ExclusiveChina Launches Military Drills From ‘Multiple Directions’ Around Taiwan

Welcome to China In Focus. I'm Alice Tang, in for Tiffany Meyer, our top story. The Chinese regime is practicing its ability to close in on Taiwan by sending naval forces to surround the island. More on the drill that comes on the heels of Defense Chief Pete Hegseth's pledge to counter Chinese aggression. A new report details the trade barriers that U.S. exporters face in sending out their goods. Two days ahead of President Trump's rollout of reciprocal tariffs, Washington and Beijing are fighting over control of a key waterway, the Panama Canal. More on the recent developments and what's at stake if a hot war were to break out with the communist regime. A former White House official breaks it down. They were controlling the infrastructure that one would use to transverse the canal, and that posed real security threats if the United States needed to move significant naval capacity from the east coast to the Indo-Pacific in a China contingency. And a single building in Thailand's capital city collapsed after a massive earthquake. Why did the skyscraper fall? Authorities discovered issues with the building's steel bars, and Thai media is pointing to a Chinese manufacturer. Welcome to China In Focus. I'm Alice Tang, in for Tiffany Meyer. Before we dive into today's top story, we'd like to share an important update. You can now catch China In Focus on Ganjing World every Tuesday instead of YouTube. To watch, simply click the link in the description box below or search China In Focus at ganjingworld.com. The Chinese Communist Party has launched a massive round of drills around Taiwan deploying its navy, army, air force, and rocket force near the island. This comes after Defense Chief Pete Hegseth's upgraded military ties with Japan and the Philippines to counter China, as well as an announcement from the Taiwanese president about measures to counter Chinese espionage. Here's more. China launched large-scale military exercises around Taiwan on Tuesday and called the island's president, William Lai, a parasite courting ultimate destruction. In a video accompanying China's Eastern Theater Command's announcement of the drills, Lai was depicted as a cartoon bug held by a pair of chopsticks above a burning Taiwan. Tuesday's drills came after Lai called Beijing a foreign hostile force last month. In other propaganda clips released at the same time as the drills, Chinese warships and fighter jets were seen encircling the island, with Taiwanese cities locked in aiming sites. Taiwan's defense ministry on Tuesday said it had not detected any live fire by the Chinese military, but at least 71 Chinese military aircraft and 13 navy ships were involved. The defense minister criticized China, saying the communist nation is damaging the peace and stability of the region. It is obviously that China is a very obvious troublemaker. There have been a lot of reports related to corruption problems within the People's Liberation Army. I think they should properly resolve these internal problems instead of destroying peace and stability in the region. China views Taiwan as its own territory and has never renounced using force to bring the democratically governed island under its hold. Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims and says only the island's people can decide their future. Beijing's drills come after Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's first visit to Asia. Hegseth announced a plan to re-establish military deterrence in the Indo-Pacific region to counter China. That includes arming the Philippines and upgrading military ties with Japan. President Donald Trump has dubbed this Wednesday Liberation Day. That's when his reciprocal tariffs are set to kick in, directed at all trading partners that impose unequal tariffs on the U.S. Two days before, the U.S. released a report detailing trade barriers facing U.S. exporters in over 50 countries, including China. It's time for reciprocity and it's time for a president to take historic change to do what's right for the American people, and that's going to take place on Wednesday. The White House says the U.S. is one of the most open economies in the world, but adds that trading partners keep their markets closed to U.S. exports. And it has contributed to a huge U.S. trade deficit in goods. The amount totaled over $1 trillion as of the end of last Here's a look at a few individual cases. There are no limits on how much shellfish the European Union can export to the U.S., but the EU bans shellfish exports from 48 U.S. states. A large portion of the report also focused on China, saying the country didn't fulfill its promise of buying more U.S. goods under deals signed during Trump's first term. The report also noted that American companies are forced to hand over technology to local Chinese companies in order to get market access to China. It went on to say that China is still pursuing a harmful industrial plan, called Made in China 2025. Under it, Beijing builds up Chinese companies in 10 strategic sectors. The ultimate goal is to replace foreign companies completely and capture more global market share. The industries it targets include robotics, aviation, aerospace, biopharmaceuticals, and new energy vehicles. The U.S. is looking to regain control over the Panama Canal through a port deal between American investment giant BlackRock and a Hong Kong company. Now, the deal is likely postponed due to pressure from Beijing. BlackRock is eyeing a purchase of over 80 percent of seaports that are currently under control of Hong Kong company CK Hutchinson. BlackRock's CEO was scheduled to sign a deal Wednesday. If signed, it would include two ports at either end of the Panama Canal, plus another 41 ports across the globe. The deal is worth nearly 23 billion dollars. But right before inking the deal, Beijing's state-owned newspaper published an op-ed on Tuesday, warning Li to not sell his properties, citing state interests. The article said any enterprise running in China must rely only on the Chinese regime to stay, quote, free of troubles. Using state-controlled media to generate pressure is a common tactic used by the Chinese communist regime to further its goals. On top of that, Chinese regulators on Friday launched a probe into the That investigation could create enough legal hurdles to block the company from signing a port deal with BlackRock. Why does the Panama Canal matter to the United States? And is control over the critical shipping lane an issue that the U.S. can solve through economic means? NTD's Jack Bradley was joined by Alex Gray, former chief of staff at the White House National Security Council, to discuss. The Chinese Communist Party's cutting off all business ties with China for the Hong Kong owner of CK Hutchison. CK Hutchison sold the ports of the Panama Canal to the U.S. firm BlackRock. How was the CCP able to control the canal when it was owned by the Hong Kong company? Well, this is a really important issue, and it's important for the same reason that was important in 1914, when we opened the canal under President Theodore Roosevelt. For decades, every U.S. Navy ship had to—there was one specification that was across all classes of U.S. Navy ships, and that was that it had to be able to get through the canal, because for decades, and I would argue even today, the critical U.S. strategic interest in the hemisphere is to be able to move materiel, ships, aircraft, troops from the East Coast to the West Coast and into the Indo-Pacific. And the fastest way to do that remains through the Panama Canal. The concern we had about CK Hutchison was that they were controlling multiple warehouses, bridges, locks and dams, port facilities. They were controlling the infrastructure that one would use to transverse the canal. And that posed real security threats if the United States needed to move significant naval capacity from the East Coast to the Indo-Pacific in a China contingency. And that's why President Trump right out the gate and Secretary Rubio right out the gate made getting the canal back in U.S. alignment such a top priority. Is the sale to the U.S. company BlackRock a positive step? Is it going to change Trump's mind and leave the control of the Panama Canal to the Panamanian government? Look, I think that personally, I think further action is required. This is a positive first step. I would like to see a reconfiguration of the Panama Canal Authority to have direct U.S. government representation on the authority. I think it was obviously, it's hard to go back 50 years in time at this point, but Ronald Reagan was right when he argued during the Panama Canal Treaty debate that ultimately it was reckless to give away a core strategic U.S. asset in our own hemisphere to a country that would have a hard time resisting our adversaries. Reagan was talking about the Soviets, but his words could equally apply to the Chinese Communist Party. And I think the ultimate protection here for the United States is to have a greater say in the day-to-day governance of the canal and to have a closer military relationship with Panama to ensure every day that the canal is not being undermined or used by our adversaries for nefarious purposes. So I think there's some fundamental things beyond just bringing American capital into the administration of the canal. There's some fundamental things that have to change institutionally for us to feel that the canal could truly be safe in the event of a contingency with China. Alex Gray, former chief of staff for the White House National Security Council, thank you so much for your insights here today. Thanks for having me. Coming up, a single building in Thailand's capital city collapsed after a massive earthquake. Why did the skyscraper fall? Authorities discovered issues with the building's steel bars. And Thai media is pointing to a Chinese manufacturer. The U.S. is imposing sanctions on top Hong Kong authorities. That's as Beijing's hand-picked Hong Kong government is working to arrest democracy advocates. More on what's happening and why. And Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is sending a message. The U.S. is deepening its military ties with Japan and doubling down on deterrence against China. We spoke with James Fanel, retired U.S. Navy intelligence officer, to learn more. So that's real concern is we've got to get faster. We can't wait so long. Welcome back to China In Focus. I'm Alice Tang, in for Tiffany Meyer. The death toll from the major earthquake in Burma, also known as Myanmar, is expected to surpass 3,000. More than 400 are still missing. Thailand was also impacted by the quake, and a Chinese-made construction project there is now getting public attention. Thai authorities are investigating why only one single high-rise building collapsed in the capital city of Bangkok. It was built by a Chinese company, sparking calls over what have become known as Chinese-made tofu buildings. Authorities found that the steel bars used to build the structure failed to meet safety standards and were manufactured by a Chinese factory. Thailand's authorities also found that the steel bar manufacturer is a Chinese company whose local factory was shut down five months ago over safety and other violations. The steel bars used in the construction of the high-rise were purchased five years ago. And the building's contractor, another Chinese company, is also facing scrutiny from the Thai government over safety concerns. Now, local authorities have dispatched over 100 engineers to audit the construction of other high-rise buildings in the capital city. Some internet users have started to use the term tofu building to refer to the collapsed high-rise in Bangkok. This term is used to describe poorly-made buildings that are weak and unstable, similar to the soft and fragile texture of tofu. These buildings are prone to collapse, largely attributed to cutting corners during construction. The U.S. is sanctioning Hong Kong officials for carrying out the orders of the Chinese regime. That includes putting bounties on the heads of democracy advocates, including some based in the U.S. NTD's Washington correspondent, Jack Bradley, has more. The State Department is sanctioning six people related to the Chinese Communist Party's transnational repression campaign. Chinese and Hong Kong authorities have put several bounties to arrest democracy activists in the U.S. and around the world. These sanctions target high-level officials in Hong Kong's government, which is now closely tied to the Chinese regime. The sanctions mean that all U.S. property held by these individuals will be inaccessible to them. These sanctions follow the release of the Hong Kong Policy Act report, which says that China has undermined the rule of law in Hong Kong, with its fairly new so-called national security law, which essentially silences all political dissent in Hong Kong. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is saying that these sanctions are a response to undermining Hong Kong's autonomy, depriving Hong Kongers of freedoms, and in being involved in acts of transnational repression targeting activists over on U.S. soil. Meanwhile, Secretary Rubio will be in Brussels later this week, raising concerns of the Chinese regime's increasing aggression to its neighbors in the Pacific. Secretary Rubio will also discuss the shared threat of China to the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific alliances at a NATO session with representatives of the Indo-Pacific partners. He will also discuss assistance to Ukraine and how allies other than the U.S. need to contribute more to the alliance. President Trump has long said that NATO countries are taking advantage of the U.S., who's paying more than others. NATO requires its members to contribute at least two percent to its GDP to defense. Now, a majority of them are now meeting this bare minimum requirement, but when this benchmark was made in 2014, there were only three countries meeting this requirement. Reporting by Jack Bradley, NTD News. As tensions with China escalate, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth returns from Japan with a clear message. The U.S. is deepening its military ties with Japan and doubling down on deterrence against China. To break down what this means, we're joined by Captain James Fennell, retired U.S. Navy intelligence officer. Captain Jim Fennell, thank you so much for joining. Thanks, Dave. Great to be with you. It's great to have you with us, Jim. So, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth traveled to Japan last week to meet with his Japanese counterparts, stopping over in Hawaii as well along the way. How do you interpret his statement on America's increased readiness to establish deterrence, as well as how this might be implemented in practice? Well, the visit overall in Japan, throughout the region, but specifically in Japan, was very significant in the sense that he went there at a time of, you know, doubt, I guess, internationally about America's commitment to its allies and partners that you continually hear in the mainstream media. But Hegseth was very, very, very clear that America first is not America alone. He also happened to be there at the time of the 80th anniversary or the commemoration of the Battle of Iwo Jima, where over 26,000 Americans and Japanese died during World War II over 80 years ago. And he talked about something that I don't think has gotten a lot of attention. He talked about the warrior ethos. And Hegseth has talked about warrior ethos inside the United States Department of Defense and how he wants to restore that. He talked about it with his Japanese counterpart, Japan's Defense Minister Nakatani, and basically commemorated the fact that both sides had a history of warfighting ethos and that they were now strong partners, fast partners, and they were working together to build up what he called a robust, ready and credible deterrence posture against the People's Republic of China. For me, it was very refreshing to hear the Secretary of Defense come out and make no bones about the threat that the People's Republic of China is a threat to the peace and stability of the Indo-Pacific, the Asia-Pacific, to Japan and the region. And that's very good, because if we don't call out the threat, then we don't prepare for the threat. And so that's been a problem that we've had as a nation. And he talked about the alliance is more critical than ever, and he put a sense of time into it. In essence, the PRC is driving this issue with how aggressive they've been in the last four years with their operations. And I was also pleased to see that Secretary of Defense Hegseth and the Japanese both talked about that our cooperation together was really, the centerpiece was Taiwan, and that if Taiwan was to fall, this would affect both Japan's national security and the United States national security. Now, this base that was set up in Japan is being called a warfighting base. What message might that send to the CCP, who's really otherwise over the past decade really been running roughshod in the South China Sea? And what does this increased U.S. deterrence mean and signify in terms of this moment in history? Well, the Japan or the JSDF, Japan Self-Defense Force Joint Operations Center, it's going to be a counterpart right now to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. So it'll have the stature of a four-star level command that will run the combined, or the joint in their term, joint operations of the Japanese Defense Force. So that's good. One of the criticisms that America has had of the Japanese Self-Defense Force over the years has been the stovepiping between the army, the ground forces, the maritime forces, the air forces. So this now will put all of their forces under a joint, if you will, umbrella, where they will have to be forced to work together. That's good. The question is, how long will that take? What is the interoperability with Indo-PACOM? And what is the role of U.S. Forces Japan in that hierarchy? Because U.S. Forces Japan will still be a three-star command. And so there's command and control issues that need to be worked out. As far as China, it wouldn't matter if they had signed that agreement or announced that or not. The Chinese Communist Party and the PLA are on a path towards their objective, which is to take Taiwan, take the lower Nanshaishoto, take the South China Sea, and to basically do away with anybody that would try to stop them. So in the event that they would take Taiwan or invade Taiwan or blockade Taiwan, they would have no problem and no qualms about attacking American or Japanese forces in such an operation. So I think the command is a long time coming. I've been retired for since 2015. That's 10 years. I've spent several tours in Japan. We were talking about these things over a decade ago. Why did it take a decade to get here? So that's really the concern that I have. And what I would like to see transformative change from this administration is to accelerate these moves because China is not waiting 10 years to get what they want. And so that's real concern is we got to get faster. We can't wait so long. Retired Navy Captain Jim Finnell, really appreciate you joining. Thank you. Thank you. That's all for today's China In Focus. I'm Alice Tang, in for Tiffany Meyer. If you have any feedback on the show or have something you'd like to see us cover, send us an email at chinainfocus at ntd.com. 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