A665. US Due Diligence Firm Raided in Beijing | China In Focus

A top U.S. investigation firm has been raided in China. Due diligence company Mintz Group found itself raided and its staff seized by Chinese officials. The company has since closed its office there, adding it had received no warning or legal notice. All five staff members detained are Chinese nationals. This comes ahead of a big business summit in China, where the likes of Tim Cook and Ray Dalio will attend. But will raids like these scare away more foreign business from China?

A664. Biden Signs Bill to Unveil COVID-19 Origin; Georgia Moves to Prosecute Trump Over 2020 Elections

The origins of COVID-19 could soon be shown to the world. President Joe Biden just signed a bill to declassify federal information on the origins of the virus, and this follows public information showing that both the FBI and the Department of Energy assess that COVID-19 likely originated in a Chinese lab. Meanwhile, as President Donald Trump faces arrest in New York over the Stormy Daniels case, Georgia may also soon press for charges against Trump. This will allegedly look into his efforts to challenge the outcomes of the 2020 elections. In this live Q&A with Crossroads host Joshua Philipp, we’ll discuss these stories and others, and answer questions from the audience.

 

A663. ‘TikTok Should Be Banned’: Lawmakers Grill TikTok CEO | China In Focus

China in Focus

TikTok’s CEO was grilled on Capitol Hill Thursday, and said the app is not a national security threat to the United States. Lawmakers were not convinced. From children dead after viral challenges to millions of young Americans vying to keep the app, TikTok is back under scrutiny. To ban or not to ban is still the question. As user data concerns rise, TikTok is offering a new solution: Project Texas. But will that really safeguard U.S. data?

A662. US Lays Out New Rules to Limit China’s Chip Access | China In Focus

China in Focus

The United States is revealing new rules to curb Beijing’s chip access, expanding on the #CHIPSAct passed last year. But not all parties are convinced. South Korea noted the rules won’t force companies to close their China facilities. Beijing is taking matters into its own hands, with officials unveiling their own set of rules. And one company is finding ways to play both sides.

A661. Biden Signs Bill to Declassify Virus Origin | China In Focus

China in Focus

The public will soon gain access to intelligence on the potential origins of the pandemic after President Joe Biden just signed a bill to declassify the details. This follows rare, unanimous bipartisan votes in both the House and Senate. At the center of the debate is the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Did the virus leak from the lab, was it man-made, or did it jump through animal hosts?

A659. ‘As Long as the CCP Is in Power, We Will Have This Forever War on a Continuum’: Casey Fleming

China in Focus

There’s a major shift in how the United States views warfare. The Pentagon recently published a report, noting U.S. adversaries intend to “win without fighting.” The United States has historically viewed war through the lens of peace or all-out conflict, while for many countries, war is viewed on a continuum. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley, wrote in the statement’s forward: “If the United States does not compete effectively against adversaries, it could ‘lose without fighting.'” In this special episode, we sat down with Casey Fleming, CEO of advisory firm BlackOps Partners, to find out just how significant of a shift this is, what it means going forward, and how each American is involved. Fleming said, “This really is a big deal. Every American needs to understand what this really means.” He said, this is the Pentagon waking up to the fact that “war is not just peace or war. It’s binary on or it’s off—the way that our Pentagon has seen it in the past. So our adversaries view war on a continuum, and they’re fighting everything short of war.” “Unrestricted warfare is no rules. That’s really what unrestricted means. It means no rules. So it means attacking the civilians and everything we stand for, everything that holds our society together, everything to weaken us, and to win without fighting,” he added. As for the changes we might see going forward, Fleming said, “You’re going to see more of a whole of nation response to a whole of nation attack against us. So you’re going to see that the military is going to be aligning much more with the private sector.”

A658. SVB Collapse: Would the US Help Chinese Drugmakers? | China In Focus

Silicon Valley Bank’s #collapse is rippling into China. Thousands of Chinese companies are listed among the bank’s #clients—with over $240 million in assets on the line—and 57 are on a special list belonging to the Chinese Communist Party. Those same companies fall under the “foreign depositors” category that the United States is set to protect. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) penned a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, expressing concern over handouts to the Chinese regime. Estimates say the bank had nearly $14 billion of uninsured foreign deposits.

A657. Fact-Check on the Biden Family’s Money Trail | China In Focus

About $3 million moved from China to the United States, and over $1 million ended up in Biden family #accounts. #HunterBiden‘s business deals are coming under renewed scrutiny. A new memo names three Biden family members, with a fourth bank account named “Biden” receiving Chinese funds as well. The House Oversight Committee is investigating the Biden family’s business dealings with a now-bankrupt Chinese energy conglomerate. This comes amid President Joe Biden’s promises to take a harsher stance on China. Critics call it a potential conflict of interest.

A656. Over $240M Assets Belonging to Chinese Drugmakers Exposed After Silicon Valley Bank Failure

All eyes are on America’s banking system after the #collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (#SVB), the biggest bank failure in the United States since 2008 with over $200 billion in assets on the line. But the companies hit aren’t just in America. Several Chinese startups are also embroiled in the fall. One sector alone has hundreds of millions at stake. A look at SVB’s website notes its history of operating in China, going back decades. What does all this mean, not just for America, but also for Chinese firms?