CIA Recruits Chinese Spies | China in Focus

Welcome to China In Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. Our top story. Taiwan scores big as tariffs drop to 15 percent with some goods now duty-free. It's also partnering with the U.S. on AI. In exchange, Washington has secured an additional 400 billion dollars in investments. Canada is lowering tariffs on some Chinese electric vehicles in exchange for a bit of relief from economic pressures. But trade with China comes with complications, including demands from Chinese leader Xi Jinping. 26 people indicted in a game-fixing scheme in men's college basketball. Authorities say it started with rigged games in China but then expanded to NCAA games in the U.S. And China unveiled new equipment designed to target Starlink terminals and disrupt internet signals. Could this be preparation for an invasion of Taiwan? Following our report yesterday, the U.S. and Taiwan announced a win-win deal in Washington on Thursday. Taiwan aims to become a key strategic partner to the U.S. in artificial intelligence. Here's a breakdown of the main components of the deal. For Taiwan, the island nation scored two major wins. Broad tariffs on most Taiwanese exports to the U.S. will drop from 20 percent to 15 percent. It's the lowest rate among U.S.'s trade deficit partners. Last year, nearly 31 percent of Taiwan's exports went to the U.S., surpassing shipments to China and Hong Kong at around 27 percent. It marked the highest share for the U.S. since 1999. Taiwanese chip makers like TSMC will enjoy lower rates on semiconductors with some imports duty-free. And the U.S. promises to give Taiwan preferential treatment if new tariffs are ever imposed in the future. Taiwan is also aiming to team up with the U.S. as a strategic partner in artificial intelligence, helping the U.S. maintain its edge in high-tech industries. In this round of negotiations, we also promoted two-way high-tech investment between Taiwan and the United States. We hope that in the future, both sides can become close strategic partners in AI. So, aside from the previously mentioned Taiwan model for expanding investment in the U.S., the U.S. side also committed, through this investment MOU, to establishing a mechanism for two-way investment to expand investment in Taiwan. In exchange, Taiwan will invest $500 billion in the U.S. There's two commitments from Taiwan. There's $250 billion that comes directly from companies, and then there's $250 billion supplied by the government to help their smaller and medium-sized companies all, and bring that whole supply chain to America. So, we're going to bring it all over so we become self-sufficient in the capacity of building semiconductors. The $250 billion coming to invest in American chipmaking includes $100 billion, which has been already committed by TSMC in 2025. On Friday, Beijing said it firmly opposes the United States reaching a trade agreement with Taiwan. Canada's Prime Minister is striking a deal with China on Friday. The country will lower tariffs on Chinese EVs in exchange for China lifting tariffs on Canadian canola and other agricultural products. Canada has agreed to allow up to 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles into the Canadian market, with the most favored nation tariff rate of 6.1 percent. The remaining Chinese electric vehicles beyond the first 49,000 will still face 100 percent tariffs. China is expected to lower tariffs on canola seeds from 80 percent to 15 percent, and tariffs on Canadian lobsters, crabs and peas are also expected to be put on hold this year. Carney says China would make a considerable investment into Canada's auto It comes as Carney looks to diversify trade away from the U.S. following President Trump's tariff hikes. Meanwhile, Ontario's premier criticized Carney's deal with China, warning it could threaten Ontario's auto industry. The premier added that it could affect Canada's access to American markets if the U.S. sees Canada as a backdoor for cheap Chinese imports. Carney also announced a new strategic partnership between Canada and China. He says Canada's relations with China are more predictable while its relations with the U.S. runs deeper. Over 75 percent of Canada's exports goes to the U.S., but only five percent go to China. But a deeper economic relationship with China comes with strings attached. Chinese leader Xi Jinping said the two countries should treat each other with respect. It signals that criticizing Beijing's human rights abuses might be seen as disrespectful. When asked about human rights abuses in China, Carney said Canada needs to be realistic when it comes to doing business with Beijing. He said he raised human rights concerns in private talks with Chinese officials, but discussing them publicly doesn't help. In just one day, a CIA recruitment video targeting Chinese officials has gone viral, attracting 3.8 million views. The video targeting Chinese officials says the CIA is looking for people who can tell the truth about China. The video lays out nine steps for Chinese citizens in China, showing how they could contact the CIA without putting themselves in danger from the Chinese Communist Party. It has no voiceover, only subtitles in simplified Chinese, which are only used in mainland China. The video was published on Thursday and is the third of its kind. Last May, in an unprecedented move, the CIA released two videos with Mandarin voiceovers, sending a clear message to Chinese officials. We are open for business. Recruitment is only one side of the coin. Moves like this could also heighten suspicion and distrust among Chinese Communist Party officials. 26 people have been indicted on federal criminal charges in an alleged game-fixing scheme in men's college basketball. Authorities say it started with rigged games in China, then expanded to NCAA games in the U.S. Here are the details. We allege an extensive international criminal conspiracy. Federal prosecutors on Thursday announcing criminal charges against more than two dozen people in an alleged game-rigging scheme involving college basketball. A transnational criminal scheme to fix NCAA Division I men's basketball games, as well as professional Chinese Basketball Association games. The Justice Department detailing what they described as a extensive international criminal conspiracy of NCAA players, alumni, and professional bettors who fixed games across the country. According to court documents, it all started in 2022 with game fixing in the Chinese Basketball Association. The fixers would bet on the games from the U.S. Prosecutors say they expanded the scheme to Division I college basketball games in the 2023-2024 season, allegedly recruiting players nationwide to manipulate games, paying them $10,000 to $30,000 per game to underperform. The fixers placed millions of dollars in wagers against those teams, and prosecutors say the players who allegedly took part in the scheme were paid hundreds of thousands of dollars. It imperils the integrity of sport itself, and when that happens, the Department of Justice will step in to protect what is a sacred institution of American life. Would Starlink be the last means of communication for Taiwanese people if China invaded and cut all cables and Wi-Fi? The Chinese regime might have considered it. It recently unveiled a new piece of electronic warfare equipment designed to target Starlink terminals and disrupt internet signals. The system is small enough to be carried by a single soldier or mounted on a drone. Earlier this month at a defense technology exhibition, China Electronics Technology Group Corporation showcased the device. The system is designed to detect Starlink user terminals on the ground. It disrupts their connection to satellites by interfering with the radio frequencies they use. This new system shows that counter Starlink tools are moving out of the lab and could actually be used on the battlefield. Starlink's network relies on a large number of satellites, and this system focuses on targeting the user terminals rather than the satellites themselves. Throughout the Russia-Ukraine war, SpaceX has sent thousands of Starlink terminals to help keep Ukraine connected. That's despite Russian attempts to disrupt communications. The U.S. House approved a potential $1.5 billion military sale to help design and build a new naval base in Peru. The facility will be less than 50 miles away from a Chinese-owned port. The State Department says the proposal is still under review and could require more negotiations. It added that the final deal could potentially be lower than $1.5 billion. Plans for U.S. support at the naval base in Peru date back to late 2024. The move comes amid Washington's concerns over China's $1.3 billion chance port. It's operated by Chinese state-owned Costco shipping, which analysts say could one day host Chinese Navy vessels. So far, Peru has maintained friendly relations with both the U.S. and China. Washington is aiming to increase presence in the region to protect its national security. It recently designated Peru a major non-NATO ally and assigned a new ambassador to the country. Coming up, military presence in Greenland has expanded. Some European countries are sending soldiers there. Which country are they targeting? And online scam advertisements tied to China are drawing scrutiny. Where are these scams showing up and why does it matter? An expert breaks it down. More on that after the break here on China In Focus. Welcome back to China In Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. Some European countries were sending soldiers to Greenland on Thursday. This comes as President Trump made vows to take Greenland this way or another. He's also increasing calls to protect the island from adversaries, especially China and Russia. NTD's international correspondent, Arianne Pazdar, has more. I don't think troops in Europe impact the President's decision-making process, nor does it impact his goal of the acquisition of Greenland at all. White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt saying the U.S. still plans to acquire Greenland, despite some European nations sending troops to the island. French President Emmanuel Macron announcing that France is among the European nations sending troops to Greenland. Germany, France, Sweden, Norway, Finland and the Netherlands are sending military personnel as well. They say the goal is to begin preparations for large-scale military drills later this year. A first team of French soldiers is already on site and will be reinforced in the coming days by land, air and sea means. President Trump is increasing calls to protect the island from adversaries, especially China and Russia. According to Trump, Denmark, which controls Greenland, is not powerful enough to protect the strategically important island. The President therefore says the U.S. needs to own Greenland and has offered to purchase it. Leavitt says the U.S. had a meeting about such an acquisition on Wednesday and will continue having regular talks. Those talks will take place, I'm told, every two to three weeks. So this is a conversation the administration intends to keep having. She added that those talks will be between representatives from the U.S., Denmark and Greenland. Trump, who says he favors diplomacy, previously declined to rule out acquiring Greenland by force. Poland's Prime Minister on Thursday was asked how Europe would react to such a move by the U.S. Does Europe have a plan? Ladies and gentlemen, for such situations, there are no plans. I will do everything to ensure that Europe as a whole remains united. He added that Poland isn't sending any troops to Greenland at this time. Ariane Pasdar, NTD News. Why is Greenland, an island in the Arctic region, so important to the U.S. that President Trump has expressed interest in taking control of it? Let's take a look. Greenland is the world's biggest island with a population of just 57,000 people. It's controlled by Denmark and through its association with Denmark, it's a part of NATO. Greenland was a Danish colony from 1721 until 1953 when it formally became part of Denmark. So in 1979, it got its own parliament and in 2009, it got so-called self-rule, which allows it the right to declare independence through a vote if it wants to. The island holds great strategic importance to the United States military and its early warning radar system. Any missiles that would come in towards the North American continent from Europe or from Russia would go via this island. The United States military already has a permanent presence at the Vitofik airbase and they have had pretty much unlimited access to Greenland since Denmark and the United States signed a defense agreement back in 1951. Apart from its great military strategic importance, the island also holds vast natural resources. Greenland has several of the critical raw materials, lithium, graphite, that Europe and the United States need in order to become less dependent on China for these critical materials. These resources largely have stayed in the ground. Many, if not all, of the big projects have been stalled. They've met resistance from the indigenous people who basically would like to have their hunting and fishing grounds unspoiled and untouched. Greenland has many ties to Denmark, both family ties and cultural ties, but the people of Greenland have also been moving away from Denmark over the last decade or so. More and more details have emerged about misconduct by Danish authorities of the Greenlandic people. This includes forced contraception of young Greenlandic women and also forced removal of Greenlandic kids from their parents to Denmark. Polls show that the people of Greenland do want independence, but they also show that people realize that the economy is too fragile, it's too dependent on annual grants from Denmark, it's too dependent on the fisheries industry, and people know that independence or Greenland as an independent state will not be economically sustainable. An app called Are You Dead, aimed at people living alone, has gone viral in China. With surging downloads and widespread discussion on social media, it's prompting the company to introduce a subscription fee and change the app's name for a global audience. But on Thursday, the app was suddenly removed from China's Apple App Store, with no reason provided. It's a new app that's gone viral in China, making sure its users are still alive. The app, called Silima in Chinese, which translates to Are You Dead?, is targeted at people living alone or who live a solitary lifestyle. It sends automatic notifications to an emergency contact if the user has not checked in for consecutive days. Downloads have surged, prompting the company to introduce a subscription fee and change its name for a global audience. China may have up to 200 million one-person households, with a solo living rate exceeding 30 percent, state newspaper The Global Times said. So why did this unusual app go viral in China? There are many reasons behind it. China's aging population has led to more elderly people living alone. Over the past decade, hundreds of millions of young people have moved from their hometowns to big cities, leaving mostly older adults behind in rural areas. Marriage rates among young people in China are also falling, reaching a 38-year low in 2024. This has led to a declining birth rate, even though Beijing abandoned the one-child policy years ago. Youth unemployment has reached record highs, and in recent years, feelings of depression, anxiety and frustration have spread throughout society. So it's no wonder the Are You Dead app, despite its grim name, has become popular across China. Online scam advertisements tied to China are drawing growing scrutiny in the U.S. They continue to appear on major digital platforms, impacting American stores and businesses. To break down where these scams are showing up and why they matter, we're joined by Rex Lee. He's a cybersecurity advisor at MySmart Privacy. Take a look. Rex Lee, thank you so much for joining us. Great to have you back on the show. Thank you for having me on the show, Tiffany. It seems there's more and more reporting of China-linked scams or ads. Of course, other countries are behind this, too, but the focus is on communist China. What are some of the platforms that these scams are on? The one that made the news, and rightfully so, was Meta. But these ads infect every platform that you can buy advertising on. But the main thing is, it's the action taken by the platform that counts. And a lot of these platforms, if X gets hit by these or other platforms, they're not immune from them, but they take action immediately. They shut the ads down. What got Meta into hot water is these ads, if you look at it collectively, can mean billions of dollars in revenue over time. So they just allowed to keep collecting on the ad revenue until the government stepped in and said, hey, what are you doing here? You're already notified about this. You already know about this scam. Why are you continuing on with it? Then they cut it. And then it's, oh, by the way, sorry, and another congressional hearing and a phony apology, and it gets washed away for basically a $2 billion fine in a trillion dollar industry that's the equivalent to a $2 fine or a traffic ticket. How is this an example of economic warfare? It harms us in many ways. Even though the ads are a scam, some of the products may not be a scam. It could be counterfeit purses, for instance, like Gucci purses. So people will go and buy that. They're still displacing revenue that should have gone to Gucci or Nike. And so it's not that people completely lose their money. They're just not getting what they think they're paying for. And that's one example there. Some are out and out scams where consumers lose their money and get nothing. And typically, the people they're targeting are very vulnerable to this, seniors, small businesses, family members, teens, and so forth. So you have to kind of look at what they're targeting and what they're selling. But yes, it is economic warfare. We see this today with Chinese retail apps like Qimu and Chin and so forth. They're competing against Amazon. And again, these products and services aren't just limited. And these scams aren't just limited to a social media platform either. They can infect existing retail platforms that rely on third-party businesses to provide products and services like Amazon does this and a lot of these other platforms, eBay. So yeah, you can get caught up in this and get directed to the wrong platform. So these scams are really dangerous, especially if they can get promotion or amplification from automated bots to push them out to more and more people who would get these ads. So it's really beholden to the platform developer and owner like Meta to stop this in its tracks when it is discovered. On that note, what action has there been to stop this? I think you mentioned earlier platforms like X or whatever have done things to counter this. What has been the progress on that? This is a problem with any internet platform that accepts advertising from anywhere in the world. I don't know the scrutiny of these other platforms and if they're really diligently addressing these issues. The one that has been targeted and where I could find information was on Meta. Unfortunately, they were all over the news about this a week or two ago. Well, Rex Lee, as always, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you. 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 chinainfocusatntd.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.