China Deploys 100+ Military Ships, Worrying Taiwan, Japan | China in Focus

Welcome to China In Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. Our top story. Beijing deploying military vessels near Taiwan and Japan. More than 100. It's Beijing's most aggressive military flex in the region to date. Taiwan's president warning that China is ramping up military aggression toward the island. That's as satellite images reveal Beijing expanding air and naval sites that could be used in an invasion. President Trump brokers a peace deal between two African countries. Agreements on critical minerals also signed. U.S. and Chinese officials discuss moving the Trump heat trade agreement forward. That's as trade representative Jameson Greer says that the U.S. should probably trade less with China. Chinese e-commerce giant Timu is facing fresh legal heat in the U.S. Arizona filing a lawsuit alleging the platform steals user data Concerns over China's military activities near Taiwan and Japan are rising. On Thursday, Reuters reported that Beijing was deploying military vessels in nearby waters this week. More than 100. It's Beijing's largest maritime show of force in the region to date. Here's what Japan's defense minister had to say on Friday. China has been expanding and intensifying its military activities around Japan. While we maintain a high level of vigilance regarding China's military movements and continuously gather and analyze information, we refrain from commenting on each specific case. Satellite images show a Chinese naval group sailing through the Philippine Sea east of Taiwan. It's unclear where they're headed. The group includes a helicopter landing dock and two destroyers. It looks like a large-scale military drill, but China hasn't announced any such activity. China's aggression seems to be bringing Taiwan and Japan closer together. On Friday, Taiwan's premier said he was very moved by Japan's Prime Minister Sanai Takaichi's recent remarks on Taiwan's security. Takaichi said China invading Taiwan would be a direct existential threat. She added that Japan would consider intervening militarily. This has led to China and Japan's worst diplomatic clash in years. Here's Taiwan's premier. They represent justice and peace. We are also extremely grateful to Prime Minister Takaichi and to the Japanese government and people for continuing to uphold this justice and peace under such strong pressure. Cho added that many Taiwanese are now planning trips to visit Japan as a show of gratitude and support. He also invited Japanese pop stars and music groups to come perform in Taiwan. That's after some Japanese artists were banned from performing in China. The Chinese Communist Party views Taiwan as its own territory and has always threatened to take the island by force. Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims. Taiwan's President William Lai saying Wednesday that China is ramping up military aggression toward Taiwan. He said China's military drills targeting Taiwan are becoming increasingly frequent and intense. Beijing is now projecting power deeper into the Indo-Pacific, a region long dominated by the U.S. and Western navies. Back on China's east coast, the regime has been carrying out major infrastructure expansion, according to the Wall Street Journal. The developments range from a large new base for amphibious warships to a mega airport that's a short boat ride from a Taiwanese island. How will the new development aid a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan? NTD's Juliet Song has the details. Rick Fisher is a senior fellow at the Center. He told NTD that the infrastructure expansion is another step in Beijing's plan to take Taiwan. To basically enslave that island democracy, turn it into a vast military base in order to begin its war to retake the Ryukyus, which are Japanese territory, and to go south to invade many of the islands of the Philippines and to basically dominate Asia militarily, destroy all American military alliances in Asia, and send the American military back to Hawaii. Just five years ago, this was a regular stretch of land in a district of Shanghai. Today, it's an amphibious base with a long pier and a helicopter runway. Shanghai and the Pudong area are going to be major logistic support and jump-off points for any maritime and airborne invasion of Taiwan. The base can accommodate ships capable of carrying 5,000 troops. Colin Koh, a maritime security expert, told the Wall Street Journal that the Further south, China has expanded a naval base in Yueqing Bay, adding new piers that can accommodate more ships. Nearby in Fujian Province, directly opposite Taiwan, is a new helicopter base. Military helicopters taking off from this base could transport troops to Taiwan. It could also be used in an assault on Penghu Islands, a key Taiwanese archipelago. China has also expanded an international airport in Xiamen. The facility is a boat ride away from Kinmen, a frontline Taiwanese island. Another airport in the northern Taiwan Strait has built a new runway. This would allow more aircraft to operate there. Civilian airports can serve the military in wartime. Think refueling or launching military aircraft. President Trump facilitating a peace deal between the Congo and Rwanda. He also secured agreements on critical minerals and national security aimed at reducing dependence on China's rare earth supplies. Washington correspondent Mario Tzu has more. Today we commit to stopping decades of violence and bloodshed and to begin a new era of harmony and cooperation between the Democratic Republic of the Congo. President Trump hosting the leaders of the Congo and Rwanda here in Washington to sign what they're calling the Washington Accords. For more than 30 years one of the worst conflicts on earth has been raging in eastern Congo. Millions and millions of people have been tragically killed. Many administrations have tried and today we're succeeding where so many others have failed. These accords formalize the terms of an agreement made between the two countries back in June. The terms include a permanent ceasefire, disarmament of non-state forces, provisions for refugees to return to their homes and justice and accountability for everyone who committed illegal acts. The agreement also includes critical mineral deals with the two countries. And we'll be involved with sending some of our biggest and greatest companies over to the two countries and we're going to take out some of the rare earth and take out some of the assets and pay and everybody's going to make a lot of money. As Washington looks for ways to circumvent China to acquire rare earths. With President Trump recently signing a flurry of rare earths deals with other nations in efforts to curb U.S. dependence on China. Reporting from the White House, Mari Otsu, NTD News. Top U.S. and Chinese officials spoke by phone on Friday. Treasury Secretary Scott Besant and Trade Representative Jameson Greer had a video call with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng. Top of the agenda was trade, including efforts to follow through on the agreement President Trump made in South Korea when he met with Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping in October. Besant wrote on X that the officials talked about putting the Busan agreement into action. Busan is the South Korean city that the face-to-face meeting of Trump and Xi took place. As part of the deal, the U.S. will ease tariffs on China and China promised to step up efforts against fentanyl trafficking, restart soybean purchases and keep rare earth exports steady. Besant said in a post that the implementation of the deal was going well. He added, quote, I also reaffirmed the United States commitment to continued engagement with China. One day before the call, Trade Representative Jameson Greer said the U.S. would likely need to trade less with China. He sees a recent 25 percent reduction in the volume of goods traded with the communist regime as a step in the right direction. His comments come a day after Treasury Secretary Scott Besant said China was ready to honor its trade commitments, including the purchase of 12 million metric tons of soybeans. New legal trouble for Chinese e-commerce giant Timu Arizona is suing the online retailer over alleged data theft and consumer deception. State Attorney General Chris Mays has filed a consumer protection lawsuit. Timu and its parent company, PDD Holdings, are accused of violating the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act by illegally mining data. The lawsuit alleges Timu's app contains hidden technical features that allows it to access a user's phone and potentially control parts of the device. Timu is also accused of misleading shoppers with fake reviews and knockoff products. The suit claims Timu has counterfeited some of Arizona's best-known brands, including Fender guitars and Arizona Cardinals football gear. Chinese AI tool DeepSeek has a built-in kill switch. It activates when users ask topics Beijing doesn't like, like Falun Gong or the Uyghurs, two groups suffering severe suppression under the communist regime. A new cybersecurity report says when those terms are brought up, DeepSeek either refuses to help or, even worse, starts writing weaker code. Weaker, meaning codes with serious security flaws that can make a computer more vulnerable to hackers. The report from CrowdStrike says this bias shows up in DeepSeek's coding assistance, the tools developers use to speed up and debug their work. And that's risky. If people use that flawed code without realizing it, they could be opening themselves up to cyber attacks. The vulnerability is baked in. Next, we have the latest on the three-week-long criminal trial of Linda Sun. Sun served as a senior aide to former New York Governor Kathy Hochul and her predecessor Andrew Cuomo. She was a trusted advisor on China affairs, but now she's accused of acting at Beijing's directive in exchange for financial kickbacks. Sun has pleaded not guilty. As the trial approaches its conclusion, court records show that Sun's attorneys filed a motion of adjournment two days ago. Prosecutors strongly opposed it, arguing it may cause a mistrial. Judge Kogan sided with the prosecutors and denied the motion. NTD's Flora Hua was at the court. Here's more. We're about to enter the final week of Linda Sun's trial. She's a former senior aide to New York Governors Hochul and Cuomo, now accused by the U.S. government of working as an unregistered agent of the Chinese Communist Party. This week, the judge denied the defendant's motion to adjourn the case. At the center of the defense adjournment efforts was a man named Zeng Fuyin. Zeng has links to the Chinese Communist Party. The FBI seized Zeng's devices earlier this year and found materials the government is now using as evidence in Sun's trial. Court-verified messages between Zeng, Linda Sun and Chinese officials suggest Zeng was a broker between Sun and local authorities in China. His business card, also included in prosecutors' evidence, shows that Zeng holds senior position at a New York-based non-profit. That non-profit is part of a broader apparatus called China's United Front Work Department, which the CCP uses to build relationships and achieve its goals overseas. Linda Sun's defense argued that they needed more time to review all the materials from Zeng Fuyin's devices, not just what the government provided, since Zeng won't be testifying in court. Prosecutors said it would likely cause a mistrial, and Judge Kogan didn't allow it. He gave the defense just two days next week to bring in witnesses. That could include Linda Sun and her husband, co-defendant Chris Hu. The couple is facing 19 charges in total. They've pleaded not guilty to all. Messages presented during the trial show Zeng repeatedly asked Linda Sun to facilitate Zeng's near Governor Cuomo and later Governor Houkou to visit China's northern province of Henan. He also appeared to ask Sun on behalf of the Henan provincial government for invitation letters signed by the governor inviting officials to New York. Sun managed to deliver on many of With Zeng's introduction, the Chinese regime appeared to start recognizing Sun's efforts and giving thanks in return. Court documents show that Chinese officials appear to have granted Sun's husband business opportunities, state contracts, and help him buy land in China. They also provided free trips to China for Sun, her family, and associates. Court-verified messages also show that Sun's relatives were able to secure jobs with the Chinese officials' help. It seems Sun never reported any benefits she and her family enjoyed from China. That's according to evidence presented at the trial. The trial continues next Monday. Flora Hua, NTD News. Coming up, staying ahead of China in space is vital for economic and national security. This is the message from a hearing on Capitol Hill. Rare earth mining polluting Southeast Asian countries and threatening human lives. The ore is then shipped to China. French President Emmanuel Macron wrapping up his China visit without any major commercial deals. How Chinese leader Xi Jinping responded to what Macron asked for. More on that after the break here on China In Focus. Welcome back to China In Focus. I'm Lawmakers and experts stress that keeping ahead of China in space is vital for economic and national security. NTD correspondent Jason Blair has more from a hearing on Capitol Hill. The question we should be asking as we explore beyond the planet is, will humanity carry forward the American values of economic and political freedom or those of the Chinese Communist Party? Members of the House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee expressed the importance for the U.S. to stay ahead of China with space exploration and technology. The People's Republic of China, for which there is no distinction between civil and military space, knows that leadership in space has brought the United States invaluable geopolitical soft power, significant and beneficial international alliances, economic growth, full fueled by innovation. Chairman Mike Herodopoulos says China's objective is not to just keep up with the U.S., but to outpace outmaneuver and ultimately defeat the U.S. But America is not standing still. In my district, Kennedy Space Center, we surpassed 100 launchers just two weeks ago. China is not even close with around 73 launches. Still, Beijing is pressing ahead. Their plans include landing their astronauts on the lunar surface by 2030 and constructing research space on the moon's South Pole by 2035. Subcommittee ranking member Valerie Foushee says that how the U.S. navigates China's ascending space capabilities today has an impact on every American. Our banking, communications, weather prediction, agriculture, natural resource management, and national security, for example, all rely on space systems. One expert witness says that space from the Chinese Communist Party's view boosts all parts of China's national power. Military, economic, diplomatic, political, scientific and technological, even cultural. Other experts shared their thoughts and recommendations. We have many advantages over the PRC, structural advantages that we can use to maintain our edge. But to do so, we need to start running. We are engaged not so much in a space race, but a long-term broad strategic competition. Every new space technology, skill and industrial capacity acquired by the PRC will be used to provide the People's Liberation Army a battlefield advantage, as well as power civilian and economic growth. Reporting from Washington, D.C., Jason Blair, NTD News. China sources rare earth ores from Southeast Asia, processes them and exports them to other countries, or instead chooses to weaponize them as leverage against the West. What does it mean for other Asian countries? Pollution from rare earth mining in Myanmar is tainting rivers in Southeast Asia, threatening farmers, fishermen and entire ecosystems downstream. One study found more than 2,400 mines across mainland Southeast Asia, many of them illegal and unregulated, and they could be releasing deadly chemicals into the waterways. For most of her life, 59-year-old farmer Thip Kam Lu has irrigated her fields in northern Thailand with the waters from the Kok River. It flows down from neighboring Myanmar before joining with the Mekong River that cuts through Southeast Asia. But authorities in April warned residents to stop using water from the Kok because of contamination concerns. Since then, Thip has been using groundwater to grow pumpkins, garlic, sweet corn and okra. It's like half of me has died. When the river became like this, we couldn't use the river water. The water crops are for anything. If we use it on vegetables, people won't buy them. I just want those responsible to help take care of it. The contamination isn't just hurting farmers. It's devastating fishing communities too. Forty-eight-year-old Sawat Kewadam, an artisanal fisherman from the riverside village of Ban Sob Kok, says he can barely catch fish from the river. If the Mekong River could speak, it would say it wants to cry. The water keeps rising and falling. There are no fish. The river would cry and so would we. We can't catch any fish. Where have they gone? I just cast my net across half the Mekong and didn't catch a single one. Before, there were always some. Now, where have they gone? A study by the U.S.-based Stimson Center found mines across mainland Southeast Asia, many illegal and unregulated, could be releasing deadly chemicals like cyanide and mercury into rivers. Brian Eiler is a senior fellow at the center. This story started with the impacts of only two rare-earth mines on the Kok River system. Those rare-earth mines were in Myanmar. Our research is showing that there are scores of tributaries of major rivers like the Mekong, the Samui, the Irrawaddy, and rivers in Vietnam that are likely highly contaminated. And this story is not known. So, the extensiveness and the scale is something that's striking to me. The emergence of new China-backed rare-earth mines in eastern Myanmar initially set off concerns among researchers over the danger of downstream pollution along the Kok River. Tanapon Fernrath is from the Thailand Science Research and Innovation. The arsenic that appears in the water comes along with rare-earth minerals. These rare-earth elements are also associated with radioactive elements. Their concentrations rise and fall together. It has only been two years since the rise of rare-earth and gold mining in Myanmar at the Kok River's source. If this continues, nature will no longer be able to resist it, and contamination levels will rise sharply. From Myanmar's mining sites, raw materials are shipped to China for processing. Beijing dominates global rare-earth production and has used these minerals as leverage in its trade war with the U.S. In response to questions from Reuters, China's foreign ministry said it was not aware of the situation on river pollution. Meanwhile, Thailand has set up three new task forces to coordinate international cooperation, monitor health impacts, and secure alternative water sources for communities along affected rivers. French President Emmanuel Macron wrapping up his China trip without securing any major commercial deals. He had another sit-down with party leader Xi Jinping in Chengdu on Friday. And despite bringing six ministers and over 30 company executives with him on the trip, Macron didn't quite get what he was hoping for. Both countries only signed 12 broad cooperation agreements, ranging from nuclear energy to panda conservation. They also pledged to work more closely on global challenges. Worth noting, the total sum of the agreements was not disclosed. In comparison, in 2019, Macron struck over 40 trade deals during his China visit worth over $15 billion. Beijing didn't make any specific amendments to Macron. For example, when the French president asked China to invest more in France, Xi said he will support Chinese companies willing to invest there. And there's no update on whether French aerospace giant Airbus would secure an order of 500 jets from China. The company has been negotiating about that for over a year. Macron also urged China to transfer technology and batteries, electric vehicles, and solar panels. But there's no mention of that in either side's joint statements. Macron asked Xi to persuade Russia to end its war in Ukraine. Xi did not respond directly, only saying that China supports all efforts that work toward peace. Meanwhile, Chinese terrorists on French dairy and pork products stay in place. Over 2,000 French companies have subsidiaries in China. That's more than any other European country. And they're facing a more challenging business climate there. China's consumer spending remains weak, with a slowing economy. And competition with local Chinese brands is becoming more intense. That's all for today's China In Focus. I'm 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 chinainfocusantd.com. We'd love to hear from you. For on-the-clock original news coverage, visit us at ntd.com or download our NTD app. Thanks for watching. See you soon.