U.S. EFFORTS TO CURB CHINA'S ACCESS TO ADVANCED CHIPS "INADEQUATE"
Chinese companies can evade export controls and obtain U.S.-made advanced computer chips because the U.S. Commerce Department's efforts are "inadequate" and underfunded, according to a report by the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. China has created "vast, barely disguised smuggling networks which enable it to continue to harness U.S. technology," the subcommittee report found. The Department's Bureau of Industry and Security has insufficient resources and lacks sufficient China subject matter experts and Mandarin speakers to enforce Commerce's export controls, and instead relies on the voluntarily compliance of chip makers. (Associated Press, December 18, 2024)
PRC AGENTS CHARGED FOR INTERFEREING IN CALIFORNIA ELECTION
A PRC national, Sun Yaoning, has been charged with acting as an illegal agent and interfering with an election while serving as campaign treasurer for Eileen Wang, who was elected to the city council in Arcadia, California back in 2022. According to the complaint, Sun worked with Chen Jun, another PRC national, who last month was sentenced to 20 months behind bars for acting as a PRC agent and in July pled guilty to bribing federal agents to undermine the Falun Gong spiritual group. According to court documents, the two men described Wang as a "new political star" and asked for $80,000 to fund pro-China activities in the U.S. "This case is yet another example of a very disturbing trend: the PRC is seeking to influence foreign and domestic policy in the U.S. To do so, government officials in China are seeking to help get elected individuals who they see as being friendly to Chinese foreign policy," said Martin Estrada, the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California. (USA Today, December 20, 2024)
PRC NATIONALS CAUGHT IN GUAM BEFORE U.S. MISSILE TEST
Seven PRC nationals were arrested while illegally entering Guam just before the U.S. Missile Defense Agency conducted a missile interception test using a new radar on December 10-11. The island's Customs and Quarantine Agency said at least four of the people arrested were found "in the vicinity of a military installation." Local authorities said the PRC nationals had arrived on a boat from Saipan. The missile test was successful, and the Missile Defense Agency plans to conduct up to two interception tests per year. The U.S. is building a $10 billion network of missile defense systems and radars at 16 sites around Guam to deter a PLA missile attack. (Reuters, December 21, 2024)
U.S. CITIZEN PLEADS GUILTY TO RUNNING SECRET PRC POLICE STATION
A U.S. citizen, Chen Jinping, has pled guilty to running a secret police station in New York's Chinatown on behalf of China's Ministry of Public Security. Prosecutors say that, at the outpost, Chen and his co-defendant, Lu Jianwang, provided basic services like renewing PRC driver licenses while also secretly helping Beijing identify pro-democracy activists. Operating an undeclared overseas police station in New York city is "a clear affront to American sovereignty and danger to our community that will not be tolerated," said assistant attorney general Matthew Olsen. Chen pled guilty to acting as an agent for China and faces up to five years in prison, while Lu has pled not guilty and is awaiting trial. Lu is also accused of harassing a Chinese fugitive to return to China and for tracking down a pro-democracy activist in California. (BBC, December 18, 2024)
CHINA IS CREATING FAKE STORIES ABOUT PRO-TAIWAN U.S. LAWMAKERS
The FBI has warned pro-Taiwan U.S. lawmakers that China is creating fake stories to portray them in a negative light. One of the false stories is that these lawmakers are taking "bribes" from Taiwan. "The CCP is trying to undermine congressional support for Taiwan's democracy, to paint it as corrupt and not in the American public interest," said an unnamed U.S. official. Although the scheme had not been carried out, FBI shared the information with the intended targets in order to preempt the attacks. China seeks to aggravate political divisions in U.S. society and undermine candidates that it deems hostile to CCP interests. (NBC News, December 16, 2024)
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