ExclusiveU.S. Raises Travel Warning Level for China | China in Focus

Welcome to China In Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. Our top story. It's getting more serious. The U.S. raising its travel warning for China. Any visiting American could become caught up in tensions between China and the U.S. and be used by China as leverage. Other countries are not being spared. Three major U.S. intelligence agencies issuing a joint warning. Chinese A.I. companies are conducting malicious technology theft. The Chinese military is fast-tracking humanoid robots for the battlefield. New research shows the military is exploring how these machines could work alongside troops in combat. China's national champion Huawei facing trial in Brooklyn. The criminal case kicks off just two weeks before Chinese leader Xi Jinping's visit to the White House. We have highlights from the courtroom. And an awkward moment for Beijing. A Chinese diplomat's secret note was read out loud at an international forum. How the Philippine defense secretary reacted. Perhaps basic decency and behavior is what China needs to do. Now, thank you very much. The U.S. has raised its travel warning for China. The warning isn't just for U.S. citizens of Chinese origin. It also applies to people involved in business disputes in China or those connected to companies involved in such disputes. Several cases of Westerners being arrested in China in recent years show that people can become caught up in tensions between China and Western countries. And in some cases, they can even be used as leverage. The warning was raised because of the increased risk of arbitrary arrest and detention by Chinese authorities. And if a U.S. citizen is detained, the U.S. embassy and consulates may only be able to provide limited help because of restrictions imposed by Beijing. U.S. cyber and law enforcement agencies are accusing Chinese AI companies of malicious technology theft. They released a statement Tuesday saying Chinese companies have been copying technology from sophisticated American-made AI models. The FBI, the NSA and CISA saying in a statement, quote, China-based AI companies are engaging in aggressive, malicious and targeted distillation activities at an industrial scale. Distillation is the process of training smaller AI models using output from larger, more expensive ones. This can lower the cost of training a new AI tool. The U.S. agencies say China's DeepSeek, Moonshot AI, Alibaba, Minimax and StepFun are using variants of American-made AI models to train their own products. The agencies add that Chinese companies are likely doing so with the awareness of the Chinese regime. Warnings of this kind are common, but it is unusual for three major U.S. security agencies to issue a warning together. The FBI, the National Security Agency or NSA and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency or CISA. Worth noting, Chinese law says companies must help Chinese intelligence when asked. This can include providing information, data or technology. China is aggressively pushing humanoid robots into its military ranks. Backed by its massive manufacturing dominance, the PLA is preparing these machines for urban warfare as advised for dominance across the Pacific. The effort began quietly in 2024 when the PLA's top university held a forum on military applications for humanoid systems. By 2025, China's military institutions were studying how humanoid robots could work alongside troops. One study envisions six combat robots clearing buildings room by room alongside human troops. A Reuters review of more than 100 Chinese military documents found growing research into humanoid robots for battlefield use. Procurement records show the PLA is testing robots for perception, manipulation and battlefield survival. Now, China's defense industry is joining the effort. It's developing systems that could be remotely controlled by human operators. State-owned defense conglomerate Norinco has developed the Fuxi, a full-size humanoid designed for sentry duty, reconnaissance, intelligent patrol and fulfilling dangerous roles. For now, the technology is still developing. But Chinese researchers say if major technical hurdles are overcome, humanoid robots could eventually move onto the battlefield. Meanwhile, the US is also exploring military humanoids. The race reflects a fast shift toward autonomous systems on the modern battlefield. A showdown between the world's largest telecommunications equipment provider and the Justice Department. Chinese tech giant Huawei is going on trial in a Brooklyn courtroom Wednesday, with both sides presenting their opening statements. It's the beginning stage of trial to set the scene for jurors and explain the heart of the dispute before presenting the evidence. NTD's Juliet Song has the highlights. A uniquely consequential case playing out in a Brooklyn courtroom. The US government is taking on China's national champion Huawei. The company is facing allegations that it violated Iran's sanctions, committed bank fraud and systematically stole American trade secrets. And the trial begins just two weeks away from Chinese leader Xi Jinping's visit to the White House. On Wednesday, both sides give jurors a preview of the case before presenting the evidence. A Justice Department lawyer accused Huawei of repeatedly stealing technology from US companies to improve its own products. Victims include T-Mobile, Cisco and telecommunications firm Quintel. Huawei was allegedly eyeing a type of robot from T-Mobile, used to test products before they're released on the market. A Huawei employee allegedly snapped the arm off the robot and put it in his laptop bag to steal it. The US is also accusing Huawei of illegally using American financial systems to do business in Iran. Huawei allegedly lied to US banks in order to move millions of dollars to support its business in Iran. In 2021, Huawei's CFO Meng Wanzhou admitted to lying to a bank about Huawei's compliance with US sanctions. That was in exchange for having US charges against her dropped. The US also accuses Huawei of giving Iran tools to spy on its own citizens. Huawei has pledged not guilty to all charges. Huawei's defense lawyer said the company's success did not come from theft and fraud, but from decades of hard work. He says the US government is presenting ordinary business activities as criminal. He also said the thefts were isolated incidents by individual employees. If found guilty, Huawei would be slapped with a massive fine. Plus, banks around the globe could be wary of doing business with the company. Juliet Song, NTD News. An awkward moment, a Chinese diplomat's secret note was read out loud in front of a live audience at an international forum. On Tuesday, while attending a defense forum in South Korea, Philippine Defense Secretary Teodoro was giving a speech when a man walked up to the podium and handed him a note. Teodoro said the note came from the Chinese side. He began reading it aloud. It was about the territorial dispute between the two countries. Here's a bit of background. The In 2013, the Philippines filed a case with the Permanent Court of Arbitration accusing China of violating the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS. In 2016, the court ruled in favor of the Philippines. But China has rejected the ruling, calling it a mere piece of paper. Here's a clip of Philippine Defense Secretary Teodoro just after he received the note. I have a note here. I think this is from China. You should have joined the, and may I read it, China's position on the South China Sea arbitration is clear, consistent, and firm. They have no position. The arbitration violates fundamental principles of international law. So what you sign, UNCLOS, you mean, violates international law. That's what you mean. The so-called award is illegal, null, and void. So say you. And has no binding force because you don't want to be subjected to UNCLOS. China neither accepts nor recognizes the award. Of course, because you lost. And opposes it and will never accept any claim or action arising from it. These are words slipped to me. And there is a legal principle called res ipsa loquitur. The thing speaks for itself. How can you deal with a country in an international forum beyond the question asked to me? Disrespecting the organizers of this forum, how do you expect to deal with it civilly? Perhaps basic decency and behavior is what China needs to do. No. Thank you very much. Teodoro added, quote, this is not gray zone anymore. This is actual coercion, bullying and aggression. I will keep this paper as a memento of how desperate China is and how ineffective its position is in the face of a free audience. Coming up, the U.S. boosting efforts in Latin America, a battleground against China's influence. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is visiting three countries. What he received there and what he promised. And Beijing facing criticism for its role in the Tibet-Nepal flood disaster. Grant Newsham says the Yirang port should not be built in the first place because it was a political decision of a totalitarian regime. More on that after the break here on China In Focus. Well, it is how these kinds of authoritarian, brutal, ruthless dictatorships are. They really don't give two hoots about their citizens who exist to serve the state. Welcome back to China In Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. In Latin America, a battleground for influence between the U.S. and China. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is visiting three countries. In Ecuador on Wednesday, he received the second highest national honor from the president for his role in strengthening U.S.-Ecuador ties. Rubio began his tour the day before with talks in Colombia. He is seeking closer cooperation on security, immigration and trade. Here are the details. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is on a three-nation Latin America tour with stops in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Rubio was in Colombia yesterday seeking ties with the country's new president. And I believe that we not only have the opportunity to restore those natural relationships that exist between our countries, but to enter into a new stage of cooperation that has no precedent and is even stronger still. The agreements focus on security cooperation, including efforts to combat drug trafficking and transnational criminal networks. Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella says his government wants a larger security role alongside Washington. Colombia wants to reestablish itself as the main hemispheric security partner with the United States. De la Espriella also says the countries agreed to expand cooperation on immigration and border enforcement. Another issue that seems to me of singular importance is migration and the rule of law. We agreed to deepen cooperation on migration, information exchange, biometric tools, identification of wanted persons, migrant trafficking networks and strengthening of border controls. Colombia is also seeking relief from U.S. tariffs that took effect in July. The Trump administration is also aiming for stronger ties with Ecuador and Peru. Rubio visiting both countries this week. We have a lot of common interests with them, both taking on regional transnational criminal terrorism and also economic engagements. We're hoping to wrap up good solid trade deals with all three of these countries in the foreseeable future and of course a lot of strong cultural links. Rubio also backing the Trump administration's recent deal involving Venezuela's oil industry. Those oil fields were once dominated by China and Russia and Iran. By the way, Iran also had some concessions and they're no longer there. So I think they're much better off partnering with the United States. They will benefit greatly from it. Rubio saying many of these fields had been lying unproductive. He also said Venezuela was not included in this week's itinerary because there was not enough time for another stop. He said he expects to visit Venezuela eventually. The Chinese Communist Party continues to face criticism for its role in the Tibet-Nepal flood disaster. One report blames the party for allowing Jirong Port to be built in the flood's path. The port is located at the border between Nepal and Tibet and was destroyed by the floods. To discuss this, NTD's Kerry Dunst was joined by Grant Newsham, a retired U.S. Marine Colonel and former U.S. Diplomat for Insight. What can you tell us about Jirong Port? Why was it built in this area and maintained despite the same area being hit with a flood just last year? Well, it was probably built more for political reasons, although it is a long-standing historic route between Nepal and Tibet for, as I say, political reasons. You build a nice impressive building there and you demonstrate that you dominate, occupy Tibet, and you also can intimidate Nepal. And China has had its eyes on Nepal for a long time. It's had a lot of influence there, a little less now. But say it's political reasons as much as anything. The Chinese knew it was in a floodplain. They knew this could happen, but they did it anyway, sort of the nature of these kinds of regimes. Yeah, and the regime is actually doing an even bigger project. This one is called the Meidong Dam Project. That could be very susceptible to a similar disaster. What can you tell us about that? Well, it's in an area that's even more dangerous than where this event happened. The valleys are deep and steep. The rocks are relatively unstable. The Himalayas are like that. Additionally, you have earthquakes in the region. So pouring a ton of concrete, building six dams in this area is asking for trouble. But it's something that the Chinese just can't help themselves. But this is something that at some point is going to come to grief. Yeah, as you put it, these risks affect their own populations. But the Himalayas are often referred to as the roof of the world. So how could the regime's actions in this geologically sensitive area potentially affect neighbors such as India and Bangladesh? Well, it gives them the ability to extort and intimidate both India and Bangladesh. The main rivers that flow through this part of South Asia, they originate in the Tibetan Plateau. The only one that doesn't start up there that's major is the Ganges that starts in India and runs through there. But the Indus, the Brahmaputra, these all start up in Tibet. And this has been well known for a long, long time that someday the Chinese would use this really as a tool to pressure their downstream neighbors. Just a question of when they would do it. And it looks like they're really going ahead full speed now. But that's a good chunk of the reason for building these dams in these places. Additionally, they say, well, we need the power for AI generation. But there is as much a political reason as any. And if you want to pressure another country in this part of the world, just threaten to cut off their water. And that is a lot of the reason. And it is the nature of these regimes that they will take huge risks from an ecological standpoint. I don't think they care all that much if you look at their track record. And of course, when incidents do happen, they go out of their way to make sure that the details are not honestly reported. And anyone who does gets punished severely. Yeah, we're seeing that now where there's very little to no reporting coming out. The numbers coming out are much, much smaller than on the Nepal side. One would have to look at those and question that since going back to COVID. And obviously, well, before that, not much information gets in or out when there's a disaster. Now, going back, though, the great leap forward that led to famine. There were hydropower projects that have resulted in many deaths, like the Banchao Dam failure. That was in 1975. There were an estimated 200,000 deaths from that. Can you speak a little bit more to this pattern that you've been referring to in the nature of the regime? Well, it is how these kinds of authoritarian, brutal, ruthless dictatorships are. They really don't give two hoots about their citizens who exist to serve the state. And you see it not just in China, you saw it in Russia as well. Look at the ecological disaster at the Aral Sea of East Germany when the communists ran the show in the mining industry. Ecological disaster and communist regimes go hand in hand. There is no concern for the public, the citizenry at large, and there's no ability for anyone to really resist when the regime decides that it's going to do something. There's no way for public opinion to actually stop these people when they set their heart on this and make the orders. People who try to resist, well, they don't last very long at all. So this is the nature of these regimes, where the individual doesn't matter. The state does, and its perceptions of its own greatness and infallibility is what actually makes the decisions. But also when something does happen, you can't say anything to suggest that the party was somehow wrong or somehow was at fault, that its response was not very good. You just can't do that. And that's a fundamental weakness of these regimes, but it also gives us a sense of what we'd be dealing with if we had to live in that sort of system. And Grant, obviously you wrote the book on the nature of the regime, so you understand its tactics very well. But I want to get your view on how well you think the West, both governments as well as business, understand that nature, that willingness to go beyond the pale if it serves their interests. Well, I think most people understand it if they gave the matter any thought. But when it comes to our business class, our financial class, when they smell money, they will sell out their principles immediately. That's a generalization, but it's by and large correct. You see the complete absence of interest in human rights on the part of Wall Street and our business class that just can't get enough of the PRC anywhere that they smell money. So they know, and Congress knows as well. You have hearings about human rights and these sorts of abuses in the PRC in particular, and you used to have it in the old Soviet Union. And you have very good reports put out by Representative Moulinard's China Committee. But at the end of the day, there's something that prevents our representatives from actually acting on it. And as I said, the financial business classes, who really are the donor class, they have undue influence, and they know the nature of this regime. They know what it's like. But if they can just get one more check from these people, that they'll pretend that they don't really know what's going on or say, well, who are we to say anything? Who are we to criticize them? But ultimately, it is the aroma of cash, which really does influence the behavior and the thinking really of too many of our elites. Well, I do appreciate you raising the alarm. Of course, the president's still scheduled to host the regime leader in just a few weeks in BC. We'll have to see what comes out of that. 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 tomorrow.