House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) said the United States is seeing &#8220;unbelievable aggression&#8221; from communist China directed at Western nations.
Turner&#8217;s comments come after a Chinese fighter jet <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/chinese-jet-flew-nose-us-plane-says-pentagon-rcna86926">flew</a> directly in front of a U.S. reconnaissance plane over the South China Sea last weekend, and a Chinese warship <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/chinese-warship-cuts-off-us-navy-ship-marking/story?id=99817905">came within</a> 150 yards of a U.S. Navy destroyer on Saturday.
&#8220;Well, what we&#8217;re seeing is an unbelievable aggression by China,&#8221; Turner told ABC News&#8217; &#8220;This Week&#8221; on Sunday. &#8220;If you look at the balloon that flew over the United States, the Chinese police stations, the aggressiveness against our both planes and ships in international water, it goes right to the heart of what President Xi said when he stood next to Putin in Russia, where he said, they&#8217;re trying to make change that had not happened in 100 years.&#8221;
&#8220;Well, that change is the, you know, 100 years ago, World War I and World War II,&#8221; he said. &#8220;That was about democracy versus authoritarianism. They&#8217;re trying to, you know, flex their muscles and advance authoritarianism. We need to stand strong, and certainly this administration needs to stand strong against this type of coercion.&#8221;
Host Martha Raddatz asked Turner what standing up to &#8220;this type of coercion&#8221; looks like.
&#8220;I think it means calling them out. I mean, this is unacceptable,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And when you have, for example, a balloon that transits all across the United States, and the administration doesn&#8217;t respond until the game&#8217;s over, until it&#8217;s over the Atlantic, you start &#8212; and when you have police stations that have been operating within the United States, that took forever in order for them to take action, you get this sort of sense of permissiveness, that I think the administration needs to step up and make clear that China has identified itself as an adversary, and we&#8217;re going to treat it as such.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
&quot;What we&#39;re seeing is an unbelievable aggression by China.” 
House Intelligence chair Rep. Mike Turner, tells <a href="https://twitter.com/MarthaRaddatz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MarthaRaddatz</a> that the U.S. needs “to stand strong and certainly this administration needs to stand strong against this type of coercion.” <a href="https://t.co/JXtoDr5BMz">https://t.co/JXtoDr5BMz</a> <a href="https://t.co/Xqu21mZt4B">pic.twitter.com/Xqu21mZt4B</a>
&mdash; ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) <a href="https://twitter.com/ABCPolitics/status/1665378113964867584?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 4, 2023</a></blockquote>
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House GOP Leadership Press Conference

‘Unbelievable Aggression By China’: House Intel Chairman Responds To Chinese Military Provocations Against U.S.

House Intel Chairman Responds To Chinese Military Provocations Against U.S.

China

Communist China

Congress

Politics

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/cia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CIA</a> Director William Burns made a covert trip to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">China</a> in May in an effort to open up communications with Chinese intelligence leaders in the aftermath of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/chinese-spy-balloon-collected-intelligence-from-sensitive-military-sites-sent-back-to-beijing-in-real-time-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">appearance of a spy balloon</a> over the U.S., according to multiple reports.
A <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/5fdfed4f-7270-455f-ac33-fedbef887423" target="_blank" rel="noopener">source told</a> the Financial Times that Burns&#8217; trip was for the purpose of meeting with intelligence officials and that he did not have any “diplomatic engagements” while in the communist country. 
“Last month, director Burns traveled to Beijing where he met with Chinese counterparts and emphasized the importance of maintaining open lines of communications in intelligence channels,” a U.S. official said. 
President Joe Biden has <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/cia-director-bill-burns-took-secret-trip-china-may-rcna87433" target="_blank" rel="noopener">been seeking</a> a “thaw” in the relationship between the U.S. and China since a Chinese spy balloon was shot down in February off the coast of South Carolina after traveling over the continental U.S. 
Last month, China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, met with White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan in Vienna for several hours. But <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/beijing-snubs-u-s-rejects-meeting-between-top-military-officials" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tensions remain</a> as China snubbed the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/biden-administration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Biden administration</a> last weekend, rejecting a request from the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/department-of-defense">Pentagon</a> for a meeting between the top military officials of Washington and Beijing last weekend.
Prior to Burns’ trip, the top senior official to visit China from the Biden administration occurred in July 2021 when Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman visited. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was supposed to visit China in February, but his visit was canceled in the wake of the spy balloon controversy. 
The Biden administration <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-admin-tried-to-conceal-chinese-spy-balloon-to-not-disrupt-blinken-trip-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly knew</a> about the Chinese spy balloon sailing over the U.S. earlier than when it became widely known but kept quiet so as to not disrupt Blinken’s trip.
Bloomberg News <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-02-04/from-china-to-big-sky-the-balloon-that-unnerved-the-white-house?leadSource=uverify%20wall#xj4y7vzkg">reported</a> that U.S. officials were “well aware” that the balloon had crossed into American airspace on January 28 and that it was over Idaho on Tuesday, but decided to not inform the public to not upend Blinken’s diplomatic trip to China. 
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Burns also has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/epstein-scheduled-meetings-with-now-cia-director-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">come under fire</a> after newly disclosed records show that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jeffrey-epstein">Jeffrey Epstein</a> scheduled meetings with him in the years after the wealthy and well-connected financier registered as a child sex offender.
Burns, who became President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden">Joe Biden&#8217;</a>s CIA director in March 2021, had three meetings scheduled with Epstein in 2014 when Burns was deputy secretary of state, the documents show. The report mentioned a planned lunch in August at a law firm in Washington and two evening appointments in September at Epstein’s townhouse in Manhattan.

Senate Intelligence Committee Hears Testimony On Worldwide Threats To The U.S.

CIA Director Took Secret Visit To China To Meet With Intelligence Officials: Reports

Antony Blinken

Biden Administration

National Security

Spying

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

TikTok

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

General

Greg Gianforte

Montana

U.S.

Twitter owner <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/elon-musk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elon Musk</a> warned during an interview this week that U.S. policymakers should take China&#8217;s threats of taking over Taiwan &#8220;seriously&#8221; because the communist nation is not kidding around when it comes to its intent to do so.
Musk made the remarks during an interview with CNBC&#8217;s David Faber when asked if he was concerned about &#8220;the growing belligerence between China and the U.S.&#8221;
&#8220;I think that should be a concern for everyone,&#8221; Musk responded.
When asked if he thinks China is going to make a move to take control of Taiwan, Musk responded, &#8220;The official policy of China is that Taiwan should be integrated. One does not need to read between the lines, one can certainly read the lines.&#8221;
Musk said that the move would not be good for &#8220;any company in the world.&#8221;
&#8220;Also no one really realizes that the Chinese economy and the rest of the global economy are like conjoined twins, it would be like trying to separate conjoined twins,&#8221; he said. &#8220;That’s the severity of the situation. It’s actually worse for a lot of other companies than it is for Tesla. I mean, I’m not sure where you’re gonna get an iPhone, for example. And Apple’s recently started doing some sort of small amount of production in India, but it’s tiny.”
When Faber mentioned that it seemed like it was Musk&#8217;s belief that China trying to gain control of Taiwan was &#8220;likely to happen,&#8221; Musk responded, &#8220;I’m simply saying that that is their policy. And I think you should take their word seriously. They mean it.&#8221;
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WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Elon Musk says tension between U.S. and China &quot;should be a concern for everyone.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/kUSHXUka3x">https://t.co/kUSHXUka3x</a> <a href="https://t.co/XscyQvbZ3d">pic.twitter.com/XscyQvbZ3d</a>
&mdash; CNBC (@CNBC) <a href="https://twitter.com/CNBC/status/1658898929164128256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 17, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Elon Musk Visits Germany

Musk: Take China’s Comments About Capturing Taiwan ‘Seriously,’ They’re Not Kidding Around

Musk: Take China's Comments About Capturing Taiwan 'Seriously,' They're Not Kidding Around

Elon Musk

Global Politics

Taiwan

World

The world can see <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">China</a> is not a &#8220;great power&#8221; as the U.S. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/congress" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Congress</a> unites in demanding freedom for Mark Swidan, an American who has been &#8220;unjustly detained&#8221; for more than a decade, Sen. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/ted-cruz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ted Cruz</a> (R-TX) declared on Tuesday.
Cruz spoke exclusively with <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Daily Wire</a> days after the Democrat-controlled Senate <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-resolution/23/actions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed by unanimous consent his resolution</a> calling for the immediate release of Swidan, a move which followed the GOP-led House unanimously approving its own resolution <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/3971913-house-unanimously-approves-resolution-demanding-china-immediately-release-detained-us-citizen/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">making the same demand</a>.
Such a &#8220;powerful&#8221; display of unanimity demonstrates a &#8220;degree of focus and visibility&#8221; that is sure to be noticed by Beijing, according to Cruz, who noted that the Chinese Communist Party is &#8220;highly sensitive&#8221; to international pressure.
&#8220;The Chinese dictatorship does not like the world to realize that they are oppressive despots,&#8221; Cruz said. &#8220;Great powers do not hold hostages and China is not behaving like the great power it claims it wants to be.&#8221;
Chinese authorities arrested Swidan, a Houston businessman who is now in his 40s, in 2012 while he was on a business trip. Swidan was convicted in 2019 after being accused of taking part in a criminal drug conspiracy and given a delayed death sentence.
A Chinese court rejected Swidan&#8217;s appeal and upheld his death penalty with a two-year suspended death sentence, the State Department announced last month.
President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken &#8220;continue to remain personally focused on the release of Mark Swidan and other U.S. nationals wrongfully detained or held hostage across the world,&#8221; State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said in a <a href="https://www.state.gov/mark-swidans-suspended-death-sentence/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>.
Cruz&#8217;s resolution, which was co-sponsored by Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), warned Swidan&#8217;s health has deteriorated amid &#8220;inhumane&#8221; conditions, a lack of adequate medical care, and efforts to prevent family from contacting him. The resolution also made note of a 2020 United Nations working group <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/Detention/Opinions/Session86/A_HRC_WGAD_2019_72_AdvanceEditedVersion.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> that determined Swidan was being arbitrarily detained and should be released.
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&#8220;Time is of the essence. It is now or never, I believe,&#8221; Cruz said on Tuesday.
The senator divulged that he has been in contact with Swidan&#8217;s mother, Katherine, noting she &#8220;desperately&#8221; wants to see her son come home. To that end, in addition to his resolution, Cruz said he has been &#8220;leaning on&#8221; the State Department to do more and met with China&#8217;s ambassador to push for Swidan&#8217;s release.
The State Department says Biden <a href="https://twitter.com/KellieMeyerNews/status/1650950782139654145" target="_blank" rel="noopener">raised the issue</a> of &#8220;wrongfully detained U.S. nationals&#8221; in a November meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Indonesia, and U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/envoy-made-rare-prison-visits-three-us-citizens-china-official-says-2023-03-24/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly met</a> with some of them, including Swidan, in recent weeks.
That&#8217;s not enough for Cruz, who said there are a number of &#8220;tools&#8221; that can be employed, such as exerting economic and diplomatic pressure to the point that China decides it is &#8220;not worth the hassle to keep Mark Swidan as a hostage.&#8221; Cruz said he plans to keep using his &#8220;leverage&#8221; in the Senate and posited that the president could make a huge difference with one small suggestion.
&#8220;As far as I know, Biden has never said the name Mark Swidan. That needs to change,&#8221; Cruz said. &#8220;The president needs to stand up and use the bully pulpit of the White House to call for his release.&#8221;

Sen. Ted Cruz

Ted Cruz, In Quest To Free Mark Swidan, Sees No ‘Great Power’ In China

Ted Cruz, In Quest To Free Mark Swidan, Sees No 'Great Power' In China

Ted Cruz

Texas

Anyone familiar with domestic energy policy knows the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is critical to our nation. But it seems Joe Biden saw the acronym S-P-R and thought, “Strategic Political Reserve.”
The Louisiana- and Texas-based series of subterranean, artificial caverns were created by Congress in 1975 as a response to OPEC’s oil embargoes in 1973-74. The caverns have a capacity for up to 714 million barrels of oil, equivalent to just over a month’s worth of daily U.S. imports. Think of it as a “break glass only in emergency” option, except with oil.
As of this month, however, the SPR held only 362 million barrels, a decrease of an incredible 34% of the reserve’s totals from just a year ago. That’s 550 million fewer barrels for those keeping track. Why the precipitous drop? Politics.
To offset the disgust from the American public over record-high gas prices that threatened household budgets for travel, food, transportation, and leisure from the end of 2021 and through last summer, President Biden directed sales of 260 million barrels from the SPR. These draw-downs – designed to increase supply and lower prices – were hailed as sound economic policy by those on the Left, and a threat to national energy security by Biden’s critics.
On second thought, with his approval at a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/graphics/USA-BIDEN/POLL/nmopagnqapa/">dismal 38% last summer</a>, perhaps Biden thought SPR stands for “Sneaky Poll Rescue?”
Much like the administration&#8217;s outright disasters at the southern border, in Afghanistan, or the decimation of domestic energy independence, the draw-down plan was anything but successful. Sure, gas prices dropped, but so did consumer confidence in the administration, especially after it was revealed that one million barrels of SPR were sold to China. With the U.S. heavily dependent on Chinese-dominated supply chains for everything from pharmaceuticals to defense technologies, it made little sense to rational Americans to weaken our oil reserves while meeting Communist China&#8217;s energy needs.
Facing intense scrutiny, the Energy Department then announced that it would begin refilling the SPR once prices stabilized in the $65-72 per barrel range. It’s worth noting that president Trump proposed <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-could-refill-strategic-oil-reserve-at-80-per-barrel-democrats-blocked-trump-when-oil-was-24">refilling the SPR</a> back when oil was $24 per barrel, but the Democrats blocked it.
To date, none of the promised repurchases have taken place, thanks to the continued bungling of the administration. This week, however, Biden’s Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm <a href="https://www.energy.gov/articles/us-department-energy-announces-purchases-strategic-petroleum-reserve#:~:text=%E2%80%94%20The%20Department%20of%20Energy%20(DOE,the%20Big%20Hill%20SPR%20site.">announced the department</a> would try again. In a statement they said they plan to “repurchase up to three million barrels of crude at a lower price than the over $94 per barrel price it was sold for in 2022, while strengthening energy security by providing certainty to the industry in a way that helps encourage near-term supply.”
Only a Biden apologist would find their stance truthful or convincing. Record-high prices brought about by Biden’s eco-driven energy policies now bring a higher cost to the U.S. as it seeks to refill the Reserve. The refill cost in 2023 will be nearly triple that of the historical average cost to fill the SPR and over two times higher than the <a href="https://www.energy.gov/ceser/spr-quick-facts">average price per barrel</a> ($29.70).
Assuming the administration can find sellers willing to sell oil, and the repurchasing process goes smoothly, it will still only replenish less than 2% of what it drew down. At this rate, we may have to wait for the inauguration of the 58th President before we finish the job Joe Biden started.
It is another perfect example of the long-term damage Team Biden has inflicted on America. He was only supposed to break the glass in case of emergency, but instead Joe Biden has broken so much more.
Rick Whitbeck is the Alaska State Director for Power The Future, a national nonprofit organization that advocates for American energy jobs and opportunities. Contact him at Rick@PowerTheFuture.com and follow him on Twitter @PTFAlaska.
The views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Rise in gasoline prices concept with double exposure of digital screen with financial chart graphs and oil pumps on a field.

The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve Isn’t Joe Biden’s Political Reservoir

The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve Isn’t Joe Biden's Political Reservoir

Department of Energy

Energy

Oil and Gas

Readers Pass

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

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

Republicans Press Biden To Take Enforcement Action Against TikTok

Executive

Joe Biden

Republican

A Danish scientist who headed up the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/world-health-organization" target="_blank" rel="noopener">World Health Organization</a>’s investigation into <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">China</a> over the origin of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/covid" target="_blank" rel="noopener">COVID</a> has been fired over alleged sexual misconduct.
According to a new report from The Financial Times, Peter Ben Embarek <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/fires-scientist-led-covid-search-sex-misconduct-99068991" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was fired</a> last year from the WHO after the organization said that they had found he was guilty of sexual misconduct following an investigation. Embarek was known for leading a WHO team investigation into the origins of COVID that declared the lab leak theory as “extremely unlikely.”
“Peter Ben Embarek was dismissed following findings of sexual misconduct against him and corresponding disciplinary process,” WHO spokeswoman Marcia Poole said. “The findings concern allegations relating to 2015 and 2017 that were first received by the WHO investigations team in 2018.”
Poole said that there were other “victim(s) [who] did not wish to engage with the investigation process.”
Embarek <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/who-dismisses-lead-covid-origins-investigator-sexual-misconduct-2023-05-03/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Reuters that he was in the dark about allegations made against him, but said that a 2017 incident “was settled immediately in a friendly way.&#8221;
&#8220;I am not aware of any other complaints and no other complaints have ever been brought to my attention,&#8221; he added. &#8220;I duly contest the qualification of harassment and I am quite hopeful in the defense of my rights.&#8221;
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While Embarek and the WHO’s report was skeptical of the lab leak theory, recent reports from both the Energy Department and the Senate gave credence to the possibility that COVID escaped out of a lab in China and was not a natural occurrence.
According to the report from a Senate health committee, the theory that COVID escaped from a lab, which was widely criticized at the beginning of the pandemic, had <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/covid-likely-leaked-from-wuhan-lab-senate-gop-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">good evidence</a> to support it.
“The preponderance of circumstantial evidence supports an unintentional research-related incident,” the report said.
“This report is a crucial development in getting to the bottom of COVID-19’s true origins and exposing the deception of those that sought to conceal how this pandemic started,” <a href="https://www.marshall.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sen-marshall-releases-bombshell-covid-19-origins-report/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Kansas Republican Sen. Roger Marshall. “A preponderance of evidence in this report suggests there were two separate unintentional lab leaks dating back to fall of 2019 in Wuhan, China with significant evidence supporting that COVID-19 was a lab-created and altered virus.”

WHO-China Joint Study Press Conference In Wuhan

COVID

Sexual Misconduct

World Health Organization

Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) warned during a Foreign Relations subcommittee hearing this week that the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/communist-china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chinese Communist Party</a> (CCP) is using state-of-the-art AI to create &#8220;deep fakes&#8221; to destabilize the U.S.
Deep fakes are photos and videos that have been digitally manipulated to alter voices or images or other aspects of the content to appear authentic in an effort to deceive whoever is viewing the material.
&#8220;The threat of disinformation, weaponizing information against the United States and our allies to divide us, divide our citizens is on the rise,&#8221; said Ricketts. &#8220;It&#8217;s especially so because we all have access to [smart phones] now, so citizens and policymakers all have access to that through social media or other sorts of platforms. But the idea that our adversaries would try to use disinformation to devise is not new.&#8221;
Ricketts mentioned that the Soviet Union during the Cold War spent billions on disinformation campaigns as part of their statecraft to destabilize the U.S. and U.S. allies at the time.
&#8220;And I believe that in 1980, for example, there was a conservative estimate, the Soviet Union spent $3 billion on disinformation campaigns as part of their overall strategy,&#8221; he said, noting that the Soviet Union outspent the U.S. 10-to-1 in disinformation campaigns at the time.
Ricketts also spoke on the topic of artificial intelligence, saying that China has become a &#8220;global leader in artificial intelligence.&#8221;
&#8220;And they&#8217;ve been developing for a long time now something called &#8216;deep fake&#8217; technology, and it has progressed along to the point where they&#8217;ve been able to use AI to distort public figures,&#8221; he said. &#8220;An example of how a public figure might be distorted is when Zelensky was portrayed as announcing a surrender last year. And the software can not only use be used to distort real people, but could also create people out of whole cloth. &#8230; So we&#8217;ve got this deep fake video technology that can create fictitious people. They can be used to really cloud even further people&#8217;s ability to discern what&#8217;s real information, what&#8217;s not real information.&#8221;
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Senate Environment Committee Hearing On Norfolk Southern Train Derailment

Pete Ricketts Warns Of New Weapon Communist China Is Using Against The U.S.

Artificial Intelligence

Social Media

More than 25 years ago, President Bill Clinton <a href="https://clintonwhitehouse4.archives.gov/WH/New/html/19971024-3863.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">promised</a> that increased trade with China would benefit the United States and turn the communist country into one that embraced capitalism. Since that promise, it seems evident that America has received the bad end of the bargain — millions of jobs shipped overseas, opioid addictions, weakened power on the world stage — while <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/china-the-enemy-within" target="_blank" rel="noopener">China has reaped the rewards</a>.
The latest sign of American decline comes courtesy of Ford Motor Company. Ford will soon begin importing the Lincoln Nautilus SUV from China. As <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/04/30/ford-makes-history-by-importing-lincoln-suv-to-u-s-from-china/">flagged</a> by Breitbart News, this marks the first time ever that Ford will be manufacturing a car in China for U.S. import.
According to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-17/ford-forges-new-link-to-china-with-plan-to-import-lincoln-suvs?leadSource=uverify%20wall" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bloomberg News</a>, the SUVs will be an electric-gasoline hybrid powertrain. A Ford executive said that making the SUVs in China was the most practical decision. Previously, these vehicles were manufactured and imported from Canada — still not the U.S., but also not America&#8217;s top challenger on the world stage.
“We’re already building Nautilus in China,” Lincoln President Dianne Craig <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-17/ford-forges-new-link-to-china-with-plan-to-import-lincoln-suvs?leadSource=uverify%20wall" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in mid-April. “It just made sense to centralize our Nautilus production.”
In reaction, Michael Stumom the CEO of the Coalition for a Prosperous America, called for higher auto tariffs on America&#8217;s number one political adversary.
&#8220;25% tariffs on China built autos not enough,&#8221; he tweeted.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
25% tariffs on China built autos not enough. <a href="https://t.co/kR5AHOpLdf">https://t.co/kR5AHOpLdf</a>
&mdash; Michael Stumo (@michael_stumo) <a href="https://twitter.com/michael_stumo/status/1648757908769759249?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 19, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Those tariffs were put in place by the Trump administration. President Joe Biden, for his part, has repeatedly punted on whether or not to lower the prices, while showing de facto support for the tough-on-China policies introduced by his predecessor. That change marks a sharp difference from previous U.S. policy — which viewed China as a friend.
Consider that in 1997, Clinton told the American people, that &#8220;The emergence of a China as a power that is stable, open, and non-aggressive, that embraces free markets, political pluralism, and the rule of law, that works with us to build a secure international order — that kind of China, rather than a China turned inward and confrontational, is deeply in the interests of the American people.&#8221;
Does it seem like that has happened over the past two decades? Is America better off and is China less emboldened since 1997? If you&#8217;re gullible enough to believe that is the case — and welcome the latest auto industry changes — then maybe you will get a free Chinese spy balloon with your new Lincoln Nautilus next year.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

China Ford

American Decline: Ford To Manufacture, Import Lincoln SUVs From China

America

Ford Motor Co.

RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said Sunday that China is running the Biden administration.
Appearing on &#8220;<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/video/6326522897112" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox News Sunday</a>,&#8221; McDaniel talked about voters&#8217; concerns heading into the 2024 election, saying they want the Republican Party to come together to oppose President Joe Biden&#8217;s agenda. Specifically, she pointed out that voters are worried that the Biden administration is indebted to the communist nation.
&#8220;The voters&#8230;feel that angst,&#8221; McDaniel said. &#8220;And they say that to me all the time. We need party unity. We need to bring everybody together because what they&#8217;re doing to our country is frightening. We&#8217;re not gonna have the America we know and love if this continues, if they stack the Supreme Court, if they get rid of the filibuster, if they abandon energy independence, if they&#8217;re so beholden to China.&#8221;
&#8220;China is running this White House in a lot of ways,&#8221; McDaniel continued. &#8220;China is the reason fentanyl is coming across our [southern] border. China is taking our kids&#8217; data on TikTok. We sold our Strategic Petroleum Reserves to China. This is an administration that is more China First than America First, and the American people want a President who cares about them.&#8221;
Critics have recently accused the Biden administration of taking a soft approach to China. Last month, Energy Secretary <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bidens-energy-secretary-praises-chinas-approach-to-green-energy-hopes-to-learn-from-communist-country" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jennifer Granholm</a> praised China&#8217;s energy and climate policies and said she hoped the U.S. could &#8220;learn&#8221; from them.
“China has done — has been very sensitive, and has actually invested a lot in their solutions, to achieve their goals,” she said. “We’re hopeful that, you know, we can all learn from what China is doing. The amount of money that they’re investing in clean energy is actually, you know, encouraging.”
Earlier this month, the National Security Council reiterated claims that the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/chinese-spy-balloon-collected-intelligence-from-sensitive-military-sites-sent-back-to-beijing-in-real-time-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chinese spy balloon</a> that flew across the country in February gathered very little intelligence, despite NBC News reporting that it had collected data from multiple sensitive American military installations and transmitted that information back to China &#8220;in real time.&#8221;
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Also this month, federal law enforcement agents <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/spy-balloons-police-stations-fentanyl-china-expert-blasts-biden-admin-warns-tensions-could-get-out-of-control" target="_blank" rel="noopener">arrested</a> two people in New York for allegedly operating an illegal &#8220;police station&#8221; for the Chinese Communist Party. A New York Post report said that as many as <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/04/18/chinese-police-stations-allegedly-spying-on-nyc-la-more/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">six</a> other secret police stations exist in the U.S.
Last week, Treasury Secretary <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/20/business/economy/yellen-us-china-relationship.html#:~:text=WASHINGTON%20%E2%80%94%20Treasury%20Secretary%20Janet%20L,their%20conflicting%20national%20security%20interests." target="_blank" rel="noopener">Janet Yellen</a> called for a “constructive” and “healthy” relationship between the U.S. and China. “China’s economic growth need not be incompatible with U.S. economic leadership,” she said. “We do not seek to ‘decouple’ our economy from China’s.”

Ronna McDaniel

RNC Chairwoman: ‘China Is Running This White House’

RNC Chairwoman: 'China Is Running This White House'

Fox News Sunday

Republican National Committee (RNC)

Ronna Romney McDaniel

Billionaire and legendary hedge fund manager Ray Dalio has a stark warning for the West: The U.S. and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/communist-china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">China</a> are on the brink of war.
Dalio, the founder of Bridgewater Associates, has spent more than four decades dealing with Chinese businessmen and its government, and is cautioning the world that relations between the two countries are worse than ever. As flagged by Fox Business, Dalio recently returned from a business trip to China and published a memo dissecting the current world order.
&#8220;What I mean when I say that the US and China are on the brink of war is that it appears that they are close to having a sanctions war and/or military war that neither side wants but many believe will probably happen because a) each side is very close to the other’s red lines, b) each side is using brinksmanship to push the other at the risk of crossing each other’s red lines, and c) politics will probably cause more aggressive brinksmanship over the next 18 months,&#8221; Dalio wrote in that memo.
He added that the two countries are &#8220;beyond talking.&#8221; Dalio noted that even the president&#8217;s own party is divided in how to treat China — as evidenced by former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi&#8217;s trip to Taiwan. U.S. politics will push America closer to war with the Red Dragon, he predicted.
&#8220;The hawkish political influences in the United States will exert more pressure on the relationship over the next 18 months because of the emergence of the 2024 election season,&#8221; he said. &#8220;That will be  a very risky period because China and the US are now already on the brink of war.&#8221; As a result, a number of red lines could be crossed that could escalate conflict either on the ground or economically.
He added that the world is also looking to China for leadership, as much of the globe believes that the U.S. is on the decline under Biden.
&#8220;While there is a wide range of views among various countries’ leaders, there is a growing belief among Chinese and many other countries’ leaders that the United States is in decline, plagued with domestic issues,&#8221; he wrote. &#8220;They believe that for this reason the US is no longer adequately guiding the world order, and, as a result of this void, the world is headed for a period of great disorder.&#8221;
This could perhaps be evidenced by officials such as France&#8217;s President Emmanuel Macron meeting with Chinese Communist President Xi Jinping.
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&#8220;There is a strong belief that the world is desperately in need of stronger multilateral 1) leadership, 2) systems, and 3) institutions, and that China is very likely to play a leading role in helping to provide these, but that disorder will likely precede a more peaceful new world order,&#8221; Dalio said.
The hedge fund manager is not alone in his predictions. Atlas Organization founder Gordon Chang <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/billionaire-investor-ray-dalio-china-brink-war-beyond-ability-talk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Fox Business&#8217; Maria Bartiromo that China&#8217;s recent actions increase the possibility of military confrontation.
&#8220;When you have China engaging in dangerous intercepts of the U.S. and other militaries in the region, anything can happen. And we have a military that is not prepared to deal with the probable scenarios,&#8221; Chang said. &#8220;General Mike Minahan on that January 27th leaked memo talked about war with China in 2025. … Well, it could very well be before that.&#8221;
Dalio also said that in speaking with other world leaders, many believe that the U.S. is trying to drag them into war against Russia while China is trying to &#8220;facilitate peace.&#8221;
His full memo can be <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-i-think-going-1-china-us-relations-2-other-countries-ray-dalio/">read here</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Joe Biden, Ray Dalio, Xi Jinping

Here’s Why Billionaire Ray Dalio Says America And China Are On Brink Of War

Here's Why Billionaire Ray Dalio Says America And China Are On Brink Of War

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