Welcomes China’s President Xi At Joint Base Andrews

Trump, Xi Barely Finish State Visit Before Booking Two More Meetings

apec

china

donald trump

us china trade relations

world

xi jinping

As I sat in standstill traffic Thursday night along with everyone else stupid enough to drive through Washington just before an affair of state, I had plenty of time to think about the protesters dotting the corners of the capital.
There were Tibetan and Taiwanese flags, posters and chants mocking and slamming Xi Jinping, and calls for freedom in China. But on every street corner there also appeared a different group: China supporters, waving flags and banners that said, in both Mandarin and English, “A warm welcome to Chairman Xi on his visit to the U.S.” and “Hello, Uncle Xi.”
That’s not something you see every day. Terrorist sympathizers, Russian fanatics, even Iranian apologists pop up at protests, in the news, and certain Senate races. But people don’t turn out to cheer Xi or the Politburo in Beijing. Which is why I can’t help but think that those supporters were at best paid actors, at worst, Chinese nationals coerced into showing support for Xi for fear of retribution.
We know that Chinese students studying in American universities are terrified to even mildly criticize their home country in classroom discussion, worried that their fellow expatriate students might report home on their dissent. Those who dare engage in pro-democracy activities, or otherwise criticize the regime, receive <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/even-on-us-campuses-china-cracks-down-on-students-who-speak-out" target="_blank" rel="noopener">frantic calls</a> from relatives back home who have been threatened by state police.
It’s a good reminder of who exactly we’re dealing with: China is still China, no matter how nicely Xi and President Trump smile for the cameras.
But it’s also a good reminder of who we are, or at least, who we ought to be. While Xi arrived at Thursday’s State Dinner with a group of apparatchiks, Trump packed the room with American CEOs and executives. Among the star-studded invitees were Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Michael Dell, Sundar Pichai, and Sam Altman.
A few things stand out about the titans of industry who assembled in the East Room of the White House. The first, of course, is that Elon Musk is back in the fold after a protracted rift with the president. The Tesla CEO and former DOGE head battled ruthlessly and publicly with the president for months. But now it seems the hatchet has been buried — Elon was seated with Trump and Xi, all smiles all night.
That alone is enough to remind us of the important ways we’re different from China. It’s hard to imagine a Chinese tech executive who criticized Xi keeping his life, let alone his job — to say nothing of being warmly welcomed back into the inner circle.
The same goes for Altman, whose calls for an industry-wide AI pause the president <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/23/altman-amodei-un-ai-safety.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">slammed</a> as part of a “globalist scheme.” This wasn’t some long-forgotten squabble — Trump said it the day before the dinner. And there was Altman, yukking it up with the president and Elon and Mark Zuckerberg.
AI, of course, was the specter haunting the evening. When we talk about our competition with China, we’re no longer talking about manufacturing or Belt and Road or arming Tibet — although all of those things still matter. But increasingly all that matters is AI. Who’s going to win the Cold War for this new technology? Who’s going to control the chips, the data centers, the future?
As The Daily Wire’s Brecca Stoll <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/data-center-critics-love-to-cite-this-study-its-authors-have-ties-to-china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> just this week, the authors of a paper frequently cited by data center critics are bound up in a web of CCP ties. It seems to suggest Trump was right when he said there was “a sick conspiracy going on against AI and data centers,” and that “the only one that is happy about it is China.”
What a show of force, then, for Trump to invite Altman and for Altman to attend. His presence reminds Xi not just that we have the capacity to win the AI race, but that we can do so without nationalizing companies or imprisoning our critics.
Also seated among the tech executives was JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who has encouraged the government to take <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/article/jamie-dimon-on-ai-oversight-it-should-be-light-touch-154920383.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“a light touch” </a>to AI regulation, so as to not stifle innovation. Dimon has long warned that it’s impossible to separate America’s economic strength from America’s national security — AI is just a piece of that puzzle.
“There is nothing more important for our country — and in fact, I don’t think it’s exaggeration to say for the whole free and democratic world — that America maintains the preeminent military, supported directly by the preeminent economy of the world,” Dimon said over the summer.
The banker has the president’s ear — Trump recently called Dimon “maybe the greatest banker in this country in many, many decades” — and much like his company’s namesake appears well positioned to finance what Trump is calling America’s new <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-golden-age-event-tech-executives-elon-musk-jensen-huang-ai/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Golden Age</a>. Dimon praised the president for “reignit[ing] that arsenal of democracy that we have in this country,” and thereby reigniting “the American dream.”
You can’t win the war for the future if you can’t pay for the battles. Dimon and Trump understand that, and it’s good for us that they do.
When Xi left the state dinner, he may have felt well and truly feted by the White House. He may have driven past some of his prepaid supporters on the streets. But he almost certainly left thinking about the show of American might he’d just witnessed: a president focused on beating him at his own game, surrounded by the innovators who will help him get there. That’s what we’re about.

US-CHINA-DIPLOMACY-TRUMP-XI

Why Trump Put America’s Business Titans In The Room With Xi

artificial intelligence

elon musk

jamie dimon

politics

sam altman

Waymo wants to put fully driverless cars on Washington, D.C.&#8217;s streets, but a source close to the White House is questioning whether its technology can handle the capital&#8217;s security demands and raising concerns about its use of Chinese-built vehicles.
In Dallas, police and Secret Service personnel had to push a Waymo out of the way after it stopped in an intersection and blocked a presidential motorcade.
“The RNC incident proves they&#8217;re not ready for prime time,” the source told The Daily Wire.
Financial Times correspondent Joe Miller was riding in a Waymo to the Republican midterm convention when the vehicle stopped in an intersection where police officers were directing traffic, blocking a presidential motorcade.
“I need this vehicle to be out of here now, or it will be crushed,” a Secret Service agent <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/9cc479a6-8206-4af3-a6e5-77176b8d43c4?syn-25a6b1a6=1">told</a> Miller. Secret Service personnel and police officers ultimately pushed the Waymo out of the way, Miller said.
A Waymo spokesperson told The Daily Wire that the vehicle recognized an officer’s hand gestures directing it to turn right across multiple lanes of traffic. Because of the maneuver’s complexity, however, it was programmed to seek remote assistance before proceeding. The spokesperson said Waymo is working to reduce its reliance on that assistance.
The source questioned how Waymo would navigate D.C., where motorcades and sudden street closures are routine.
“I can’t fathom a scenario in which they’d welcome DC streets being used as a testing ground for unproven Chinese-manufactured cars who have yet to master being able to adapt to the frequent and spontaneous events like the routine use of motorcades,” the source said. “This sounds like a dangerous idea that’s not ready for the unique challenges that exist in our nation’s capital.”
The source also said the use of Chinese-manufactured vehicles would likely raise security concerns within the administration.
“These things are covered in cameras, and now you’re gonna send them around all the most sensitive national monuments, national security sites, without the ability to recognize the President needs to be extricated from a situation like we saw at the correspondent’s dinner,” the source said.
Waymo&#8217;s spokesperson distinguished between where the vehicles are manufactured and where their autonomous driving technology is installed. The company equips its Chinese-built vehicles with its proprietary driving system at a facility in Arizona, where computers and sensors are assembled and installed, and software is loaded before the vehicles are sent to other markets.
The spokesperson said Waymo complies with all applicable U.S. laws and federal requirements and has a strong commercial incentive to protect its technology from Chinese competitors seeking to expand into markets such as Europe. 
Waymo’s plans for fully driverless service in Washington depend on changes to District law. Currently, autonomous vehicle testing on District streets requires a human operator behind the wheel, ready to take control. A bill before the D.C. Council would establish a framework allowing robotaxis to operate without a human backup driver. 
Councilmember Charles Allen, who introduced the bill, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2026/07/16/waymo-really-wants-operate-dc-does-dc-want-waymo/">told</a> The Washington Post that Waymo has mounted an extensive lobbying campaign to enter the D.C. market. 
“I think they’ve hired every lobbyist in D.C.,” Allen told the Post. “They have been knocking on my door for years.”

Waymo

Is DC Too Wild For Waymo? Motorcade Mishap Raises Concerns

autonomous vehicle

presidential motorcade

secret service

washington dc

waymo

As concerns about AI and the data centers that power it intensify, journalists have reached for evidence to prove that increasingly unpopular data centers are not as profitable as supporters claim. They found it in an academic paper coauthored by a graduate of a university with ties to the Chinese Communist Party, the United States’ main competitor in the artificial intelligence race.
“[G]otta call balls &amp; strikes and this paper on data centers isn&#8217;t one of the encouraging ones: &#8216;Capital without Labor: Data Centers and the Local Economy,&#8217;” New York Times reporter Talmon Joseph Smith <a href="https://x.com/talmonsmith/status/2097315176437469335">wrote</a> on X. CNBC’s Carl Quintanilla then <a href="https://x.com/carlquintanilla/status/2097373580325523660">highlighted</a> the paper, which concluded there was “limited evidence that data center development improves fiscal balances, employment, or business formation.”
One of the paper’s <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=7384998" target="_blank" rel="noopener">coauthors</a>, Qiang Wang, is a graduate of Zhejiang University, which has defense labs <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/us-universities-training-chinese-military-scientists-taxpayer-dime-committee-warns" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tied</a> to Chinese intelligence and where students are, according to one expert, <a href="https://www.uscc.gov/sites/default/files/2022-02/Dakota_Cary_Testimony.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">offered</a> “classes on writing intelligence reports, alongside classes like how to attack and defend AI systems.”
Wang claims she did not see this side of Zhejiang University.
&#8220;My time at Zhejiang University did not shape my opinion on artificial intelligence,” Wang told The Daily Wire, adding that she majored in “Food Science” at the university and did not take any courses on artificial intelligence.
One of her coauthors, Liu Ee Chia, is an associate professor of real estate at the National University of Singapore. Reached for comment about Wang’s academic affiliations, she told The Daily Wire that any suggestion Wang was influenced by the CCP was “a serious allegation with no evidence behind it.”
In fact, the control Beijing exerts on Chinese universities and their students and faculty is a well-documented national security threat.
Under Xi Jinping, Chinese universities have updated their charters to emphasize loyalty to the Communist Party. In 2018, Fudan University added a new charter clause that said, “The university Communist Party committee is the core leadership of the school.” Since Xi took office in 2013, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/01/20/796377204/chinese-universities-are-enshrining-communist-party-control-in-their-charters" target="_blank" rel="noopener">over 100</a> universities revealed new charters that affirmed party leadership.
“In China everything bends the will or serves the Chinese Communist Party,” Brent Sadler, a retired Navy captain and former Pentagon China Branch chief, told The Daily Wire. “This needs to be remembered, and definitely includes their universities as well as their engagement and investments in our universities here in the United States of America.”
“There is always an angle from Beijing,” Sadler added.
Just one month before Wang’s paper was published, the Department of War directed Penn State — from which Chia earned her PhD — to audit its collaborations with foreign entities of concern, most of them Chinese.
“The Department of War has zero tolerance for academic partnerships that compromise our national security,” said Emil Michael, undersecretary of War for Research and Engineering. Penn State has faced scrutiny for hosting a chapter of the CCP-backed Confucius Institute, which the State Department has designated “an entity advancing Beijing’s global propaganda and malign influence campaign on U.S. campuses and K-12 classrooms.”
Wang and Chia’s other coauthors, Jess Cornaggia and David Haushalter, currently work at Penn State. Cornaggia coauthored a 2015 study with Xuan Tian, now affiliated with Peking University, which <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304405X14001858" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> competition hurts innovation in the banking industry.
Whether or not Wang was influenced by her CCP ties, the conclusions of her paper are hardly foregone. The average resident of Loudoun County, Virginia, saves an average $5,800 per year in property taxes thanks to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/19/technology/data-centers-backlash-loudoun-virginia.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$1.3 billion</a> generated by one of its data centers.
Richland Parish, Louisiana, was able to give its teachers a $50,000 bonus from tax revenue generated by a Meta data center expansion.
“With bonuses like that, the best educators come to you,” Richland Parish School District Superintendent Sheldon Jones <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/why-this-county-is-fighting-for-a-data-center" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> The Daily Wire. “If we can attract the best teachers, we could become one of the best school districts in our region.”
Wang’s paper largely focuses on the impact data centers have on water prices. Critics say the amount of water these centers consume in the cooling process is bad for the environment and costly for residents. Wang’s paper estimates that data centers could cost local economies about $2.30 extra every year per $1,000 borrowed between school bonds and water bonds. She argues that for water-scarce counties, that figure could jump to $6 per $1,000 borrowed.
But supporters of data centers say concerns about water consumption are exaggerated.
“Nothing against golfers out there, but golf courses use 40 times more water than data centers,” Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry <a href="https://x.com/atrupar/status/2102014049525338600" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman <a href="https://x.com/rohanpaul_ai/status/2095233615596814710" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claims</a> that “38,000 ChatGPT queries” use “the same amount of water that is used in the production of a single almond in California.”
As Americans grow increasingly wary of data centers and AI, Republicans have warned that any pause on developing the technology would only serve to empower Beijing. David Sacks, who served as Trump’s AI Czar, said that halting AI development would “play into China’s hands,” and that Beijing “would love for us to stop AI development.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson <a href="https://x.com/search?q=china%20ai%20race%20johnson&amp;src=typed_query&amp;f=top" target="_blank" rel="noopener">warned</a> last week that if AI critics like Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) had their way, we would be forced to “shut it all down and allow China to overlap us and become the great superpower on the planet.”
“There is a sick conspiracy going on against AI and data centers,” President Donald Trump said earlier this week. “The only one that is happy about it is China.”

Gemini_Generated_Image_x26qhpx26qhpx26q

Data Center Critics Love To Cite This Study. Its Authors Have Ties To China.

data center

penn state university

zhejiang university

A shipment of F-35 stealth fighter parts was “inexplicably diverted to Hong Kong” and is now in the hands of Chinese authorities, Bloomberg reported, prompting a Pentagon investigation into how they got there.
The shipment, which UPS was transporting from Australia to the United States for repair or disposal on behalf of contractor Lockheed Martin, was <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/24/chinaf-f35-components-hong-kong.html">unexpectedly rerouted</a> across the Pacific in late May. The missing components include an F-35 cockpit canopy and a weapons-bay door.
While officials note the components do not contain the aircraft&#8217;s most advanced avionics or electronic warfare systems. Both parts are coated with radar-absorbent material, including a transparent coating designed to minimize the fighter’s signature on enemy radar. Physical access to these materials could allow Beijing to study, reverse-engineer, or verify intelligence on the jet&#8217;s stealth capabilities.
The Pentagon’s F-35 Joint Program Office <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pentagon-f-35-fighter-jet-parts/">confirmed the incident</a> in a statement, noting it is &#8220;aware of a shipment issue of unserviceable F-35 Lightning II components.&#8221;
&#8220;We are actively working with U.S. authorities and industry partners to retrieve these components, investigate the incident, and place safeguards to avoid a future occurrence,&#8221; a defense official said.
Lockheed Martin stated that it follows all federal regulations governing military transport, adding: &#8220;Our teams handle every shipment with the utmost diligence and safeguards to ensure the integrity of the F-35 program and the security of our allied partners.&#8221;
The diversion has ignited immediate concern on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers on national security committees have launched inquiries. <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/18/congress-f-35-china-investigation-01083647">Politico</a> reported that U.S. State Department and Pentagon officials first began briefing congressional staff on the matter in June.
The incident highlights systemic vulnerabilities in the F-35’s massive, multinational supply chain. While Australia operates maintenance depots for the aircraft, it lacks facilities to repair degraded canopy coatings, requiring commercial air travel back to the United States.
Under the program, participating allies pool and store spare parts internationally, but tracking has long been a weak point. A 2023 Government Accountability Office (GAO) <a href="https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-23-106098">report</a> revealed that more than 1 million F-35 spare parts —worth more than $85 million— had gone missing over a five-year period, largely because prime contractors, rather than the Department of Defense, maintain the inventory records.
In Canberra, Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles acknowledged the missing shipment but downplayed the immediate risk. &#8220;My understanding is that there is a sense of comfort, and we’re not talking about sensitive equipment here or sensitive parts,&#8221; Marles <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/22/australia-investigating-how-f-35-fighter-jet-parts-bound-for-us-went-missing-in-hong-kong">said</a>, adding that Australia is working closely with Lockheed Martin and Washington.
However, defense analysts and U.S. lawmakers view the situation far more gravely. The F-35 is widely considered the crown jewel of Western air power and is operated by close allies including the U.K., Australia, Japan, and Canada.

U.S. Air Force

America’s Stealth Fighter Parts Took A Detour Nobody Can Explain

f-35

hong kong

lockheed martin

pentagon

Today, President Donald J. Trump and Chairman Xi Jinping are set to hold <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/trump-says-xi-will-visit-us-september-24-2026-07-23/">bilateral talks</a> on trade and artificial intelligence. While this may appear to be a promising avenue for cooperation, one of the Trump administration’s top priorities should be to secure the release of political and religious prisoners held hostage by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
This concept is not purely sentiment. It is leverage. When America leads with our values instead of our shopping list, we set the terms. Defending religious freedom on American soil is how you push back against CCP transnational repression and remind Beijing that cooperation is not a blank check.
As Americans, we must stand up for religious freedom in all countries, for all people. Religion is often the first target of tyrants, because when belief and conscience are controlled, societies become ripe for <a href="https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1304&amp;context=lu_law_review">“genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.”</a> We have seen this play out in <a href="https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1304&amp;context=lu_law_review">historical totalitarian regimes</a>, like Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, and the same atrocities and dehumanization tactics that these brutal regimes committed against people of faith are happening today in China.
Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri’s release was a real win. Trump asked, and Xi moved. His freedom was rightfully celebrated by many, but there are still <a href="https://www.cfr.org/backgrounders/china-xinjiang-uyghurs-muslims-repression-genocide-human-rights">millions</a> of Uyghur Muslims detained in <a href="https://2017-2021.state.gov/ccpabuses/">brutal internment camps</a> (so-called reeducation camps) in Xinjiang, China. Upon imprisonment, Uyghurs are subjected to forced sterilizations and abortions, forced labor, and the denial of medical assistance.
Like other totalitarian regimes, China uses fear to <a href="https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1304&amp;context=lu_law_review">undermine religious views</a>, which threaten its state-centered ideology. The repression of ethnoreligious minority groups in China has been <a href="https://2017-2021.state.gov/ccpabuses/">thoroughly documented</a>, and yet the systematic imprisonment and genocide of Uyghurs continues.
The meeting will not end the camps overnight. It can, however, place the issue squarely on the agenda, press for the release of political prisoners, and make clear that discussions on trade and artificial intelligence cannot be separated from China’s ongoing human rights abuses.
Dr. Gulshan Abbas is one of the cases that should sit on the table. It deserves our immediate attention and action as it highlights the urgency of China’s authority reaching into our own backyard. In 2018, Dr. Abbas was disappeared in Xinjiang days after her sister, Rushan Abbas, spoke out in the United States. That is not a coincidence. That is punishment aimed at an American family for using the First Amendment on American soil.
Dr. Gulshan Abbas’s case is the clearest example of CCP transnational repression. The message was unmistakable: Chinese-American families who use their First Amendment rights here will see relatives pay the price in China.
Dr. Abbas’s daughter, Ziba Murat, was a <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5750654-mike-johnson-daughter-uyghur-doctor-state-of-the-union-guest/">guest</a> of Speaker Mike Johnson at this year’s State of the Union, yet her mother remains unjustly imprisoned. If the oppression of the Uyghur population and other minority religions in China continues with impunity, then the CCP’s threat looms over those safely on American soil with loved ones in China — that they may exercise their First Amendment rights on U.S. soil, but it will certainly be met with consequences across the ocean.
I have dedicated much of my professional life to religious freedom because I believe it is not one right among many. It is the first one listed in the Bill of Rights for a reason. Speech, press, assembly, and petition are empty if a government can dictate what you may believe.
Jefferson put it plainly: a nation&#8217;s liberties are not secure once the people stop believing those liberties are a gift of God. The West was built on the conviction that every person has inherent dignity because they are made in the image of God. Strip that out, and the rest of the architecture starts to crack.
Trump already proved personal pressure can work. It worked for Pastor Jin. It should work for Dr. Abbas. It should work for the Uyghurs still in the camps, as well as Pastor Wang Yi, still serving a nine-year sentence for leading an unregistered church; the Panchen Lama, missing since childhood; and Zhou Deyong, a Falun Gong practitioner whose wife and son live in the United States. Sadly, the list of political prisoners in China is much longer than this.
If we keep negotiating and cooperating with a power that is openly at war with our values — and committing the same atrocities we have gone to war to stop — we do not look sophisticated. We look like we have forgotten who we are, and we hand China the moral high ground we used to occupy without apology.
***
Sarah E. Makin is a former White House and National Security Council official who served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor on International Religious Freedom from 2017-2021. She is a human rights advocate, filmmaker, visiting fellow at Independent Women, and runs a strategic advisory firm in Washington, D.C. Follow her on X: @DCSas.

The Empty Chair At Trump’s Meeting With Xi

religious freedom

uyghur

Chinese President Xi Jinping will continue his state visit to the United States on Thursday, following a high-profile welcome from President Donald Trump at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday that included two B-1 bombers flying overhead.
Trump and first lady Melania Trump are hosting Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, for the first state visit to the White House by the Chinese leader in more than a decade. The visit is expected to include bilateral talks and a state dinner, with trade, artificial intelligence, national security, Taiwan, and the war in Iran among the issues likely to be discussed.
The White House has planned an elaborate schedule for Xi’s visit, including the formal arrival ceremony, military demonstrations, a state dinner, private tea, and a visit to the National Archives. 
<h2>Thursday, September 24</h2>
Trump’s day begins with executive time before he heads to the White House for Xi’s formal arrival.
At 10:00 a.m., Trump and Melania will greet Xi and Peng at the South Portico of the White House.
Ten minutes later, the two presidential couples will participate in a State Arrival Ceremony, which will feature 479 members of the U.S. Armed Forces representing all branches of the military.
Trump and Xi are scheduled to deliver remarks at approximately 10:15 a.m.
The ceremony will also include a gift exchange, a review by the U.S. Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon, and a military review. The White House previously said the ceremony would culminate in a military flyover featuring a B-2 Spirit and four F-22 Raptors.
The formal events are part of a broader effort to mark Xi’s visit with full ceremonial honors.
Later in the day, Melania and Peng are scheduled to visit the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art, where they will view works highlighting centuries of Asian artistic achievement and Sino-American cultural exchange.
<h3>State Dinner</h3>
The highlight of Thursday evening will be a state dinner at the White House, with Xi and Peng scheduled to arrive at approximately 6:45 p.m.
Trump and Melania will host the dinner in the East Room, which will include members of the official delegations, business leaders, and government officials. Melania led preparations for the dinner. 
The menu is designed to combine American ingredients with subtle Chinese influences, according to the Office of the First Lady.
The first course will feature yellow squash velouté, wild mushroom fricassée, crispy pancetta, and scallion oil.
The second course will be sesame-crusted sea bass served with braised baby bok choy, roasted garden eggplant, and sauce verte.
Dessert will consist of vanilla crémeux, White House honey ice cream, walnut frangipane, and sour cherry confit. 
The formal dinner will also feature performances by Christopher Macchio, the classically trained tenor who performed at Trump’s 2025 presidential inauguration, as well as military musicians from the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Army.
Performers are expected to include “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band, “The Commandant’s Own” United States Marine Drum and Bugle Corps, the United States Army Chorus, and the United States Army Strings.
The White House décor will incorporate red, a color with longstanding cultural significance in China. Red linens and arrangements featuring dahlias and ranunculus will decorate the tables, along with vermeil from the White House collection and the Reagan State Service. 
<h2>Friday, September 25</h2>
The final day of Xi’s state visit will begin with a more intimate event.
Trump and Melania will host Xi and Peng for private tea at the White House.
The two couples will then travel to the National Archives in Washington, D.C., where they will view historic records and documents connected to the history of the United States and China. 
Trump and Melania will bid farewell to Xi and Peng at the National Archives before the Chinese delegation returns to Joint Base Andrews for its departure from the United States.
The three-day visit marks Xi’s return to the White House more than a decade after his previous visit during the Obama administration and comes as Washington and Beijing navigate trade, technology, national security, and other areas of tension and cooperation.

From Fighter Jets To Fine Dining: What Trump Has Planned For Xi

melania trump

state visit

President Donald Trump welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, just two months after accusing Beijing of interfering in U.S. elections during a prime-time address.
Xi was personally greeted by Trump at Joint Base Andrews with the help of two B-1 bombers that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-breaks-protocol-to-show-xi-whos-boss-with-the-help-of-b-1-bombers?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Drew+Berkemeyer&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Trump+Breaks+Protocol+To+Show+Xi+Who%E2%80%99s+Boss+%E2%80%94+With+The+Help+Of+B-1+Bombers">soared</a> overhead after the Chinese president stepped off the plane. The visit is expected to include bilateral talks and a state dinner, with trade, artificial intelligence, national security, Taiwan, and the war in Iran among the issues likely to be discussed. 
This is the second meeting between the two leaders this year, following Trump’s visit to China in May.
The timing puts a series of unresolved disputes between Washington and Beijing in the spotlight alongside a high-profile diplomatic meeting. The two countries are still negotiating trade issues, including rare-earth exports and technology restrictions, while clashing over China&#8217;s relationship with Iran and broader national security concerns.
The visit also comes after Trump delivered a prime-time address in July accusing China of obtaining the personal information of as many as 220 million American voters and engaging in election interference. The White House said the declassified intelligence showed China and its proxies had bought, stolen, or hacked American voter registration data.
In his July 16 address, Trump said Chinese officials had pursued efforts to undermine his political support dating back to 2018, including attempts to influence the 2018 midterm elections and the 2020 presidential election. He said a Chinese policy adopted in 2018 sought to leverage “any domestic and foreign elements opposed to Trump” to reduce his support, force his resignation, or prevent his re-election.
Trump said China also obtained American voter data beginning during the 2020 election cycle.
“Newly declassified documents show that over a period of years starting during the 2020 election cycle, the People’s Republic of China carried out what is believed to be the largest compromise of election data in history — resulting in China’s illicit acquisition of 220 million U.S. voter files,” the president said. 
The White House said the compromised information included names, addresses, phone numbers, and political party preferences, adding that U.S. intelligence agencies had learned in 2020 that voter data from 18 states had been bought, stolen, or hacked by China.
Trump also alleged that Chinese activities included an attempt to manufacture illegal ballots for then-candidate Joe Biden. He said raw FBI intelligence from 2020 described the alleged effort and that dozens of CIA and NSA reports concerning China’s targeting of the U.S. election were kept out of the Presidential Daily Briefing.
“The reason they wanted me to lose is because they knew I was wise to them, charged them billions of dollars’ worth of tariffs, and built the strongest military anywhere in the world,” Trump said. 
But the election-interference allegations have largely faded from Trump&#8217;s public messaging ahead of Xi&#8217;s visit, with no consequences imposed on the Chinese Communist Party. Instead, the two leaders will likely focus on the broader U.S.-China relationship, with trade and economic issues high on the agenda.
Trade is expected to be a central issue, with the two sides discussing the continuation of their existing tariff truce, Chinese purchases of American goods, and access to rare-earth minerals. 
A key deadline is also approaching: Temporary agreements suspending Chinese export controls on rare-earth products and delaying expanded U.S. export controls on advanced semiconductor chips are both set to expire November 10. 
American companies have continued to report difficulty obtaining some Chinese export licenses for rare earths used in specialized magnets, while Beijing has also restricted exports of phosphate, a key fertilizer ingredient, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/09/17/nx-s1-5971293/trump-xi-summit-china">reported NPR</a>.
The two sides will also have to address trade commitments made during Trump’s May visit to China. Beijing agreed to purchase 200 Boeing aircraft, but the deal has encountered obstacles as U.S. restrictions have complicated the delivery of replacement parts for Boeing planes and China’s C919 commercial jet, which still relies heavily on American and European components. 
Chinese officials have also reportedly objected to recent Federal Communications Commission restrictions on Chinese-made drones, routers, inverters, and robots, arguing that the measures violate the framework for “strategic stability” established during Trump’s spring visit to Beijing.
Artificial intelligence is another major area of competition. The two countries are seeking to manage AI-related risks while simultaneously competing over advanced technology and semiconductor access. Notably, several high-profile executives from the AI sector are invited to the state dinner with Xi. 
Trump did brag about the U.S. being ahead in AI earlier this week.  

“We&#8217;re leading China in AI. We&#8217;re the most sophisticated country in the world and, frankly, I want to keep it that way — because whoever wins AI wins,” <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2099155148576542928">he said</a>. 
Iran is also likely to feature in the discussions. The Trump administration has repeatedly raised concerns about China&#8217;s economic relationship with Tehran, including its purchases of Iranian oil. 
China’s foreign minister met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Wednesday and vowed that Beijing is prepared to protect Iran’s “legitimate rights and interests” as the U.S.-Iran conflict continues.
Trump has worked to remain diplomatic ahead of the meeting, dismissing a report this week that Chinese entities provided Iran with satellite imagery before a July missile strike on a U.S. base in Jordan that killed three American troops. 
“You know what they say? That China spies on us. I say you&#8217;re right, and we spy on them, too,&#8221; Trump said.
The state dinner will add another layer of complexity to the visit, with limited seating creating a diplomatic dispute of its own.
When Trump visited China in May, Xi hosted him with a formal welcome and elaborate state dinner. Now, the two leaders are preparing for a similar display of diplomacy in Washington, but the logistics have already created friction.
The White House is planning a dinner with about 100 seats, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Y6ria4Xq0Eg">according to Trump</a>, who continues to stress the need for the planned White House ballroom. Chinese officials have asked for more than half of the available seats, in part so Xi can bring Chinese business executives with him, according to two people familiar with the discussions who spoke to NPR. The request has prompted pushback from the White House.
First lady Melania Trump offered a glimpse of the preparations Thursday, posting a video showing flowers and table settings being arranged for the dinner. “Every detail considered. An experience thoughtfully conceived and exquisitely realized for our distinguished guests,” she wrote.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
THE WHITE HOUSE STATE DINNER
Every detail considered. An experience thoughtfully conceived and exquisitely realized for our distinguished guests. <a href="https://t.co/MSVh8IY1SA">pic.twitter.com/MSVh8IY1SA</a>
— First Lady Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) <a href="https://x.com/FLOTUS/status/2100603347044585925?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 17, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Trump addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday and met with various world leaders, including those of the Gulf States and possibly Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Xi skipped the U.N. gathering this year and instead only traveled to Washington for his meeting with Trump.

Trump Rolls Out Red Carpet For Xi Weeks After Explosive Accusation

election interference

For decades, American companies followed the straightforward rule: if another company can produce goods or services at a lower cost, we should purchase from them.
We’ve seen this principle applied to rare earths, pharmaceutical supply chains, and steel. As a result, consumers benefited, companies lowered costs, and capital moved toward more profitable industries. Then, years later, we discovered that cheap access to a strategic resource is not the same thing as secure access. We are on the verge of seeing this play out again with AI.
These vulnerabilities became especially apparent during the COVID-19 crisis, when Americans faced shortages of essential goods, widespread delays for commonplace products, and sharply rising costs as supply chains buckled. Our vulnerabilities are in the spotlight again as the U.S. grapples with securing the minerals essential to military systems, automobiles, computers, and other advanced technologies – an issue that will almost certainly be discussed when Chinese President Xi Jinping visits the White House.
Although it may be hard to believe today, the U.S. was once the world’s dominant producer of rare earths, with California’s Mountain Pass at the center of the industry. Beginning in the 1990s, however, inexpensive Chinese production transformed the economics, and American companies decided to simply buy what was needed more cheaply abroad. Mountain Pass’s separation operations closed in 1998 and mining ceased in 2002.
America had gone from being largely self-sufficient to obtaining more than <a href="https://url.avanan.click/v2/r01/___https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/IF13171.html___.YXAzOmNyY2E6YTpvOjUwMjQzYzQ3YmRhZjExYTczZTNiNTY4ODgzYTc1MmJjOjc6ZGQ4Yzo5OThmZjI4ZmRlYzQxMDQyZTRmZjM3YjJkNzNlY2Q5YTdiN2ViYTEwYTZhY2NlNWEyNWY3ODk0YWUwZTE1MDc1Omg6VDpG">90%</a> of its separated rare earths from China or countries using Chinese material. American leaders never formally decided that the U.S. should depend on China for materials essential to electronics, weapons, and advanced manufacturing. Instead, thousands of individually rational economic decisions produced that result.
We saw a similar outcome with steel, where China dramatically expanded production under laws that allowed for mass pollution, cheap labor, and currency manipulation to depress global steel prices, leading to greater dependence on China and the downfall of many domestic producers. This is also true for pharmaceuticals where active ingredients and their chemical precursors have increasingly been sourced from China and India.
Which brings us to AI, where much of today’s policy debate treats an AI model as a product, focused on which frontier laboratory is in the lead and which Chinese AI is closing the gap. But that may be the wrong way to look at it.
Increasingly, intelligence is becoming a component. Just as steel isn’t the skyscraper, rare-earth magnets aren’t the vehicle, and an active pharmaceutical ingredient isn’t the pill in your medicine cabinet, AI&#8217;s most important role will be as an input you put into a product made by somebody else.
In most cases, the AI model sits invisibly inside the product or service. You don’t see the AI operating behind the scenes of your finance software, navigation system, email inbox, or camera phone. They just work better because of it. For companies building those products, the relevant question could eventually be less about who has the best model and more about finding the cheapest intelligence that can reliably do the job.
That distinction matters enormously for America’s debate over open-weight AI. Companies will want models they can download, customize, fine-tune, run locally, and embed into products without paying a frontier lab. If American companies cannot supply those models, someone else will.
China increasingly appears willing to compete aggressively in this market. Chinese developers have released capable open-weight models while emphasizing efficiency and low prices. They do not need to produce the world’s best model to reshape the market. They only need to produce intelligence that is good enough and cheaper.
Imagine if, in America, we restricted open and affordable AI models and limited ourselves to regulated, closed frontier models. This is how industrial dependencies form. The result would be American products themselves becoming more dependent on Chinese intelligence.
An American company might own the interface, customer relationship, and application while the foundational intelligence underneath it comes from a Chinese model, just as an American pharmaceutical company can sell medicine whose critical chemical inputs originate abroad.
Even regulation banning Chinese AI won’t, by itself, solve this problem. China will still produce and dominate globally if American open-weight companies aren’t encouraged to develop and compete. America should think carefully before creating a world in which its companies can make the most sophisticated intelligence on Earth but regulate themselves out of offering the form of intelligence the rest of the economy actually wants to build with.
The lesson of rare earths, steel, and pharmaceuticals shows us that when we allow China to flood the market with a cheaper product, it leads to China dominating the market. We should be careful not to repeat the mistake with the most consequential input of the 21st century.
***
Mike Martin is a former Senior National Security Official. He served in the National Security Council and the Pentagon during the first Trump administration.

China technology concept background with national flag. Chinese digital network and electronic circuit board illustration.

America’s Next China Dependency Could Be Artificial Intelligence

artificial intelligence policy

open source ai

rare earth mineral

supply chain

President Donald Trump rolled out the red carpet for Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday, before sending two B-1 bombers roaring overhead as the Chinese leader arrived in Washington for a three-day state visit.
Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, landed at Joint Base Andrews shortly before 6 p.m. Trump and first lady Melania Trump were waiting at the bottom of a roughly 100-foot red carpet to greet them, an unusual gesture for a sitting U.S. president.
The arrival ceremony featured a 21-person honor cordon, color guards carrying American and Chinese flags, a military band, and both countries&#8217; national anthems.
Then came the bombers. Two B-1s conducted a flyover as the American national anthem played and Trump stood saluting. The aircraft were loud enough that Trump visibly winced and briefly ducked his head before smiling and appearing to remark on the noise to Xi.
Xi did not visibly react. The combination of diplomatic pageantry and American military power marked the opening moments of a summit between the leaders of the world&#8217;s two largest economies.
Trump&#8217;s decision to meet Xi at the airport was itself a departure from normal presidential protocol. Presidents typically greet visiting heads of state at the White House rather than traveling to the airport to meet them personally. Trump had also received a more limited welcome when he visited Beijing in May, when Chinese Vice President Han Zheng greeted him at the airport.
Melania Trump defended the decision Wednesday morning, saying Xi was “coming on our soil” and that the United States should “welcome them with the most respect.”
The lavish welcome comes as Washington and Beijing remain locked in competition over trade, technology, military power, and global influence.
Trump and Xi are expected to discuss trade and tariffs, rare-earth minerals, artificial intelligence, Taiwan, and China&#8217;s relationships with U.S. adversaries. The two countries are also trying to preserve a fragile trade truce that is scheduled to expire in November.
The summit is Xi&#8217;s first state visit to Washington in more than a decade and marks the second meeting between the two leaders this year.
The White House is planning another elaborate ceremony Thursday on the South Lawn, followed by talks between the presidents and a state dinner attended by prominent technology executives.

Trump Breaks Protocol To Show Xi Who’s Boss — With The Help Of B-1 Bombers

us china relations

An investigation into satellite images discovered active construction at nuclear sites and testing areas across China. 
Satellite image analysis published by The Telegraph on Wednesday <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/china-secret-nuclear-weapon-sites-xi/?ICID=continue_without_subscribing_reg_first">revealed</a> that seven nuclear sites — Pingtong, Zitong, Lop Nur, Jiuquan, Mianyang, Jinta, and Guangyuan — are expanding rapidly. Chinese villages and farms have reportedly been flattened for a site where Chinese scientists use super-powered lasers to test how different materials react when a nuclear bomb explodes. 
Earlier this year, the United States confronted Beijing about a “secret nuclear test” conducted in 2020. Chinese ambassador Shen Jian responded to the accusations, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/world/china/us-accuses-china-secret-nuclear-testing-new-arms-treaty-rcna257769">saying</a> the United States &#8220;is the culprit for the aggravation of the arms race.&#8221; He added, &#8220;China notes that the U.S. continues in its statement to hype up the so-called China nuclear threat. China firmly opposes such false narratives.”
U.S. Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Thomas DiNanno said China “sought to conceal testing by obfuscating the nuclear explosions because it recognized these tests violate test ban commitments.&#8221; 
&#8220;China has used &#8216;decoupling,&#8217; a method to decrease the effectiveness of seismic monitoring, to hide their activities from the world,&#8221; DiNanno added.
In 2026, China maintains a strict “no-first-use” nuclear weapon strategy, meaning it promises to never use a nuclear weapon first under any circumstances. China follows behind Russia and the United States as the countries with the most nuclear warheads. Russia has about <a href="https://www.icanw.org/nuclear_arsenals">5,500</a> warheads, the United States has roughly 5,300, and China has 600. 
China began its nuclear program in the 1950s with help from the Soviet Union. China got its <a href="https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/china-detonates-its-first-atomic-weapon/">first</a> nuclear weapon on October 16, 1964. The communist country&#8217;s nuclear warheads have more than doubled in number under Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Xi is meeting with President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, but it is not clear if the two leaders will discuss nuclear weapons. On the docket is artificial intelligence — which Trump now calls &#8220;super intelligence&#8221; — and which has increasingly become intertwined with national security and military competition.
The United States has urged China to sign onto a major nuclear arms agreement, and Trump has floated getting the communist country to join the deal between the United States and Russia. Originally, only the United States and Russia were part of the START I treaty that was signed in 1991 by both countries in agreement that they would cut and limit their nuclear weapons. Former President Barack Obama signed the &#8220;New START Treaty&#8221; with Russia after the last agreement expired in 2009.
In February, the &#8220;New START Treaty&#8221; expired. At the Geneva conference earlier this year, DiNanno said, “Today, the United States faces threats from multiple nuclear powers. In short, a bilateral treaty with only one nuclear power is simply inappropriate in 2026 and going forward.” 
Shen, however, said his country would not likely participate in negotiations with the United States and Russia due to China’s smaller nuclear stockpile. &#8220;In this new era, we hope the U.S. will abandon Cold War thinking &#8230; and embrace common and cooperative security,&#8221; he said.

China Unveils New Weapons In V-Day Parade

China Is Secretly Throwing Its Nuke Production Into Overdrive

arms control

new start treaty

nuclear weapons

An Army veteran is running a California surrogacy agency that facilitates wealthy Chinese nationals having children through American surrogates — with the resulting babies obtaining U.S. citizenship at birth.
Haotian Bai, a 37-year-old U.S. Army veteran and founder of the Irvine-based Patriot Conceptions, has built a business connecting intended parents with American surrogates and egg donors. According to the <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/09/21/us-news/meet-the-us-army-vet-running-a-california-baby-factory-for-chinese-nationals-to-have-american-kids/">New York Post</a>, a substantial share of the agency’s international clientele comes from China, where surrogacy is prohibited domestically.
The arrangement has drawn new scrutiny after a California surrogate identified as “Judy” discovered she was carrying a child intended for Chinese billionaire Xu Bo, who has reportedly fathered more than 100 children through U.S. surrogacy arrangements.
Judy told <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/projects/2026/surrogacy-abuse/">CBS News</a> she had responded to an Instagram advertisement offering $120,000 to become a surrogate. She said Patriot Conceptions told her the intended parent was a single father seeking to expand his family, and that when she asked how many surrogates he had hired, she was told the number was close to two dozen.
Leaked documents obtained by CBS identified Xu as the intended father. Judy said she repeatedly asked to meet him but never did. “I feel blindsided. I feel misled,” Judy told CBS.
Patriot Conceptions said it facilitated the surrogacy journey but was not Xu’s only agency. In a statement, Bai said the surrogate’s concerns deserved to be taken seriously. The company has disputed aspects of CBS’s reporting about its role in the arrangement.
The case has brought attention to a largely unregulated international surrogacy market that has grown rapidly in the United States.
A <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10978240/">2024 study</a> by researchers at Emory University found that international intended parents accounted for nearly 40% of U.S. gestational-carrier cycles by 2019. From 2014 through 2020, 41.7% of international intended parents in the study were from China, making Chinese nationals the largest group among international clients.
The demand has been especially concentrated in California. The Emory researchers found that nearly 65% of gestational-carrier cycles involving international intended parents from 2014 through 2020 took place at California clinics.
The <a href="https://www.wsj.com/us-news/chinese-billionaires-surrogacy-pregnancy-7fdfc0c3">Wall Street Journal</a> reported in December 2025 that wealthy Chinese clients have increasingly used American surrogacy services to have children despite commercial surrogacy being illegal in China. The Journal described a growing industry of American fertility clinics, surrogacy agencies, attorneys, and other businesses serving Chinese clients who want children born in the United States.
Some wealthy Chinese clients have sought unusually large numbers of children. Xu, the billionaire at the center of the latest controversy, told a Los Angeles judge in 2023 that he hoped to have roughly 20 U.S.-born children through surrogacy, according to people who attended the confidential hearing described by the Journal. The judge reportedly rejected his petition for parental rights at the time.
Xu has subsequently been reported to have more than 100 children born through U.S. surrogates. He has disputed the larger estimates, <a href="https://news.qq.com/rain/a/20251217A071X200">saying</a> he has custody of 12 children born through U.S. surrogacy, though his company <a href="https://www.ibtimes.com.au/california-surrogate-xu-bo-pregnancy-identity-1875576">acknowledged</a> after the Journal&#8217;s reporting that the effort had produced &#8220;a little over 100&#8221; children. His former partner, Tang Jing, who is in a custody and financial dispute with him in China, has claimed he may have as many as 300.
The legal appeal of American surrogacy for foreign nationals is partly tied to birthright citizenship. In June, the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/supreme-court-rules-against-trump-in-birthright-citizenship-case">Supreme Court rejected</a> President Donald Trump’s attempt to restrict birthright citizenship for children born to parents who were unlawfully or temporarily present in the country. The court held that Trump’s executive order violated the 14th Amendment.
That ruling did not specifically address children born through surrogacy, but the broader citizenship rule remains a significant part of the international fertility market described by the Journal and Post.
Bai has openly promoted Patriot Conceptions as an international business. In a <a href="https://www.uschamber.com/co/good-company/growth-studio/patriot-conceptions-tech-transformations">2025 profile</a> published by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Bai said international clients accounted for 40% of the company’s business. The company says it has expanded internationally through partnerships with clinics and legal professionals.
According to the Chamber, Patriot Conceptions was founded in 2019. Bai previously founded Pacific Surrogacy, another California-based surrogacy company. 
Before entering the surrogacy industry, Bai lived in Hawaii. The Post reported that he helped arrange Chinese student internships in the Hawaii state legislature, a program later shut down amid allegations about how the students were placed and housed.
Former Hawaii state Rep. Matthew LoPresti, a Democrat, told the Post that he was concerned about students appearing in his office without his request, particularly because his office had been involved in sensitive military and intelligence matters. The Post reported that Bai denied selling the internships and faced no charges over the episode.
The surrogacy controversy comes as CBS has documented broader concerns about the industry&#8217;s lack of oversight. In a yearlong investigation, CBS interviewed dozens of surrogates and reported cases involving foreign intended parents, multiple simultaneous surrogacies, and disputes over compensation and disclosure.

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