China Sends Record Number of Jets Near Taiwan | China In Focus

Over a hundred warplanes in 24 hours, a record-breaking count as Beijing flexes its military might on Taiwan. At the same time, a Chinese offer for Taiwanese people. Will the island take the bait for a so-called peaceful reunification instead of possible war? Strategic ambiguity versus strategic clarity. What path would Trump choose if elected to deal with Beijing's threat of war? A top Chinese official ousted from his post as foreign minister, now under a national security investigation. What sparked it all? And an evil empire in the making. That's how Republican presidential candidate Pence just described China. China may not yet be an evil empire, but it's working hard to become one. What do you think? Let us know below and subscribe if you haven't already. Welcome to China In Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. Beijing is upping pressure on Taiwan. The regime sent over a hundred fighter jets near the island on Monday in just 24 hours. Almost half of the aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait's median line, the unofficial divide between Taiwan and mainland China. Another 50 warplanes flew near the island on Tuesday. The looming threat involves more than just Taiwan. The island is critical for American security. Sitting on a chain of islands stretching from Japan to Malaysia, Taiwan is a key choke point. It blocks China from accessing the deep waters off the island's southeastern coast, an area Beijing could use to launch and conceal submarine-based nuclear attacks against the continental U.S. What's more, Taiwan also makes over 90 percent of the world's most advanced semiconductors or microchips. The same chips that are used in iPhones and cars. Plus American fighter jets and defense systems. A Taiwanese military expert gives his take on what's driving the Chinese incursions on Taiwan. This abrupt large-scale interference from Chinese warplanes is targeting the U.S. and its allies' joint drills. Of course, Beijing is also using it as a form of military coercion to threaten both the U.S. and Taiwan. Beijing may have even bigger plans. The Chinese regime has been building airfields and stationing fighters and drones on its coastline about a hundred miles from Taiwan. The island's annual defense report says Beijing is looking to gain superior air power over Taiwan. Besides the aggression toward Taiwan, Beijing is also taking up a seemingly more peaceful approach. Taking up what experts call the carrots and sticks strategy, China is coming out with a new plan to turn Fujian province into a model region to attract Taiwanese companies and residents. We will allow Taiwanese people access to permanent residential permits as they wish. Fujian sits right across from Taiwan. It also has deep cultural ties to the island. Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China and has vowed to take it under control by force if necessary. That's despite Taiwan never having been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party. Chinese officials are planning to make it easier for Taiwanese residents to travel to and invest in the Chinese province. The plan was met with muted response. Taiwan calling it one-sided wishful thinking. Keeping China guessing. Former U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with NBC's Meet the Press over the weekend. When asked if he would provide military support to Taiwan if China invaded, here's what he said. I won't say because you give away all your options. The Republican frontrunner told NBC he would not take the option of sending American troops to Taiwan off the table either if re-elected. The remarks come as Beijing continues to send fighter jets soaring near Taiwan. Now a heated debate is raging in Washington over strategic ambiguity versus strategic clarity in defending the island. The President Biden has four times publicly stated he doesn't really believe in this ambiguity. Biden has repeatedly said U.S. forces would defend Taiwan if China invades, though the White House walked back the statement. Back to the interview on NBC, Trump took aim at the U.S. automotive trade and manufacturing with China, saying U.S. jobs in the field will vanish within three years because all electric cars will be made in China. The autoworkers are being sold down the river by their leadership and their leadership should endorse Trump. Trump said U.S. carmakers should reject the Biden administration's push toward electric vehicles. The news comes as the United Auto Workers Union threatens more strikes at more car plants. The union and car manufacturers are at a draw over pay and benefits for workers. Former Vice President Mike Pence pitching his strategy on Communist China. His speech Monday comes amid surprise talks between Washington and Beijing. And today's Iris Tao has more. In a speech given at the Hudson Institute today, former Vice President Mike Pence vowed to recognize the Chinese Communist Party for what it is if he becomes the president. Watch. We will recognize the Chinese Communist Party for what it is. The greatest threat to our prosperity, security and values on the face of the earth. China may not yet be an evil empire, but it's working hard to become one. That's as he laid out his strategy to counter Beijing, including by boosting funding for the U.S. military, encountering Beijing's intellectual property theft by limiting visas given to Chinese nationals, and also to counter China's influence through decoupling from China and essential industries. He also vowed to ban TikTok on day one and to ban Chinese companies from purchasing American farmland. Because some Republican candidates, including my former running mate, are abandoning the traditional conservative position of American leadership on the world stage and embracing a new and dangerous form of isolationism. I believe isolationism is just another word for appeasement on the world stage. But all this, he says, does not mean that the U.S. should isolate itself from China. And in fact, he used that point to take aim at some of the GOP candidates, including former President Donald Trump. But as Republican candidates are sounding hawkish on China, the Biden White House says it's trying to responsibly manage its relationship with China. This past weekend, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi quietly in Europe. And just today, the State Secretary Antony Blinken also met with China's Vice President in New York during the silence of the U.N. General Assembly. And of course, all these meetings could be paving the way for President Biden to meet with China's Xi Jinping in the coming months. Reporting in Washington, D.C., Aruz Tao, NTD News. Bringing jobs back from China. That's the message from South Carolina Senator and 2024 presidential hopeful Tim Scott, highlighting his campaign strategy during a roundtable discussion. Here's what he said to local businesses and manufacturing companies in Nevada. If we bring those jobs home from China and around the world and create high-tech manufacturing locations and factories here in America again with technology, we can get it done. The South Carolina Republican has shifted to a Made in America plan for his 2024 campaign. That's after he repeatedly voted against it over his 12 years in Congress. Now instead of exporting jobs to China, he's pledging to create 10 million jobs here in the U.S. According to the latest Fox News survey, 3 percent of Republican primary voters backed Scott in the 2024 match-ups. In comparison, 60 percent said they would support Donald Trump. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with top Chinese regime official Han Jin on Monday. That's on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. Blinken has said face-to-face diplomacy is the best way to deal with areas of disagreement from the U.S. perspective, and the best way to explore areas of cooperation with China. There's kind of this two-track strategy that's out there. We just don't seem to have made up our mind of what we actually want to achieve. The meeting marks the latest top-level exchange between the world's top two economic powers just one day after National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met with top Chinese top diplomat Wang Yi. Wang is currently on a four-day trip to Russia. Talks in Moscow are focused on strengthening international cooperation between China and Russia. The meeting between the nation's top diplomats comes before an anticipated visit from Russian President Vladimir Putin to Beijing in the coming weeks. An extra-marital affair now a national security investigation. It's focused on former Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gan. From July 2021 through January this year, he worked as China's top envoy to the United States. And according to the Wall Street Journal, he had an affair during that time. Now Beijing wants to know if he gave out China's national security secrets in the process. Senior Chinese officials were briefed about the incident. Sources told the Wall Street Journal that the affair had resulted in the birth of a child in the U.S. Qin Gan was ousted from his foreign minister post in July, after just half a year on the job. The decision followed a month-long disappearance from the public eye. Experts say that usually signals an internal investigation happening in the Chinese Communist Party. It means that he's cleaning house. She is very concerned with loyalty and anybody who gives any measure or inkling that they could be a threat, he'll target them and remove them. So we're seeing this model over and over again. Veteran diplomat Wang Yi stepped up to replace Qin as foreign minister. China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to press requests for comment. Hunter Biden is on the offensive, arguing in a new lawsuit against the IRS over an alleged breach of his privacy. That's after he previously admitted an over $600,000 payout from a company linked to China. His legal correspondent Arlene Richards has more. Filed on Monday, the lawsuit alleges that whistleblower agents Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler repeatedly and intentionally shared Biden's private tax information. Specifically, it states that the two agents tried to smear the young Biden by making statements at more than 20 nationally televised interviews in violation of the Internal Revenue Code and without congressional oversight. In June, the House Ways and Means Committee voted to publish transcripts of the whistleblower's testimonies. These tax crimes cover an estimated $2.2 million in unreported tax on global income streams to Mr. Biden and his associates from Ukraine, Romania and China, totaling $17.3 million from 2014 to 2019. Shapley and Ziegler testified in May. They testified that they faced various limitations during their investigation of Hunter's tax case. The lawsuit states that the agents didn't apply the same rights to Hunter as they did to every other American. Shapley's attorney says the lawsuit is an attempt to intimidate whistleblowers. We definitely aren't going to be intimidated by a frivolous attempt like this, and we hope that other whistleblowers who might potentially be considering coming forward won't be intimidated The IRS is not commenting on the lawsuit. Arlene Richards, NTD News. Next, a joint naval exercise is happening in the South China Sea. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations kicked off its first joint drill early Tuesday. All members are participating in the drill, largely aimed at countering China's maritime threat, though the body's main focus is on economic development. All the exploration activities within the EEZ, or Exclusive Economic Zone, are already regulated. One cannot enter the territory of a country on their own will. The five-day exercise is being held nearby the islands of Indonesia. China issued a new map last month, stoking maritime tensions in the area. The chart claims almost the entire South China Sea as Chinese territory, even more than Beijing's infamous Nine-Dash Line. The area overlaps with waters that China's neighbors claim as their own. When it comes to the freedom of navigation activities, that is the right of every ship to cross the sea. At the same time, the U.S. is looking to expand ties with the Association's members and counter China's assertiveness. The Biden administration lashed out at Beijing over the map controversy and what it called the false maritime claims. COVID-19 wasn't kind to wedding planners in China. Marriages in the country are traditionally elaborate, expensive affairs. But the industry, estimated at almost $500 billion, is now facing a bigger threat. A plunge in the number of couples willing to tie the knot. Here's the story. With the number of Chinese couples getting married in decline, scenes like this are becoming a rare sight. Less matrimony is a worrying trend for wedding planners in China. An industry estimated at almost $500 billion just three years ago. Yuan Jialiang ran a full-scale wedding planning business for almost a decade in Shanghai, before switching to wedding photography as demand for his services began to fall. And he hasn't looked back. In the process of switching from wedding planning to wedding photography, I started to realize that actually couples' demands for photography and videography will not change. China's wedding industry already hit a rough patch during the pandemic, when many couples delayed their ceremonies. There were 6.8 million marriages across China last year, which is 800,000 fewer than in 2021, and the lowest since the government began publishing the data in 1986. Now a bigger threat looms in couples less willing to spring for an all-out wedding. Ceremonies in China are traditionally elaborate, expensive affairs. But wedding planners report that couples who do go for it are spending less. This drop in marriage registrations will likely exacerbate the decline in births in China, already one of the fastest-aging societies in the world. The whole environment has contributed to the fact that the wedding industry is not very prosperous now. I was probably hopeful for another big industry climax, but now I'm more worried than optimistic about the prospects. COVID caused such a big impact on everybody's lives. As a market, we see an absolute downturn in spending. So all alongside, our strategy has been niche, niche, niche, niche. We don't want to flow with the broader market because we don't think that's a good place to go. With high jobless rates and low household spending among the young and the middle class, Juul Wong, who owns several stores in China selling designer wedding dresses, is staking the future of her company on wealthier clients that have weathered the economic downturn. Another big story to look out for, a powerful buzzword kicking up a storm once again. The term is dictator. If Putin were to win this war, what sign would that be for other dictators in the world, like Xi, like the Chinese president? But the comment isn't a first. In June, U.S. President Joe Biden also referred to Communist China's leader Xi Jinping as a dictator and sparked fierce backlash from Beijing. Is the description accurate? And how does the unusual candor relate to recent tensions between the West and China? Stay tuned for more coming up tomorrow on China In Focus. That's all for today's China In Focus on YouTube. We are 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. An ever more aggressive China now bolstering ties with major world adversaries. North Korea to Russia to Iran. As China exports its agenda with brand new tactics, what countermeasures does the U.S. have in place? And are we prepared enough to fight if a war broke out? To find out, we spoke to Gabriel Scheinman, the Executive Director of the Alexander Hamilton Society. The full episode is available on our partner platform, Epic TV. To sign up, click the link down below. Thanks for watching China In Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. See you tomorrow.