A former Trump administration official praised the Federal Trade Commission’s investigation into Microsoft, saying that the software giant’s track record on issues from China to European censorship demanded scrutiny.
Joe Grogan, the director of the Domestic Policy Council during Trump’s first term, said that an FTC investigation probing whether Microsoft employed anti-competitive practices was much needed.
“In the last year Microsoft has compromised American security by giving Chinese nationals access to cloud projects at the Pentagon,” he told The Daily Wire. “They&#8217;ve also signaled a strong willingness to bend to Europe&#8217;s anti-American digital services policies amid intense trade negotiations, all while pursuing anti-competitive practices to limit consumer choice. The administration is right to use its authority to hold them accountable.”
The comments from Grogan, the head of the nonprofit Public Policy Solutions, come as the FTC is looking into whether Microsoft makes it challenging for customers to use its products on rival cloud services.
After a report in July 2025 that Microsoft was employing China-based engineers for work on certain Pentagon cloud systems, the software company <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/microsoft-ends-use-china-based-computer-engineers-certain-defense-dept-projects-amid-espionage-fears">said</a> that it adjusted its policies to ensure that “no China-based engineering teams are providing technical assistance for DOD government cloud and related services.”
Grogan also argued that Microsoft is <a href="https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/industry/sovereign-cloud/overview/european-digital-commitments">strengthening</a> its ties to Europe while the European Union implements the Digital Services Act, a sweeping speech-regulation law that allows authorities to penalize companies for failing to remove so-called misinformation or other content deemed illegal.
The FTC investigation into Microsoft is also supported by Will Hild, the executive director of Consumer’s Research.
“Microsoft’s massive market power is finally being scrutinized by Trump’s FTC, and rightly so, as the company uses its dominant market share to push a radical, woke agenda while potentially engaging in anti-competitive behavior,” Hild told The Daily Wire.
Last year, Consumers’ Research issued a “woke alert” <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/woke-alert-microsoft-slammed-for-race-based-pay-equity-scheme">highlighting</a> various activist-focused initiatives at Microsoft, <a href="https://consumersresearch.org/woke-alert/woke-alert-microsoft/">including</a> donations to transgender activist groups and “pay equity” analysis comparing pay based on race and sex.
“Consumers’ Research fully supports FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson and welcomes this antitrust investigation,” Hild said. “We hope it helps prevent corporate power from being abused to advance ideology at the expense of consumers.”

Branding at the headquarters of Microsoft Germany

Former Trump Official Praises Probe Into Microsoft Over ‘Anti-Competitive Practices’

Communist China

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Executive

Federal Trade Commission

Microsoft

U.S.

U.S. President Donald Trump will travel to China from March 31 to April 2 for a highly anticipated meeting between the leaders of the world&#8217;s two biggest economies, a trip announced as the Supreme Court overturned Trump&#8217;s sweeping tariffs on imported goods.
A White House official confirmed the trip on Friday, just before the highest U.S. court dealt Trump a stinging defeat by striking down many of the tariffs he has used in a global trade war, including some against rival China.
Trump&#8217;s talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on an extended visit to Beijing had been expected to revolve around extending a trade truce that kept both countries from further hiking tariffs.
But the Supreme Court&#8217;s reversal created new questions for tense U.S.-China relations that had recently stabilized after Trump trimmed tariffs on Chinese goods, in exchange for measures from Beijing, including cracking down on the illicit fentanyl trade and pausing export restrictions on critical minerals.
Twenty-percent tariffs on China&#8217;s U.S.-bound exports were imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, which the court ruled Trump had overstepped. Those tariffs were tied to national emergencies related to fentanyl distribution and trade imbalances.
Other duties on Chinese goods, including those implemented under legislated trade authorities known as Section 301 and Section 232, remain in place.
It was not immediately clear how many of the tariffs Trump would restore, but he told a press conference that he would impose a new 10% global tariff for 150 days.
Trump&#8217;s last trip to China, in 2017, was the most recent by a U.S. president.
&#8220;That&#8217;s going to be a wild one,&#8221; Trump told foreign leaders visiting Washington on Thursday about the upcoming China visit. &#8220;We have to put on the biggest display you&#8217;ve ever had in the history of China.&#8221;
The Chinese embassy in Washington declined to comment on the dates of the trip, which were first reported by Reuters. Beijing has not confirmed the trip.
The Trump administration has said the global tariffs were necessary because of national emergencies related to trade imbalances that have weakened U.S. manufacturing.
Trump had already been &#8220;playing defense&#8221; in the trade war, given the effectiveness of Beijing&#8217;s threat to cut off rare earths, said Scott Kennedy, a China economics expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. The tariff defeat likely &#8220;cements his weakness in their eyes,&#8221; he said.
Chinese officials &#8220;like the direction of travel of the bilateral relationship in which the U.S. is diminished and they want to keep things from re-escalating,&#8221; Kennedy said.
Trump&#8217;s visit will be the leaders&#8217; first in-person talks since an October meeting in South Korea, where they agreed on the trade truce.
While the October meeting largely sidestepped the sensitive issue of Taiwan, Xi raised U.S. arms sales to the island when the two leaders spoke this month.
China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, a position Taipei rejects. The U.S., bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, has formal diplomatic ties with China, but it maintains unofficial ties with Taiwan and is the island&#8217;s most important arms supplier.
Washington announced its largest-ever arms sale approval with Taiwan in December, including $11.1 billion in weapons that could ostensibly be used to defend against a Chinese attack. Taiwan expects more such sales.
Xi also said during the February call that he would consider further increasing soybean purchases, according to Trump. Struggling U.S. farmers are a major political constituency for Trump, and China is the top soybean consumer. Analysts said on Friday that China may be less likely to follow through on another big purchase of U.S. soybeans after the Supreme Court ruling.
Although Trump has justified hawkish policy steps from Canada to Greenland and Venezuela as necessary to thwart China, he has eased policy toward Beijing in the past several months in areas from tariffs to advanced computer chips and drones.
The global trade war Trump initiated after he began his second term as president in January 2025 has alienated other trading partners, including allies.
Critics had argued that imposing steep tariffs on countries across the board actually insulated Beijing from the tariff barrage and reduced incentives to move supply chains out of China.
Friday&#8217;s ruling could indirectly increase pressure on Beijing if the effective tariff rates on other countries, particularly in Southeast Asia, fall more than those on China, said Martin Chorzempa, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute of International Economics.
&#8220;Unlike with many other countries, there is a well-established, much more legally durable mechanism for most of the tariffs on China that make them less affected than those on other countries,&#8221; Chorzempa said.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Michael Martina; Additional reporting by Katharine Jackson; Editing by Andrei Khalip, Colleen Jenkins, Rod Nickel, Patricia Zengerle)

Donald Trump, Xi Jinping

Trump To Travel To China In March, With Tariffs In Focus

Donald Trump

Global Politics

Tariffs

World

Xi Jinping

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. 
&nbsp;

Washington Prepares For Arrival Of Chinese President Hu Jintao

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

California

China

Espionage

Los Angeles County

Politics

The United States has presented new seismic data to substantiate its allegations that China tested a nuclear device in 2020, violating an international agreement against such tests.
A seismic monitoring station in Kazakhstan registered a 2.75 magnitude seismic event on June 22, 2020, the date that Washington has said Beijing tested a nuclear device in northwest China. The reading may be minor, but it picked up on an event that happened over 450 miles away, according to Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Yeaw.
“There is very little possibility that it is anything other than an explosion, a singular explosion,” Yeaw said on Tuesday, according to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/02/17/nx-s1-5716046/u-s-releases-new-details-on-alleged-secret-chinese-nuclear-test">NPR</a>. “It is quite consistent with what you would expect from a nuclear explosive test.”
Yeaw said that the event that was measured in Kazakhstan originated from Lop Nor, long recognized as one of China’s main nuclear test sites.
The revelation of the seismic data comes as the United States is pushing China to join in nuclear talks between Washington and Moscow. Earlier this month, an arms treaty that limited nuclear weapons <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nuclear-caps-gone-as-u-s-russia-treaty-expires">expired</a> between the United States and Russia.
President Donald Trump said last year that China and Russia have conducted secret nuclear weapon tests. Trump said that the United States would begin testing, too.
“Russia’s testing, and China’s testing, but they don’t talk about it. You know, we’re an open society. We’re different. We talk about it. We have to talk about it, because otherwise you people are going to report,” the president said during an interview with “60 Minutes.” “We’re going to test, because they test and others test.”
Days after the CBS interview, the president <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-announces-major-decision-on-nuclear-weapons">announced</a> that he had directed the Department of War to begin conducting nuclear tests.
“The United States has more Nuclear Weapons than any other country,” the president said in a Truth Social <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115499324245510580">post</a>. “This was accomplished, including a complete update and renovation of existing weapons, during my First Term. Because of other countries [sic] testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis.”
In a video message, Trump added, “Because of the tremendous destructive power, I hated to do it, having to do with nuclear weapons, but I really had no choice. Russia is second in line, and China is a distant third, but will be even within five years.”

Trump Admin Reveals Seismic Data To Confirm Secret Chinese Nuclear Tests

Nuclear Weapons

Russia

United States

A man who once worked for the current mayor of a California city was sentenced to four years in prison for covertly spreading Chinese Communist Party propaganda.
Yaoning “Mike” Sun, 65, was sentenced to 48 months in prison on Monday by U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner for acting as an illegal agent for China from 2022 to 2024. Sun once worked on the city council campaign of Democrat Eileen Wang, the current mayor of the Southern California city of Arcadia.
“For years, Sun 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,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg. 
“His conduct represents a brazen violation of our national sovereignty. This sentence reflects our commitment to prosecuting those who would extend the authoritarian reach of the Chinese government on U.S. soil,&#8221; he added.
During his time working as an agent for China, Sun submitted reports to Chinese officials highlighting his work to counter the Falun Gong minority and pro-Taiwanese independence forces and “helping to elect a like-minded individual (&#8216;Individual 1&#8217;) to political office in Southern California,” according to the Justice Department sentencing memo.
While “Individual 1” was not identified in court documents, both the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-02-10/sentence-chinese-spy-helped-elect-council-member">Los Angeles Times</a> and the <a href="https://www.pasadenastarnews.com/2026/02/09/chino-hills-man-advisor-for-arcadia-leader-sentenced-to-prison-for-acting-as-unregistered-agent-for-china/">Pasadena Star-News</a> reported sources confirmed this person was Wang. Campaign documents <a href="https://apnews.com/article/china-election-interference-california-yaoning-mike-sun-d514395039bea63a8c7b8814d29d1aaa">listed</a> Sun as Wang’s campaign treasurer. Wang, who has not been charged with any crimes, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
While her position is officially non-partisan, filings show that Wang switched from identifying as a <a href="https://laserfiche.arcadiaca.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=866849&amp;dbid=0&amp;repo=CityofArcadia">Republican</a> to a <a href="https://laserfiche.arcadiaca.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=866847&amp;dbid=0&amp;repo=CityofArcadia">Democrat</a>. The Los Angeles Times <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-12-21/who-is-the-politician-at-the-center-of-the-latest-chinese-influence-scandal">reported</a> the switch was motivated by housing policies.
In one of his reports to Chinese officials, Sun said that he had “orchestrated and organized my team to win the election for city council” for “Individual 1,” whom he described as a “new political star.”
“Throughout 2022, defendant also worked as the campaign advisor for Individual 1, who was running for City Council in a Southern California city. Individual 1 was elected to the City Council in November 2022,” the sentencing memo said.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Sun was Wang’s fiancé and that he helped bring in donations from sources tied to the Chinese government. Wang previously said she ended her romantic relationship with Sun about eight months before he faced federal charges.
“We broke up the fiancé relationship,” Wang <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-05-02/china-allegedly-tried-to-influence-this-politician-she-says-shes-not-going-anywhere">said</a> in April 2025. “We keep the friendship.”
Additionally, Sun spied on then-Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in April 2023 when she visited the United States, and he published a website “targeting the local Chinese-American population&#8221; at the direction of PRC Consulate officials, according to the sentencing memo.
Investigators said that Sun worked with John Chen, a “high-level member of the PRC intelligence apparatus,” who previously pleaded guilty to acting as a foreign agent for China. Chen was <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/california-man-sentenced-acting-illegal-agent-prc-government-and-bribery">sentenced</a> for his efforts to repress U.S.-based practitioners of Falun Gong, a persecuted religious minority in China.
In one report submitted to Chinese officials, Sun said he had been in the United States since 1996 to “persist in resisting any hostile forces that undermine the friendship of US-China relations.&#8221;
The House Select Committee on China said the sentencing should serve as a warning for the United States.
&#8220;This case is what the Select Committee has warned for years: the Chinese Communist Party is actively targeting U.S. political systems, all the way down to local elections,&#8221; the committee <a href="https://x.com/ChinaSelect/status/2021270689332764734">said</a>. &#8220;A China-directed agent orchestrated efforts to elect a city council candidate, pushed CCP propaganda through a fake local news outlet, and reported directly to PRC officials, all while on U.S. soil.&#8221;

A US and a Chinese flag wave outside a c

Man Who Worked For California Mayor Sentenced To Prison For Spreading CCP Propaganda

Chinese Communist Party

Courts

Department of Justice

On Saturday morning, President Donald Trump threatened Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney with a steep 100% tariff if he follows through on a recent deal with communist China.
&#8220;If Governor Carney thinks he is going to make Canada a &#8216;Drop Off Port&#8217; for China to send goods and products into the United States, he is sorely mistaken,&#8221; the president wrote on Truth Social.
Notably, Trump mockingly referred to the PM as &#8220;Governor Carney,&#8221; as the president has repeatedly said in the past that he&#8217;d like to turn Canada into the 51st state of the U.S. &#8212; a proposition Carney very much did not like.
&#8220;China will eat Canada alive, completely devour it, including the destruction of their businesses, social fabric, and general way of life,&#8221; Trump continued. &#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 Friday, Carney announced a new Canada-China trade deal that partially rolls back tariffs on both sides. Under the agreement, Canada will allow a limited number of Chinese electric vehicles to enter the country at reduced tariffs, while China will significantly cut or pause tariffs on major Canadian agricultural exports like canola, seafood, and peas.
Carney called the deal “historic and productive.&#8221;
Trump&#8217;s threat for a 100% tariff follows drama at the World Economic Forum. Carney criticized the U.S. for its ambition to purchase Greenland, sparking a tough response from Trump.
“I watched your prime minister yesterday,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/11622445/donald-trump-mark-carney-davos-speech/">said</a> on Wednesday. &#8220;He wasn’t so grateful, but they should be grateful to us. Canada lives because of the United States.&#8221;
“Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements,&#8221; he continued.
“All we want from Denmark for national and international security and to keep our very energetic and dangerous potential enemies at bay is this land on which we’re going to build the greatest golden dome ever built,” said Trump.
“We’re building a golden dome that’s going to, just by its very nature, going to be defending Canada. Canada gets a lot of freebies from us, by the way,&#8221; the president added. &#8220;They should be grateful also, but they’re not.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-uninvites-canada-from-his-gaza-board-of-peace-after-davos-drama">Trump Uninvites Canada From His Gaza ‘Board Of Peace’ After Davos Drama</a>

Trump Threatens Canada With Massive Tariff After PM Carney Makes Deal With China

Canada

Chinese tech giant ByteDance has reached a deal over ownership of TikTok for the social media platform to stay active in the United States.
TikTok <a href="https://newsroom.tiktok.com/announcement-from-the-new-tiktok-usds-joint-venture-llc?lang=en">announced</a> the deal on Thursday evening after a six-year campaign to ban the app under Chinese ownership from the United States. Congress passed legislation over a year ago that could have spelled the end of TikTok in the United States, but President Donald Trump postponed the ban from going into effect beyond the bill’s stated grace period to reach a deal.
Since 2019, a conglomeration of people and entities have sought legal action against TikTok, while a bipartisan group of lawmakers has sought an outright ban over concerns that the platform was being used by China to steal from and spy on Americans.
The effort to ban TikTok was resisted by social media influencers who have used the platform to further their careers, as well as Trump, who prioritized negotiating with ByteDance to sell off the platform to allow it to continue to operate in the United States.
Under the terms of the deal, a new U.S. version of the app will be created, which will be 80% owned by international investors.
TikTok’s Thursday statement listed the new group of international owners. The largest owners outside of ByteDance itself are the software giant Oracle, the Emirati investment firm MGX, and U.S.-based investment firm Silver Lake. ByteDance will retain 19.9% ownership of the U.S. version of the platform while the other big three will each have 15%.
“Completing the full consortium of investors are: Dell Family Office, the investment firm of Michael Dell, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies; Vastmere Strategic Investments, LLC, an affiliate of Susquehanna International Group, LLP; Alpha Wave Partners; Revolution; Merritt Way, LLC controlled and managed by partners of Dragoneer; Via Nova, an affiliate of General Atlantic; Virgo LI, Inc., investment arm of a foundation established by Yuri and Julia Milner in support of science; and NJJ Capital, the family office of Xavier Niel, a French entrepreneur and pioneer in telecommunications,” the statement from TikTok explained.
Oracle will become the manager of all U.S. user data on the platform.
“TikTok USDS Joint Venture&#8217;s mandate is to secure U.S. user data, apps and the algorithm through comprehensive data privacy and cybersecurity measures. It will safeguard the U.S. content ecosystem through robust trust and safety policies and content moderation while ensuring continuous accountability through transparency reporting and third-party certifications,” the announcement stated.

TikTok

TikTok Strikes Deal To Stay Active In U.S., Ending Years-Long Battle Over Chinese Ownership

Big Tech

The Chinese Communist Party has escalated its persecution of Christians by arresting more prominent church leaders and putting them in detention centers, The Daily Wire has learned.
At least seven Christians affiliated with the Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, a city in southwestern China, were arrested on Tuesday, according to the church. The arrests began in the early morning and continued until evening.
Early Rain Covenant Church is a prominent evangelical Presbyterian church that has earned the ire of the Communist Party for being part of China&#8217;s underground church movement. The arrests of the Early Rain members come just a few months after the Chinese government <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/daughter-of-detained-pastor-warns-of-a-coming-wave-of-christian-persecution-in-communist-china">rounded up</a> prominent leaders at Zion Church, another well-known underground church.
Those arrested included Li Yingqiang, an elder at the church whose home in Deyang was searched, and preacher Dai Zhichao. Dai was arrested at the church office after being told by authorities he was not allowed to leave his home, according to the church.
“At around 11:00 a.m. on January 6, he was taken under control at the church office, then brought to his home where it was searched, after which he went out of contact. It has now been confirmed that he is at the Jinniu District Case-Handling Center,” a message from Early Rain said.
Others who were taken by authorities included elder Yan Hong, preacher Wu Wuqing, the family of Ye Fenghua, and deacon Zeng Qingtao.
A woman named Shu Qiong was also taken by police and charged with “suspected provocation and police disturbance,” according to a source familiar with the arrests. A photo obtained by The Daily Wire shows the police showing up at her home.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1024205" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/IMG_2561.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="1280" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/IMG_2561.jpg 960w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/IMG_2561-225x300.jpg 225w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/IMG_2561-432x576.jpg 432w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/IMG_2561-768x1024.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px" /></div>
One of those arrested was able to return home on Tuesday, according to the church. The church is currently locating lawyers for those arrested.
At the same time, police targeted the Early Rain Academy, a school operated by the church.
“The academy immediately organized teachers and students to evacuate and leave the site. Subsequently, the owner of the teaching site was summoned to the police station and pressured, and was informed that all items must be removed from the site by Friday,” the church said in a release.
The CCP’s targeting of Early Rain stretches back to 2018 when it began arresting prominent leaders, including Pastor Wang Yi. Wang was convicted in 2019 of subverting the government and sentenced to nine years in prison. While still imprisoned, he was just awarded a Democracy Service Medal by the National Endowment for Democracy.
Corey Jackson, who heads up the advocacy organization Luke Alliance, said the arrests were part of a broader pattern of targeting of unregistered churches. He said in recent months that more pastors were being brought into local police offices for “tea times” and told that they must register with the state or face harsh treatment.
“One person reported that they had been told by the domestic security police that churches, ‘house churches,’ are going to face complete prohibition. Participants will face imprisonment, and there&#8217;s going to be less pattern of warning, fines, and leeway,” Jackson told The Daily Wire.
Jackson said that the government really wants to exert more control over the churches, and make them register any online services they have before meeting. He also said the government doesn’t want parents educating kids in their faith if they are below the age of 18.
Jackson added that he would like to see the Trump administration put some pressure on China over their repression of Christianity.
“We need to apply pressure on China with human rights,” he said. “We must continue not to just be transactional in our approach with China, but to also recognize that China is the one of the worst abusers of human rights in the world.&#8221;

MixCollage-06-Jan-2026-07-47-PM-6588

China Escalates Persecution Of Christians With More Shocking Arrests

Christianity

Religion

Religious Liberty

Trump Administration

China&#8217;s foreign ministry announced sanctions on Friday targeting 10 individuals and 20 U.S. defense firms, including Boeing&#8217;s St. Louis branch, over arms sales to Taiwan.
A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said the United States strongly objected to the Chinese move, which freezes any assets the companies and individuals hold in China and bars domestic organizations and individuals from doing business with them.
Individuals on the Chinese list, including the founder of defense firm Anduril Industries and nine senior executives from the sanctioned firms, are also banned from entering China, it added.
Other companies targeted include Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation and L3Harris Maritime Services, and Boeing&#8217;s St. Louis branch, which focuses on defense work.
The Chinese action appears largely symbolic given China&#8217;s lack of dealings with U.S. defense firms, whereas it has been a major purchaser of Boeing civilian aircraft.
The move follows Washington&#8217;s announcement last week of $11.1 billion in arms sales to Taiwan, the largest ever U.S. weapons package for the island, drawing Beijing&#8217;s ire.
&#8220;The Taiwan issue is the core of China&#8217;s core interests and the first red line that cannot be crossed in China-U.S. relations,&#8221; a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said in a statement on Friday.
&#8220;Any provocative actions that cross the line on the Taiwan issue will be met with a strong response from China,&#8221; the statement said, urging the U.S. to cease &#8220;dangerous&#8221; efforts to arm the island.
China views democratically-governed Taiwan as part of its own territory, a claim Taipei rejects.
The U.S. is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, though such arms sales are a persistent source of friction with China.
The State Department spokesperson said this policy had &#8220;remained consistent across nine different U.S. administrations and contributes to the maintenance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.&#8221;
&#8220;We strongly object to Beijing’s efforts to retaliate against U.S. companies for their support of U.S. arms sales that support Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities,&#8221; the spokesperson said, while urging Beijing to cease military, diplomatic, and economic pressure against Taiwan and instead engage in meaningful dialogue with Taipei.
Boeing has been in talks to sell Chinese carriers up to 500 civilian jets, according to a report in September, which would represent a major breakthrough for the company in the world&#8217;s second-largest aviation market, where orders have stalled amid U.S.-China trade tensions.
(Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom in Washington; Editing by Joe Bavier, Peter Graff and Alistair Bell)

The two sides clashed with missiles. trade war. Flag of the People’s Republic of China. Flag of the United States. Taiwan flag

China Hits U.S. Defense Firms With Sanctions Over Arms Sales To Taiwan

Department of Defense

Taiwan

President Trump announced on Monday that the United States Navy will begin building massive battleships for the first time since 1944, to join the “Golden Fleet.”
Trump announced that the new Trump-class battleships will include two ships to be built immediately, with the first named USS Defiant. He said the vessels will be 100 times more powerful than the Iowa-class battleships from WWII and will be equipped with missiles, hypersonic weapons, railguns, high-powered lasers, nuclear-armed cruise missiles, and AI technology.
“There’s never been anything like these ships,” Trump said. “These are the best in the world. They will be the fastest, the biggest, and by far 100x more powerful than any battleship ever built.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
NEW: President Trump announces that he approved a plan for the construction of two new battleships.
He says they will be larger than ever and have “100x the power&#8221; of the Iowa-class battleships.
The last battleship (USS Missouri) was built in 1944 decommissioned in 1992. <a href="https://t.co/TDylUGasWK">pic.twitter.com/TDylUGasWK</a>
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) <a href="https://twitter.com/KassyAkiva/status/2003232951228866969?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
The Golden Fleet is the Navy’s “bold investment to revitalize America’s maritime industrial base,” according to the initiative’s <a href="https://www.goldenfleet.navy.mil/">newly launched website</a>.
&#8220;America’s next battleship, the USS Defiant, will be part of a new class of large surface combatants with the most destructive fire power of any surface ship to ever sail — having the ability to strike an adversary at 80x the range of the previous class,&#8221; the website states. &#8220;The Trump-class Battleship will be the first-ever guided missile battleship with the ability to deploy with nuclear and hypersonic missiles.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_1018777" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1018777" class="size-large wp-image-1018777" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/USS_Defiant_Munitions_v4-2048x1017-1-1024x509.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="509" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/USS_Defiant_Munitions_v4-2048x1017-1-1024x509.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/USS_Defiant_Munitions_v4-2048x1017-1-300x149.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/USS_Defiant_Munitions_v4-2048x1017-1-768x381.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/USS_Defiant_Munitions_v4-2048x1017-1.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Photo: U.S. Navy</div>
The USS Defiant is expected to take 2.5 years to build and is projected to measure 840 to 880 feet long, with a beam of 105 to 115 feet and a draft of 24 to 30 feet, displacing over 30,000 to 40,000 tons. The ship is designed to reach speeds greater than 30 knots and will accommodate 650 to 850 crew members.
While two ships will begin to be built immediately, Trump said the planned class size for the fleet is 20 to 25 ships.
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<a href="https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2025/12/19/us-navy-to-develop-new-class-of-smaller-more-agile-combatant-ships/">According to the Military Times</a>, a Government Accountability Office report detailed two decades of poor performance at U.S. shipyards, citing low production, significant schedule delays, and issues with faulty functionality.
Trump said the new ships will be built with steel in modernized American shipyards, creating thousands of jobs, and that he will personally weigh in on the design as a “very aesthetic person.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
President Trump says he is going to help design the new U.S. Navy Battleships because he is &#8220;a very aesthetic person.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/K78rteOSMp">pic.twitter.com/K78rteOSMp</a>
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) <a href="https://twitter.com/KassyAkiva/status/2003248689587093891?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
“The US Navy will lead the design of these ships along with me because I&#8217;m a very aesthetic person alongside our partners in American industry,” Trump said. “The construction will create thousands of American jobs.”
Trump said the new fleet will be a restoration of American naval power, pointing to the great ships of the past, including President Theodore Roosevelt’s Great White Fleet to the USS Missouri, which played an important role in WWII, including hosting the Japanese surrender.
“America&#8217;s battleships have always been unmistakable symbols of national power,” Trump said. “We stopped making them for whatever reason, I don&#8217;t know.”
Trump added that 15 submarines are under construction and he plans to order more warships to join the Golden Fleet, including destroyers and a new class of aircraft carriers.
“This is American industrial power returning,” said Secretary of State Marco Rubio. “Generations of Americans will be grateful for it.”
The USS Missouri, built in 1944, was the last U.S. battleship to enter service and remained active until its decommissioning in 1992. It is now a museum ship at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-1018779" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/The_Golden_Fleet_Silhouettes-2048x402-1-1024x201.png" alt="" width="1024" height="201" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/The_Golden_Fleet_Silhouettes-2048x402-1-1024x201.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/The_Golden_Fleet_Silhouettes-2048x402-1-300x59.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/The_Golden_Fleet_Silhouettes-2048x402-1-768x151.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/The_Golden_Fleet_Silhouettes-2048x402-1-1536x302.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/The_Golden_Fleet_Silhouettes-2048x402-1.png 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
<div id="attachment_1018781" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1018781" class="size-large wp-image-1018781" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/The_Golden_Fleet_Silhouettes-2048x402-2-1024x201.png" alt="" width="1024" height="201" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/The_Golden_Fleet_Silhouettes-2048x402-2-1024x201.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/The_Golden_Fleet_Silhouettes-2048x402-2-300x59.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/The_Golden_Fleet_Silhouettes-2048x402-2-768x151.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/The_Golden_Fleet_Silhouettes-2048x402-2.png 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />The Golden Fleet (U.S. Navy)</div>
Battleships were largely abandoned after WWII as aircraft came to increasingly dominate naval warfare. These slow, heavily armored ships were designed to fight other vessels, making them easy targets for air attacks — a weakness made clear at Pearl Harbor, where the USS Arizona, USS Oklahoma, USS California, and USS West Virginia were sunk in 1941.
In the decades since, aircraft carriers, submarines, and missile-armed warships have replaced battleships in the U.S. Navy.
Secretary of the Navy John Phelan said the Trump-class battleships will be essential to the Navy, will have the most modern weapons systems, and serve as a flagship for commanders to oversee naval forces far out at sea.
“Not only is the president’s idea a good one, it’s something the Navy desperately needs and now has a formal requirement for,” he said. “The future Trump-class battleship the USS Defiant will be the largest, deadliest, and most versatile and best-looking warship anywhere on the world’s oceans.”
<div id="attachment_1018783" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1018783" class="size-large wp-image-1018783" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Screenshot-2025-12-22-at-7.17.35-PM-1024x438.png" alt="" width="1024" height="438" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Screenshot-2025-12-22-at-7.17.35-PM-1024x438.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Screenshot-2025-12-22-at-7.17.35-PM-300x128.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Screenshot-2025-12-22-at-7.17.35-PM-768x328.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Screenshot-2025-12-22-at-7.17.35-PM-1536x657.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Screenshot-2025-12-22-at-7.17.35-PM-2048x875.png 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Specifications for the Trump-class Battleships. (U.S. Navy)</div>
He added that the ships will give the United States a “new leg” in nuclear deterrence for the “first time in generations” because the battleships will carry the nuclear armed sea-launched cruise missile.
“We are going to make battleships great again,” Phelan said. “The USS Defiant battleship will inspire awe and reverence for the American flag whenever it pulls into a foreign port.”
The battleship announcement comes as the Navy <a href="https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/Press-Releases/display-pressreleases/Article/4364538/navy-announces-new-small-surface-combatant/">expands its fleet</a> with a new class of smaller, agile warships. The FF(X) small surface combatant, based on the U.S. Coast Guard’s Legend-class, will be a highly-adaptable vessel, with the first ship expected to enter service in 2028.

Trump Battleships

Trump Announces New ‘Golden Fleet’ Of ‘Trump-Class’ Battleships

Military

U.S. Navy

Federal authorities have accused another Chinese researcher of smuggling biological materials into the United States, as the FBI cautions American universities about growing threats from the communist nation.
FBI Director Kash Patel announced Friday that Chinese national Youhuang Xiang was arrested for allegedly smuggling genetic material from E. coli bacteria into the United States while working as a researcher at Indiana University. According to court documents, Xiang entered the country in 2023 on an educational exchange visa to secure a postdoctoral position at the school.
“This is yet another example of a researcher from China — given the privilege to work at a U.S. university — who then allegedly chose to take part in a scheme to circumvent U.S. laws and receive biological materials hidden in a package originating from China,” Patel posted on X. “The [FBI] and our CBP partners are committed to enforcing U.S. laws put in place to protect against this global threat to our economy and food supply. If not properly controlled, E. coli and other biological materials could inflict devastating disease to U.S. crops and cause significant financial loss to the U.S. economy.”
Xiang has been charged with conspiracy to commit smuggling, smuggling, and making false statements. He could face up to 20 years in prison and fines totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars if convicted. James Tunick, Xiang&#8217;s lawyer, disputed the allegations.
&#8220;Youhuang Xiang was legally working in the United States on a J-1 visa with a professor from the Biology Department at Indiana University to better wheat crop production in the United States,&#8221; Tunick told The Daily Wire. &#8220;The allegation that Youhuang smuggled E. coli into the United States is completely false and is not even charged by the United States Department of Justice.&#8221;
Xiang, whose <a href="https://biology.indiana.edu/about/research-associates/index.html">bio</a> says he specializes in “recognition specificity in host-pathogen interactions and engineering crop resistance to pathogen,” was first arrested on November 25. Information about the case was unsealed this week. 
In March 2024, Xiang requested that a person in China referred to as “Individual A” ship plasmid DNA from E. coli bacteria to his home in Bloomington, Indiana, according to the indictment. The material was shipped to him shortly after, concealed in a package of clothing items that &#8220;Individual A&#8221; declared included a men&#8217;s vest and women&#8217;s underwear, investigators said. The package allegedly came from Guangzhou Sci Tech Innovation Trading.
More than a year later, on November 23, 2025, Xiang landed in Chicago after returning from a trip to London, where agents with Customs and Border Protection questioned him. During that interview, he allegedly lied to them about the package he had sent to his home and about his ties to the Chinese government. 
Xiang was scheduled to remain at Indiana University through 2027 and was leading a research program focused on genome editing in wheat plants to increase resistance to fungal diseases.
The FBI was made aware of the shipment by CBP as part of an investigation into biological materials being smuggled into the United States from China, which is why he was questioned on November 23. 
“Information provided to the FBI by CBP included information about the history of shipments from China to certain individuals at IU conducting research into wheat pathogen Resistance,” the criminal complaint said. “That information indicated that XIANG was associated with that research and that XIANG received a shipment from China at his residence on March 28, 2024.”
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The FBI also thought it was “odd” that Xiang purchased and shipped “women’s underwear from China, and further assessed it as peculiar that a company by the name ‘Guangzhou Sci Tech Innovation Trading’ would sell underwear or clothing,” according to the complaint. 
A <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674205219301625">paper</a> written by Xiang also listed his affiliation with the National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics in Shanghai, which raised flags for investigators. 
“I know from my training and experience that the PRC ‘Key Laboratories’ are overseen by the Chinese Government and have a history of concerning actions including technology transfer and theft of intellectual property,” the FBI agent who investigated the case wrote in the criminal complaint. 
Over the last few months, other Chinese researchers at American universities have been arrested for smuggling biological materials into the country. Multiple arrests have been made at the University of Michigan, where <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/feds-makes-more-arrests-as-alarming-pattern-of-chinese-smuggling-continues">investigators said</a> that shipments of concealed biological materials related to roundworms were smuggled into the United States. 
President Donald Trump has faced criticism over the presence of Chinese students at American universities. While some critics have called for reducing the number of Chinese nationals admitted to U.S. schools, Trump has argued that their enrollment helps provide funding for American institutions.

Cornfield and blue sky

Chinese National Accused Of Smuggling E. Coli DNA Into United States

Chinese National Accused of Smuggling E. Coli DNA Into United States

Crime

Indiana

kash patel

Smuggling

An illegal immigrant given a New York commercial driver&#8217;s license allegedly caused a fatal crash while driving behind the wheel of a tour bus.
Chinese illegal immigrant Yisong Huang, 54, allegedly killed a 31-year-old truck driver and injured several others in Tennessee on December 9 while he was distracted by a video on his phone, <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/12/17/us-news/nyc-bus-driver-charged-in-fatal-highway-wreck-entered-us-illegally-but-was-still-issued-license-feds/?utm_social_post_id=625806205&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=nypost&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_social_handle_id=17469289" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the New York Post. The latest collision is part of a recent, larger string of crashes involving illegal immigrants behind the wheel of heavy trucks and buses.
&#8220;Far too many innocent Americans have been killed by illegal aliens driving semi-trucks and big rigs. And yet, sanctuary states around the country have been issuing illegal aliens commercial driver’s licenses. The Trump Administration is ending the chaos,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement regarding the latest crash.
“The brave men and women of ICE are working nonstop to get criminal illegal aliens out of our communities and off our roads.&#8221;
After the crash, Huang failed an English proficiency test, which is required by the federal government in order to obtain a commercial driver&#8217;s license, according to DHS.
Huang crossed the border illegally in 2023, when federal authorities reported a massive surge in Chinese migrants entering through Mexico, DHS said. Border Patrol agents swiftly released him into the country, and he was later granted a work permit and a Social Security card.
The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles confirmed that Huang received the license on April 11, 2025, after he presented federal documents, according to the New York Post. The state agency denied that the license was issued unlawfully.
After a series of recent crashes involving illegal immigrants carrying commercial driver&#8217;s licenses, the Trump administration has commenced a nationwide crackdown on states issuing them. The federal government has also instituted new changes to testing requirements, including enforcing a rule that testing must be conducted in English.
A recent federal audit of New York&#8217;s issuance of commercial driver&#8217;s licenses found that more than half were issued unlawfully, <a href="https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/trumps-transportation-secretary-sean-p-duffy-uncovers-latest-bombshell-over-50-nys" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the Department of Transportation. As a result, the Trump administration has threatened to withhold roughly $73 million in federal funding from the Empire State.
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Experts have told The Daily Wire that the issue metastasized when the Biden administration began handing out work permits &#8220;like candy&#8221; to illegal border crossers while taking a lax approach when it came to commercial driver&#8217;s license testing requirements.
The issue is also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-illegal-immigrant-truck-drivers-ended-up-on-americas-roads?author=Jennie+Taer&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=32&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=How+Illegal+Immigrant+Truck+Drivers+Ended+Up+On+America%E2%80%99s+Roads">attributed</a> to third-party testing sites, which certify new drivers independently.
“There’s no good checks and balances, to be perfectly honest with you,” Lewie Pugh, Executive Vice President of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, previously told The Daily Wire.
“A lot of states allow third party testing to do the CDLs and I would say that’s how most of these people get through,” he said.

Untitled design – 2025-12-18T125543.316

Illegal Immigrant Tour Bus Driver With New York License Accused Of Causing Fatal Wreck

Deportations

Illegal Immigration

New York

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