Hunter Biden Admits Receiving Money From Chinese Firm | China In Focus

$600 million. That's how much Hunter Biden says he got from a company linked to China. How is the White House responding? Is China moving closer to a military foothold in the South China Sea? And how could those efforts give Beijing a leg up as it grapples with the U.S.? Satellite images reveal the story. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warning about China's problematic behavior in the Indo-Pacific, speaking to the press in Tonga as the U.S. races to expand its presence there. Beijing and Indo-Pacific bully. That's according to America's defense chief. But what's behind that criticism? What do you think? Let us know below and subscribe if you haven't already. Welcome to China In Focus, I'm Tiffany Meyer. Hunter Biden admits an over $600 million payout from a company linked to China. The statement to a federal judge Wednesday appears to contradict President Biden's earlier claim that nobody from his family made money from China. NTD's Jeremy Sandberg has more. According to a court transcript obtained by the Epoch Times, David Weiss, the US attorney for the District of Delaware, read out an exhibit in court indicating that Hunter Biden earned around $660,000 from a Chinese infrastructure investment company. The presiding judge asked Hunter Biden which company it was, to which he answered CEFC. CEFC is a CCP-linked Chinese energy company who was named in a recent IRS whistleblower's testimony as a company Hunter Biden allegedly demanded $10 million from through WhatsApp in return for services from the Biden family. A White House spokesperson has said the Oversight Committee's probe into the Biden family is a waste of time and accused Republicans of engaging in a politically motivated investigation. House Republicans continue to probe the Biden family's overseas business dealings, arguing that there are possible national security implications to payments from foreign nationals. House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer told Senator Ted Cruz on his podcast, Verdict, that six US banks submitted over 170 suspicious activity reports to the Treasury Department about the Biden family over concerns of large transactions and wire transfers allegedly received by the Bidens from foreign state-owned entities, including the Chinese regime. If Hunter Biden was doing something legitimate for China, they could have just wired the money to Hunter Biden, but they didn't. They sent it to a company called Robinson Walker, then they wired it to a company called Awosco, then they wired it to another company called Bohe something or another, and then they start- And do these companies do anything with it? Nothing. It's just a bucket to pour the water in and they pour it in another place and pour it somewhere else. That's exactly what it is. And it was organized. This is like organized crime. The judge in Hunter Biden's case gave both sides 30 days to file briefs addressing her concerns, leaving the fate of his legal troubles in limbo. The White House said Thursday that President Biden would not pardon his son to dismiss the charges. Jeremy Sandberg, NTD News. Is China inching closer to gaining a military base in the mostly contested South China Sea? And how would it affect US military response in the region in the event of a conflict? Sparking those questions is the news that China has almost finished upgrading a facility in Cambodia called the Riam Naval Base. A spokesperson from the Cambodian Department of Defense confirmed the news to Voice of America. Satellite images show what China built. First, a pier up north, and then second, a much bigger pier. It's very similar to the pier the Chinese military uses in the base in Djibouti, Africa. Both piers are large enough to park Chinese aircraft carriers. In the South, the Chinese side also built an artificial island. These satellite images come from Black Sky, a US commercial imagery company. An expert says the naval port would allow Beijing to project military power in the Indian Ocean. Right now, China has a larger Navy than the US. What it doesn't have though is a global network of bases to send its strength around the world. But this is something that Beijing seems to be working on. Cambodia said earlier that Chinese military wouldn't have access to the Riam base. But the US has been expressing concerns. President Biden last year called on Cambodia to be transparent about Chinese military activities there. Why is this military base getting attention from the world's top powers? It occupies a prime location. The base is close to one of the globe's most important shipping lanes, called the Strait of Malacca. It's the shortest sea route linking the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. Almost a quarter of global trade passes through this strait. Almost half of all oil transported by sea also travels through it. China, Japan, and South Korea also rely on this strait for most of their oil. How will it impact the US military response in the region? A former US intelligence official told the Financial Times that if the US and China went to war, the US could just bomb bases in the South China Sea. But in the case of this base, the US would be bombing Cambodian territory. It seems the base in Cambodia is far from Beijing's only target. 1,600 miles west puts China's end goal in Sri Lanka. China has poured US$2.2 billion into the country's Amban-Tota port. Now it's at the top of a list of possible sites for future Chinese naval bases. The island country sits right at the crossroads of the Indian Ocean trade route and has high naval value. That's according to an American research project, AidData. Its database shows 78 ports across the world have been funded or constructed by Chinese state-owned entities, those investments totaling almost US$30 billion. Meanwhile, tensions between Beijing and the West are rising. China only has one overseas naval base for now, in Africa, but fears are growing that it's looking to up that number. Washington sent two high-profile US officials to the Indo-Pacific region this week to help address China's rising maritime threat. President Biden hosting the Italian prime minister at the White House on Thursday. At the top of the agenda, the two leaders held a discussion about China and Russia. Washington views the prime minister as a partner in the effort to aid Ukraine. The European nation also signaled a willingness to pull out of China's wide-reaching infrastructure initiative. Italy is the only G7 country that has signed onto Beijing's Belt and Road Project. Entity's Iris Tao has more from the White House. President Biden held bilateral talks with Italian prime minister, Giorgio Maloney. The two reaffirmed ties despite having ideological differences. I thank Italian people. I want to thank them for supporting you and supporting Ukraine. It makes a big difference. Maloney, who rose to power last year, leads Italy's most right-wing administration in decades. But the two leaders, though holding different stances on social issues like abortion, do share a lot of common ground on international objectives when it comes to China and Russia. Regardless of their political colors, we know who our friends are in times that are tough. Italy has been working closely with the US to support Ukraine, and Maloney is reportedly trying to pull out of China's Belt and Road Initiative, which Italy's previous administration joined in 2019 despite opposition from NATO and Washington. That more and more countries around the world are seeing the risks and, quite frankly, the lack of reward for economic partnerships with China. The White House this week again highlighted the risks of China's investment and infrastructure program, which critics say would expose countries' critical infrastructure and sensitive technologies to the Chinese Communist regime. But the White House said, ultimately- For the Italians to speak to, I mean, that's their sovereign decision. And now Washington and G7 countries are promoting their own alternative to China's Belt and Road Initiative. Their goal, leaders say, is to reduce dependencies on other countries. Reporting from the White House, Atrus Tao, NTD News. Problematic behavior, that's the latest word on China from Secretary of State Antony Blinken. He's visiting the Pacific Island nation of Tonga this week and took questions from reporters on Wednesday during a speech with the country's prime minister. Asked about China's investment in Tonga, Blinken said the U.S. doesn't object to productive investments from foreign nations, including Beijing, but noted concerns come in where there's a lack of transparency or if political strings are attached. As China's engagement with Beijing has grown, there has been some, from our perspective, pretty some problematic behavior. More specifically, The militarization of student teachers, for example, in the South China Sea. Some predatory economic activities and also investments that are done in a way that can actually undermine good governance. Promote corruption. That stance comes alongside Western concerns about debt levels in the Indo-Pacific. Tonga boasts a population of just over 100,000 people, leaning to questions about how the country will manage to dig itself out of its China debt. Here's the prime minister's response. We're starting this year. We actually start paying off our debt to China. We don't have any problems or concerns with that. China's extensive foothold in the region also goes beyond loans, from Beijing's embassy there to university exchange student programs. Now, the West is playing catch up, boosting its own presence after its post-Cold War exit. The Biden White House looks to give the Indo-Pacific an alternative to doing business with China and to counter Beijing's grip in the strategically critical region. That importance mainly lies in the possibility of war between the two superpowers, ignited by a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. Worth noting, Tonga sits within attack range of a U.S. military base in Guam. Aside from the front line, Tonga is a member of the United Nations. And despite its small land mass and population, it gets an equal vote on the management of resources, like fisheries and seabed mining. So winning the country's favor could prove a key advantage. Blinken's trip to Tonga marks the opening of a new U.S. embassy in the country's capital on Wednesday. More developments from the Indo-Pacific. Washington's defense secretary is visiting the region this week. Here's what he said during a meeting with his Australian counterpart. We've seen troubling PRC coercion from the East China Sea to the South China Sea to right here in the Southwest Pacific. And we'll continue to support our allies and partners as they defend themselves from bullying behavior. Australia echoed that concern, despite being under complex geopolitical pressure between China and its Western allies. Now's the time to be working closely with friends. And Australia has no better friend than the United States of America. The meeting came just one day after Secretary Blinken's public speech in Tonga, where he described Beijing's behavior in the Indo-Pacific region as problematic. China also signed a new policing deal with the Solomon Islands in recent months, aiming to equip the island with Chinese police forces. Back to Austin's travels, he set foot in Papua New Guinea on Thursday, becoming the first of his post to visit the Pacific country. The US signed a defense cooperation agreement with the nation this May. It allows Washington to use the island's seaports and airports for the next 15 years. Is Beijing supplying Russia's war in Ukraine? A US intelligence report unveils new evidence and gives a closer look at how China could be helping the Kremlin evade Western sanctions. Let's zoom in. According to the latest report from the US office of the Director of National Intelligence, China is providing some dual-use technology that Russia's military uses to continue the war in Ukraine. That's despite international sanctions and export controls. These technologies include navigation equipment, jamming technology, and fighter jet parts. As of March, over $12 million in drones and drone parts went from China to Russia. Citing customs data, the report finds the major players to be China's state-owned defense companies and their sanctioned Russian counterparts. Meanwhile, the report says Kiev has also spotted more Chinese components and weapons used by Russia. Beijing has long denied supplying any military aid to Russia, but the two nations uphold a no-limits partnership throughout the war. According to the report, Beijing has become the top buyer of Russian crude oil since the start of Western sanctions. That, along with expanded purchases of Russian natural gas and other energy exports, total bilateral trade hit a record high in 2022. Beijing also allegedly used its financial system to allow Russia to conduct transactions unfettered of Western interdiction. The Biden administration has sounded the alarm that communist China might be offering lethal aid to Russia, but officials have repeated there is no evidence of lethal aid transfers for battlefield use. Chinese and Russian officials stood shoulder to shoulder with North Korea's leader on Friday. That's as they reviewed Pyongyang's latest nuclear-capable missiles and new attack drones at a military parade. Here's more. North Korea's capital, Pyongyang, has celebrated what it calls Victory Day with an extravagant military display. Russian and Chinese officials attended the event, which exhibited the country's banned ballistic missiles and new attack drones, including Moscow's defense minister, who is visiting the country for the first time since 1991. The appearance of Russian and Chinese officials at events with the North's nuclear missiles marked a contrast with previous years, when Beijing and Moscow sought to distance themselves from their neighbors' nuclear weapons and ballistic missile development. North Korean nukes are also banned by the United Nations Security Council, with Chinese and Russian support. But this week, they appeared to show solidarity as the countries seemingly united over their rivalry with the US. State media later reported that Kim had been reading a congratulatory speech from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin apparently thanked North Korea for its support during what he called the special military operation in Ukraine. However, both countries have denied Washington's accusation that Pyongyang has provided weapons to Russia for the war in Ukraine. In a speech at the parade, North Korea's defense minister accused the US and its allies of increasing tensions in the region. Another big story to look out for. Accused of bomb threats they say they didn't make. The family of a Chinese dissident is being held in Thailand and threatened with deportation back to China. What's inside the fearful world of China's exiled dissidents? That report and more coming up Monday on China In Focus. That's all for today's China In Focus on YouTube. We're now sharing a shortened version of our program here after being demonetized for two years. Here's what to look out for in our second half. How did Hong Kong become Beijing's gateway to the global financial market? And what does the struggle there tell us about infighting within the Chinese Communist Party? We sat down with Simon Li, former columnist for Apple Daily Newspaper and co-founder of the Lion Rock Institute for more. The full episode is available on our partner platform, Epoch TV. To sign up, click the link down below. Thanks for watching China In Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. See you soon.