US Simplified Migrant Screening Process in 2023: Report | China In Focus

welcome to China and focus I'm Don M and for Tiffany Meyer today our top story the US is making it easier for Chinese migrants to cross illegally an investigative reporter tells us how citing an internal email from border patrol and this email uh directed agents to uh more or less drastically reduce the number of questions that they would be asking uh Chinese illegal immigrants a lawsuit is shining a light on contact between Dr Anthony fouchi and Chinese scientists from the Wuhan Institute of Urology before the covid-19 pandemic erupted China announcing sanctions for several American defense companies in response to us arms sales to Taiwan more on the move's significance and Beijing says it's found a spy for the UK the news comes in the wake of China's new Espionage law [Music] a tweak in US border policy last year now coming to light the screening process for illegal Chinese immigrants coming through the southern border was made easier last April that's according to an internal email obtained by The Daily Caller here's what Philip Len ziki the investigative reporter that broke the story had to say so back in April 2023 an email was apparently sent uh from customs and board of protection to approximately 500 agents and this email uh directed agents to U more or less drastically reduce the number of questions that they would be asking uh Chinese illegal immigrants authorities cut the questions down from 40 to 5 the remaining questions include where they were born and whether they are member of the Chinese Communist Party the change would also remove another requirement to perform something called phone downloads um which is when they uh confiscate a uh illegal immigrant's phone and uh plug it into a machine in order to cross reference its data against a database containing known terrorist organizations and other um malign entities the change follows a surge in illegal Chinese cross at the border experts told the New York Post while the change could speed up the screening process Bad actors could slip through the cracks before the change border patrol agents saw over 3500 illegal Chinese crossers per month after the email was sent out that number saw a 50% Spike over the following eight months last year saw a massive surge in the number of illegal Chinese immigrants coming through the Border totaling 800% over 18,000 Chinese people illegally crossed into the us through the southern Border in 2023 compared to a little over 2,000 last year and around 400 in 2021 lawmakers said over 90% of 2023 illegal border crossers are single adults five US senators penned a letter to the head of Homeland Security last year urging him to take immediate action they describe the situation as a rising threat NTD reached out to Customs and Border Protection for comment but did not hear back before airtime next we delve deeper into the growing concern for American borders and potential threats to US National Security we sat down with investigative reporter Philip Len ziki from The Daily Caller who brings exclusive Insight from his in-depth report Philip Leni thank you so much for joining us great to have you back on the show hi thank you now this scaling down of the interview process from 40 questions to just five FASTT trcks the process for these individuals to enter the country now you have years of reporting on the Chinese Communist party what issues did this raise for you the um core issue that we heard from both the individual that um obtained this um email and shared it with us as well as experts uh with whom we spoke was that this perfectly conforms to um the Chinese Communist party's restricted Warfare um strategy as one potential Avenue to um you know confront the United States in a non-kinetic fashion between 2022 and 2023 border patrol saw a 1,000% surge in Chinese illegals up to the number of 35,000 Chinese illegal immigrants coming across the borders on the note of National Security that you just raised what concerns arise for you given your background on China reporting I think there's a a range of issues um and you many of them have been discussed whether it you know pertains to just outright um you know agents of uh um the military that could be coming into our country to perform you know sa sabotage but even just the way uh that the our democracy could be subverted by having the numbers of um both you know Chinese but you know illegal imigrants overall affect the census data and thus the distribution of of how um you know our system is is weighted District to District that's an issue as well what has the response been in general to your reporting we saw a number of members of uh Congress uh from the right go down to the Border just now so the timing happened to line up where folks are you thinking about this more I think that um when we uh look at why this might be gaining traction now um the core reason is that we're at a Tipping Point this is obviously reached such a uh critical level that we're being forced to pay attention this is a country of a lot of immigrants but this illegal immigration especially the record number of individuals on the terror watch list is what's so concerning and with your reporting these single middleaged it seems like single males from Chinese anyways given all of that though how concerned learning is this to you I think that um we know that the Chinese Communist Party um seeks to um surpass the United States to displace us we know um that they have um you know belligerent um you know designs on Taiwan we know how they've treated their own countrymen in um you know Tibet in in in Hong Kong and in shinjang we should not take this line down there is uh a great danger that is posed To Us by allowing the Chinese Communist Party their agents or unfortunately individuals who could be coerced into serving them uh into our borders without any type of due diligence in vetting them Philip Leni thank you so much for your time thank you newly released emails are shedding more light on the relationship between Dr Anthony fouchi and the Wuhan Institute of orology in China the emails showed that scientists working at the Wuhan lab visited Fouch agency at the National Institutes of Health or NIH in 2017 it happened just a few months before the NIH lifted a pause on highrisk virology research the emails were obtained by the nonprofit research group us right to know through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the ni the emails showed that sh Jang Lee a senior scientist at the Wuhan Institute of orology visited the National Institute of allergy and infectious diseases in June 2017 she researches SARS like Corona viruses of fat origin and directs the center for emerging infectious diseases at the Wuhan lab fouchi is appearing before Congress Monday and Tuesday to answer questions topics will include his changing position on masks how the agency he headed funded risky research in China and how he downplayed post infection immunity it's the first time he'll answer questions under oath since November 2022 China is laying sanctions on five us defense companies in response to arms sales to Taiwan China's foreign Ministry said over the weekend that the Chinese regime will sanction five US military manufacturers in response to their latest round of arms sales to Taiwan the US approved the sale of $300 million worth of equipment to Taiwan last month that's to help maintain the islands tactical information systems us armed sales to Taiwan are a frequent source of tension between Washington and the Chinese Communist Party China views democratically governed Taiwan as its territory a claim that taiwan's government rejects the sanctions come ahead of taiwan's presidential and parliamentary elections this weekend another blow for China's most indebted property developer ever Grand police detained a top executive of its electric vehicle arm authorities did not elaborate the crimes shares of the developers EV arm tanked over 20% Monday ever's chairman has been under criminal investigation since last September this company's Fate has many worry about China's property debt crisis and its overall economy evergr was once China's top selling developer but is now the world's most indebted property company it has more than $300 billion in liabilities it's in the middle of selling off assets to restructure its debt it filed for bankrupt y protection in a US court last year real estate accounts for about a quarter of China's GDP but it's been weakened by plunging home sales and defaulting Chinese developers the crisis has spilled over into the financial sector with a major Chinese wealth manager applying for bankruptcy last week in the wake of beijing's ongoing financial sector clamped down the Chinese Communist Party expelled an influential tyon from the body two days ago the pink slip went to the ex-chairman and the party chief of ever bright Group which is China's state-owned Financial giant has Beijing discovered a spy in its ranks the Chinese regime saying Monday that a foreign consultant is spying for the UK the person surnamed hang is accused of working with Britain's top intelligence service MI6 the agency withheld Juan's full personal details and did not identify his employer the news comes alongside China's ongoing clamp down on foreign Consulting companies China revised its anti-espionage law last year the ACT gives Chinese authorities greater power to raid foreign businesses or make arrests without having to go through the legal process in June the US warned its citizens to reconsider traveling to China due to the risk of wrongful detentions Apple hitting a roadblock in China the tech Giant's third largest market iPhone sales there dropped 30% in the first week of the year that's despite Apple slashing the price of its latest models let's zoom in analysts noted that sales dropped mainly because of growing competition from domestic Brands such as Huawei Huawei is beijing's national champion it launched a new phone Series last year after getting hit hard by Washington's chip sanctions over 20% of Apple's Revenue comes from China though the tech giant has been trying to diversify its Supply chains iPhone also has been using fewer components made in China for iPhone 12 Chinese made components accounted for over 4% fast forward to iPhone 15 that number saw a 40% drop one of Apple's major suppliers foxcon kicked off production in India last year foxcon said it would pour $1.5 billion into India to meet its operational needs an Indian Minister said Apple could double or triple investments in India over over the next few years meanwhile analysts predict Apple's shipment volumes in China will continue to decline while Huawei would gain more market share a Ukrainian prosecutor says Russia attacked Ukraine with missiles provided by North Korea and that the evidence lies in the fragments of those Warheads the missile examined was used in a Russia attack last Tuesday most likely this missile was either supplied by North Korea or was produced only recently using Blueprints and Technologies supplied by Russia to third countries or to North Korea it's the first time Ukraine has accused North Korea of supplying weapons to Russia since Moscow launched its Invasion North Korea has been banned from Trading weapons with other countries since 2006 under a United Nations embargo North Korea is China's only official Ally a treaty requires China to provide North Korea with military assistance in times of War Beijing has been aiding pingyang with military assistance and financial support us chip giant Nvidia will soon rule out groundbreaking AI chips for China the company looking to kick off mass production in the second quarter of 2024 here's the inside scoop on how the giant is navigating us export rules and next we would like to take a moment to share some of your thoughts on our show last time time one viewer commented on our report about Tesla recalling over 1 and A5 million model s3x and Y electric vehicles in China to fix automatic steering and door latch issues Tesla cars receive software updates on regular bases including major over-the-air updates about once a month and other smaller updates more frequently the recent recall will get the same kind of over-the-air fix meaning most owners of the recalled Vehicles won't have to get their cars serviced don't forget to tell us what you think of today's show thanks for watching and that's all for today's China and focus on YouTube we're now sharing a shorten version of our program here after being demonetized for more than two years if you would like to support us consider donating find us at donorbox.org ch- in-focus or subscribe to our partner platform Epoch TV where you can watch our full episodes here's what to look out for in our second half a surge of Chinese balloons floating through Taiwanese Skies the islands Ministry saying sightings have jumped in recent days as Taiwan prepares to choose a new president and once bustling Street in China's technology Hub shinin is now packed with homeless people that's forcing them what's forcing them to sleep in the streets and what does it say about the nation's economy more on that after the break here on China and focus thanks for watching China and focus I'm Don ma see you soon