Security Guard Hired by Chinese Consulate Arrested for Allegedly Pepper-Spraying Protesters | China in Focus

Welcome to China In Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. Our top story. A man has been arrested for pepper spraying protesters in Los Angeles. He is a security guard hired by the Chinese consulate who has been jailed and faces felony charges. Insider sources say he is closely tied to a CCP-backed transnational repression scheme. Venezuela loaded crude for U.S. oil giant Chevron on Tuesday while shipments by state-run PDVSA to its top Chinese customers remained on hold for a fifth straight day. What does the U.S.'s capture of Maduro mean for China, which has been working to supersede Washington's influence across Latin America? We break it down. Tensions in Iran are rising as anti-regime protests grow. Reports say the country's top leader could flee to Russia if security forces start defecting or disobeying orders. President Trump touting the military successes of Operation Absolute Resolve lays out his vision for Venezuela's future. And confronting former socialist leader Nicolas Maduro after years of oppression, we hear from a man who interrupted Maduro's arraignment to send him a message. A Chinese security guard who attacked protesters in Los Angeles is now in custody. He was arrested on Sunday after injuring at least eight people outside the Chinese consulate. Insider sources disclosed his aggression as part of a Beijing-orchestrated transnational suppression across the U.S. NTD's Flora Hua spoke with the rally organizer, who was also a victim, for the latest updates. Chinese pro-democracy activists held a rally outside the Chinese consulate in Los Angeles on Sunday. Armed private security guards hired by the consulate were seen confronting protesters. The man who was arguing with the demonstrators was the guard leader. He repeatedly threatened them with violence as he remained armed. The quarrel quickly escalated. Moments later, the head security guard began using police-grade pepper spray on the protesters. At least eight people were pepper sprayed, and three of them sent to the hospital for treatment. Victims told the media that they were shocked and upset by how aggressive those CCP-backed personnel can be, even on American soil. Local police officers arrested the security guard, accusing him of illegally using pepper spray. According to the official website, the man's name is Wu Xian. He is currently in custody and faces felony charges. The security company, JK Patrol, is filed under his name. The rally organizer spoke to people who have internal information of Wu's company to protect their safety with concealed their identity. Here's what the organizer relayed back to me. According to insider sources, after attending a meeting on January 1st, Wu said they would focus on these things next. Right now, many personnel from the CCP Ministry of State Security have already arrived. He said, you can handle your matters as you see fit. There's someone from the top backing us. According to the source, Wu instructed his employees, saying they can deal with those Chinese dissidents in the U.S., especially those group leaders, by any means, including orchestrating car accidents. Born in China, Wu came to the U.S. more than two decades ago and obtained American citizenship. Jie told me that he hopes the Justice Department can look into Wu's ties to the Chinese Communist Party. He added that people like Wu pose a serious threat to the overseas Chinese community. Flora Hua, NTD News. Venezuela is loading crude for Chevron, but oil exports to China by state-run PDVSA remain halted for a fifth consecutive day. Shipping data shows Chevron is the only major U.S. oil firm operating in the country. Chevron's license exempts it from sanctions imposed on Venezuela's oil industry. Ship monitoring data shows that Tuesday, several vessels chartered by Chevron were the only ones loading crude for export from two of Venezuela's ports. Other ships were loading to move oil between domestic ports. Meanwhile, operations by Venezuela's state-run oil firm to load cargo for its main customers in China remain on hold for a fifth day. China's biggest vulnerability has been their lack of domestic oil. They've been getting it from a couple of places, Russia, obviously, Iran and Venezuela, and those markets are now drying up for China. So there's a power play here happening using oil as a weapon to weaken communist China, who is our number one geopolitical threat and adversary. And so it's putting China on notice. China has a lot of operations in South America. And if China is weakened in South America, that's good for America and that's good for the world. And it's the same play that the president has done with oil sanctions in Russia, oil sanctions in Iran. Unfortunately, a lot of bad actors have oil. And if those bad actors can't produce it and bring it to market, they get weak. And when they're weak, they're not dangerous. So the president is using oil as this number one weapon. We're producing more than ever before, and our enemies are producing less. What's it like trying to survive in Maduro's Venezuela as a candidate for the opposition party? A Venezuelan man who fled to the U.S. directly confronted former socialist leader Nicolas Maduro during his arraignment in New York City. That's after suffering political persecution in his home country. NTD's Arian Pazdar has more. Paolo Escobar was trained to be one day the president and then control all the areas. That dream became true in Venezuela. An anti-Maduro activist in New York City comparing former socialist leader Nicolas Maduro to late drug lord Pablo Escobar. He says Maduro is a drug lord as well, but one who managed to take over an entire country. Pedro Rojas, a self-described political prisoner in Venezuela, yelled at Maduro during the arraignment on Monday. Maduro looks straight at me. I have no fear. I speak for 40 million Venezuelans who are happy today because Maduro was arrested. Rojas told Maduro that he's not an innocent man, as he claims, and that Maduro is guilty of all the charges brought by the U.S. Justice Department. Maduro and his wife are charged with narco-terrorism conspiracy, drug trafficking, and weapons charges. They plead not guilty to all charges. Rojas was asked what kind of consequences he wants to see against Maduro. That the full force of the law will be applied. Today, Venezuela has political prisoners who have been sentenced to 20 years, to 18 years, to 14 years. Mothers in Venezuela have been arrested because of this bloodthirsty man. Rojas says he was jailed for almost half a year in 2019 for allegedly attempting to harm Maduro. That's after he tried to run for Congress for an opposition party in 2015. The man translating for Rojas says running for the opposition in Maduro's Venezuela had two possible outcomes, to die or to end up in prison. Rojas sent the following message to President Trump regarding the future of Venezuela. Us Venezuelans are willing to return to our national territory immediately, to rebuild the country and to work with North America, to make America great and make it so that Venezuela can become an exceptional country. Ariane Pastor, NTD News. President Trump laying out his vision for Venezuela's future, and the president touting the military successes of Operation Absolute Resolve, as he speaks to House Republicans ahead of the midterms. NTD's Washington correspondent Mari Otsu brings us more from the White House. President Trump this morning at the Trump Kennedy Center delivering remarks to House Republicans ahead of this year's midterm elections. He's saying he's setting the roadmap up for this upcoming year. And this is coming just after Operation Absolute Resolve, the historic mission that resulted in the successful capture of former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and his wife. The president shedding more light on the details of that military operation and touting its success. Take a look. We had a lot of boots on the ground, but it was amazing. And think of it, nobody was killed. And on the other side, a lot of people were killed. Unfortunately, I say that, soldiers, Cubans, mostly Cubans, but many, many killed. And they were, they knew we were coming and they were protected. And our guys weren't. You know, our guys are jumping out of helicopters and they're not protected. And they were, but it was so brilliant. The electricity for almost the entire country was, boom, turned off. That's when they knew there was a problem. There was no electricity. Caracas said there's no electricity. It's not a, the only people with lights were the people that had candles. It was just off. So we sort of got them a little by surprise, but it was a brilliant, it was brilliant tactically. It was an incredible thing. This comes as President Trump said on Sunday that he thinks Cuba's communist regime is likely to fall without any U.S. military intervention. As Secretary of State Marco Rubio is saying the same thing. And at the same time, President Trump says that he is in the project of nation building, what he describes as fixing up America's neighbors to ensure the U.S.'s safety. He also threatens drug traffickers in Colombia and Mexico, saying that his administration won't allow America's neighbors to be used as proxies for U.S. adversaries. Meanwhile, President Trump is also responding to the global reaction to Operation Absolute Resolve. The Venezuelan diaspora and Venezuelans worldwide have been seen as celebrating the capture of Maduro. While President Trump says that there have been protests, for example, in New York, and that he thinks that those are paid. Take a look. By the way, Venezuela, everyone, they're marching in the streets, they love it, except in New York. I mean, where they find these people? It looks like they're all paid. They don't even know what they're talking. When the people, the reporters don't interview because they know that it's, you know, the reporters, the press is so anti. It's hard to believe the press could be so anti because it's all common sense. You know, it's not we're conservative, we're conservative, whatever. It doesn't matter. It's we're all common sense people. Venezuelan opposition figure Maria Corina Machado said on Monday that she hopes to share her Nobel Peace Prize with President Trump. Machado added she wishes to thank Trump directly for ousting former dictator Nicolas Maduro. I'm dedicated to President Trump because I believe at that point that he deserved it. And a lot of people, most people said it was impossible to achieve what he has just done on Saturday, January 3rd. So if I believe he deserved it on October, imagine now. I think he has proven to the world what he means. I mean, January 3rd will go down in history as the day justice defeated a tyranny. Machado has vowed to return home quickly. The industrial engineer and mother of three escaped from Venezuela in disguise in October to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway. She said she and others believed the transition should move forward. Machado pointed out that the opposition won an election in 2024 by a landslide despite fraudulent conditions. Machado said she has not spoken to Trump since October 10th when the Nobel awarded was announced. The president has said the United States needs to help address Venezuela's problems before any new elections. An unknown trader has won more than $400,000 on PoliMarkit after Venezuela's dictator Nicolas Maduro had been ousted from power. The anonymous account was created last month. The trader placed bets that would pay off if Maduro was out by the end of January. The mysterious trade could lead to scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers. Some officials have been pushing for stricter insider trading rules, including a bipartisan effort to potentially ban stock trading among lawmakers. Congressman Richard Torres says he plans to introduce a bill this week. The legislation would bar elected officials and federal employees from placing bets on Prediction markets like PoliMarkit allow users to bet on a wide range of real-world events. Iran's supreme leader may already be planning an escape as unrest spreads across the country. A report from The Times on Sunday says Ayatollah Ali Khamenei intends to flee to Russia if Iran's forces can no longer contain the protests. Anti-regime protests have now entered a second week across Iran with demonstrators calling for the end of the regime. Henghaw, a Kurdish Iranian rights group, listed the death toll at 25, including four under the age of 18, and more than 1,000 have been arrested. Protests have broken out in more than half of Iran's provinces, presenting the largest challenge to the country's clerical establishment since 2022. Meanwhile, Tehran faces mounting pressure on multiple fronts, from a deepening economic crisis to U.S. sanctions on the country's oil exports. Iran remains closely tied to China, its largest trading partner, but analysts say that relationship was fragile. U.S. Representative Brian Mast's comment on the relationship between China and Venezuela is also highly applicable to China's ties with Iran. The message that was sent to dictators across the globe and narco-terrorists across the globe is that China is not your hedge of protection. You get no protection from, they might sell cheap goods, but they also sell cheap friendships. President Trump warned Iran that any attacks on the protesters could result in harsh U.S. response. Some opposition figures in Iran added that Iranians are openly calling for U.S. and Israeli to help push back against the regime's suppression. Stickers on cars, buses and public places read Trump, Iran is waiting for you. Iranian officials told Reuters the regime is running out of room to maneuver. An intelligence source tells The Times that Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei could flee Tehran with up to 20 aides and family if security forces deserved or disobey orders. He would reportedly head to Moscow following the path of his ally, former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, who fled Damascus before opposition forces took the city in December 2024. What does the Trump administration's capture of Nicolas Maduro mean for China? Grant Newsham, senior fellow at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies, says it's a real step backwards. China has been using Venezuela to expand its influence into Latin America and up to the Caribbean. There's a kinetic aspect to this where they have got signals intelligence, could easily have missile platforms in Venezuela, in Cuba, up in the region as well. And there's that looking ahead to a potential war and having assets or resources in place would put you in a position to launch some very devastating strikes on the United States if they choose their targets carefully, such as parts of the oil industry in Houston. Hit those with some missiles and shut them down and the United States would be in huge difficulty. Newsham also notes Beijing's support for drug gangs in Venezuela and other parts of Latin America. That's an easy, low-cost way to really tear America apart. And this is in addition to their domination of the fentanyl trafficking in line with Mexican gangs that has killed almost at least three quarters of a million Americans since about 2012-13. And so it may not be a kinetic war yet, but the Chinese very much have that in mind. In addition, Maduro's ouster could make other Latin American countries rethink their ties with China. A month ago, the Trump administration said it would reassert U.S. influence in the Western Hemisphere. The capture of the Venezuelan dictator is proof of action. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has reinforced the message. We're not going to allow the Western Hemisphere to be a base of operation for adversaries, competitors and rivals of the United States. It's a warning to adversaries, including China, which has been using trade and investments to pull Latin American countries away from U.S. influence. In recent decades, China has replaced the U.S. as the largest trading partner to many countries there. Beijing also had more than 20 Latin American countries participate in its Belt and Road Initiative, a project where China bankrolls infrastructure development to bring them under China's influence. Beijing has also bought stakes in more than a dozen major ports. It's sparking concerns in Washington that China could turn those ports into bases for military operations. Over in Panama, the U.S. and China have been wrestling for control over two ports in the Panama Canal. An advisor to Beijing on foreign policy says the regime's future economic cooperation with Latin American countries would probably be restrained by the U.S. Back to Venezuela, the country still owes China over $12 billion. Bloomberg reports that Beijing has reportedly asked its banks to assess their financial exposure to Venezuela. The move highlights concerns of the situation in Venezuela impacting China's banking sector. Impact with regards to oil is limited. Even though China has been the biggest buyer of Venezuelan oil, the imports only make up over 4% of China's total oil import. Coming up, NVIDIA unveils physical AI technology at CES with Jensen Huang promising five times the computing power of its previous chips. Meanwhile, rival chipmaker AMD showcased its new competitive AI processors. More on that after the break here on China In Focus. Welcome back to China In Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. NVIDIA showcased what it calls physical AI at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Monday. Its CEO, Jensen Huang, said the company's next generation of chips can deliver five times the artificial intelligence computing compared to its previous chips. Meanwhile, NVIDIA's primary competitor, Advanced Micro Devices, showed off its Advanced MI-455 AI processors. Physical AI refers to systems that operate in real environments such as robots and self-driving cars. The company says the robots are designed to perceive, decide and act in the real world. Powered by NVIDIA chips and software, the robots bring advanced intelligence into action. According to NVIDIA, physical AI systems need to understand space, predict outcomes and respond safely in real time. The company says it requires far more training than AI software that's currently on the market. NVIDIA also unveiled next generation AI chips, promising to deliver five times the computing power of earlier models. Here's more on that. Today, I can tell you that Vera Rubin is in full production. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang said Monday that the company's next generation of chips was in full production, promising to deliver five times the AI computing of earlier models. Set to launch later this year, the flagship Vera Rubin platform packs six separate NVIDIA chips with 72 graphic units and 36 new central processors. These can be linked into pods, with over a thousand Rubin chips working together. To achieve these performance gains, Huang said the hardware uses proprietary data formats that he hopes the industry will embrace. This is completely revolutionary. This is how we were able to deliver such a gigantic step up in performance, even though we only have 1.6 times the number of transistors. The AI chip leader also introduced new features aimed at helping chatbots handle complex conversations with millions of users simultaneously. Huang also showcased new self-driving car software called Alpamayo that he said will be open-sourced. Not only do we open-source the models, we also open-source the data that we use to train those models. Because in that way, only in that way can you truly trust how the models came to be. The same day saw rival AMD show off its latest AI chips in Las Vegas too. MI455 is the most advanced chip we've ever built. It's pretty darn big. It has 320 billion transistors, 70% more than MI355. These chips power data center racks that AMD sells to firms like OpenAI. The president of ChatGP team maker, Greg Brockman, joined Su on stage. He said chip advances were vital to OpenAI's vast needs for computing power. Su also had big claims for another platform. So let me tell you what it is. This is the smallest AI development system in the world, capable of running models with up to 200 billion parameters locally, not connected to anything. AMD remains NVIDIA's top rival in AI chips, but trails in market share. A recent deal with OpenAI has been seen as a show of confidence in the company. The Department of Education has released a new online portal for Americans to see how much foreign money is being given to universities on American soil. The portal lists China as the fourth biggest foreign contributor, giving more than $4 billion to American universities, with an extra $1.9 billion from Hong Kong. China moves to second place on the list. The website ranks China as the fourth biggest foreign contributor, giving more than $4 billion to American universities. The communist regime would become second on the list if combined with additional funding from Hong Kong, which is now under the CCP's control. Under the Higher Education Act of 1965, universities are required to disclose foreign gifts and contracts that are valued at more than $250,000 a year. 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 chinainfocusintd.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 tomorrow.