New Bill Bars China From US Emergency Oil Stockpile | China In Focus 2024-03-05 02:32

welcome to China in Focus I'm Tiffany Meyer our top story a new bill aiming to get China's hands off America's emergency oil that's as the reserve stockpile hits a 40-year low the explosive growth of crossb e-commerce has caught the attention of us lawmakers shining a spotlight on a tax rule that critics say has allowed packages from China to enter the us dutyfree we hear more from a US border security officer a loan Philippines supply boat pursued by a Chinese vessel in the South China Sea more on the chase at sea and a pledge from the Philippines president Beijing opening its most important political meetings of the year more on the significant break with President this [Music] year new efforts to stop China from buying oil from America's emergency stockpile Congressional leaders releasing new bills Sunday to prevent a potential government shutdown if passed it would ban China from buying oil from the Strategic petroleum Reserve America's emergency oil stockpile in case supplies fall short in 2022 the US arm of Chinese state-owned oil giant copek bought over 1 million barrels of oil from The Reserve at the time oil price were spiking following Russia's war on Ukraine and the White House released records amount of oil from the reserve to bring down prices at the time the oil sales to China sparked controversy strategic petroleum reserves to China supporting this language is common sense especially since uh we need to focus our increase focus on increasing energy production and not supporting from our adversaries while Americans are still suffering from outrageously High fuel prices here at home these reserves are meant to be used for emergencies only they are not meant to be used when our leadership has failed Us by unnecessarily restricting domestic energy production what is even more concerning is that under the Biden Administration our strategic petroleum Reserve supplies have been severely diminished and it does not make sense that we are using our already depleted energy supplies to help China build up their own strategic reserves it is irresponsible and dangerous for the United States to provide our foreign adversary with fuel that we desperately need to keep here in the United States in case of an emergency it seems to back in 2017 the Trump Administration also sold some oil from the reserve to an arm of Petrina another state-owned Chinese oil and gas company the emergency oil Reserve now has over 360 million barrels of oil it's hitting a 40-year low after the 2022 draw down house lawmakers are said to vote on the funding bill on Tuesday when they return to the floor ever wondered why products from Chinese retailers are so cheap those packages may have dodged all us duties and taxes on its way to your doorstep how let's take a closer look cheap products from China are landing in US mailboxes tariff free thanks to a trade law it's called the Dom Minimus Rule and it allows Parcels valued at $800 to enter the us dutyfree as long as they're shipped to individuals over 1 billion Domin packages came through the US Customs last year a 646 per increase in just 8 years China is um part um responsible for quite a significant portion of the uh Ecommerce small packages that are coming into the United States leonda Sutton Burke leads a US Customs and Border Protection office that oversees one of the nation's busiest ports for dominous Parcels data shows China is the biggest source of retail packages entering the US accounting for the bulk of nearly 3 million small Parcels that come through customs every day under the Dominus rule as a result those packages would probably not have undergone US Customs or safety inspections when we're talking about just the 1 billion shipments we're talking about a variety you know where it's ranging from anything to um pill press die sets that people were utilizing to make um you know Sentinel that uh is devastating our communities but we're also talking about you know you know fake or counterfeit jewelry Dominus was originally meant to reduce processing burdens on low value Imports but with the US Dom Minimus value skyrocketing to $800 2016 the policy is leading to an explosion of these kinds of shipments in contrast China has set its di Minimus at a much lower rate just $10 Virginia Gibson ND news a house lawmaker is taking aim at a trade loophole he says China is exploiting amid Force labor concerns that's after border patrol revealed a steep rise in Imports that fall under a certain trade rule Wisconsin Congressman Mike Gallagher chairs the house select committee on the Chinese Communist Party the trade loophole he's calling attention to is called a the Minimus exemption it means that any Foreign imports valued at less than $800 don't face import duties his latest statement cites new data from Customs and Border Protection showing more than 485 million di Minimus shipments have already entered the United States in fiscal year 2024 on top of the over 1 billion shipment that entered tax-free in 2023 Gallagher went on to say no less than 94% of all import transactions now enter the us through di Minimus rules accounting for 90% of all illegal narcotics agricultural goods and counterfeit seizures by Customs the lawmaker blames the loophole for exporting American jobs overseas and allowing Chinese companies using weager forced labor to a quote complete pass tensions unfolding in the South China Sea a Chinese vessel chased a Philippine supply boat traveling through the Strategic area the Philippine boat was delivering Aid to fisherman near the Scarboro sh video shows a Chinese vessel appearing to chase the Philippine ship despite the blockade the Philippines boat was reported to have successfully delivered its supplies to the Filipino fishermen there China currently lays claim to almost the entire South China Sea when one of the world's busiest sea Lanes a United Nations backed tribunal in 2016 deemed its claims groundless the scarbo SCH is just 150 mil from the Philippines but over 550 miles from China last week a floating barrier was reportedly deployed by the Chinese Coast Guard to keep Philippine boats from entering the Sha a pledge from the president of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos Jr saying on Monday that his country would work with China but would also stand up for its own Sovereign rights our independent foreign policy compels us to cooperate with them on matters where our interests align to respectfully disagree on areas where our views differ and to push back when our sworn principles such as our sovereignty our Sovereign rights and our jurisdiction in the west philippin sea are questioned or ignored he made the remarks during a visit to Australia China claims the South China Sea as its own territory including an area the Philippines calls its own exclusive economic zone a 2016 International tribunal rules China's claim invalid over3 trillion dollar of trade passes through the South China Sea every year now we turn to Beijing China is kicking off its most important annual political meetings on Monday Day called the two sessions this is when China's legislature and top advisory body gather to discuss State Matters from the economy to defense and for the first time since 1993 China's Premier isn't holding a news conference after the meeting the two sessions is largely seen as a political performance since the Chinese regime's leadership makes decisions behind closed doors though experts usually still keep an eye out for China's in Party official speeches any changes in Party official speech as they could signal changes in policy directions Rising Tik Tok scrutiny and a record surge of illegal Chinese immigrants at the US borders where are us China relations ultimately heading ntid's Jack Bradley spoke with John Mills retired Colonel and Senior fellow at the center for security policy to discuss now uh to the US and how uh we're seeing a record surge in illegal immigration and a large part of those are are Chinese Nationals uh many of your um military age here uh what's the concern here they they're clearly uh a number of them you you look at them flat stomach good teeth military haircuts don't want to talk to you and I've been down in Panama uh looking at this uh clearly the they trace to uh I would call it the Strategic support Force which is their equivalent of Special Operations Command they're flowing past Tucson what do we have in southern Tucson right by the airport the Ron plant that makes tomahawks this is of grave concern we have thousands of illegals daily going by one of our most sensitive missile plants Tik Tok is uh probably one of the most popular apps in the nation right now and there's a concern uh the US government has already issued um an order to for all government issued devices you're not allowed to have Tik Tock now why are they doing that the ministry of State security the intelligence apparatus for communist China they are they are replicating digital twins of every single citizen of America through every possible source of data that's why they break into uh some of these genealogy uh websites uh but Tik Tok is part of that because they create a profile a digital profile of every user and if and it also there is essentially this this is a psychological operations to manipulate people's feelings and behavior they're using big data big data analytics and AI to essentially change the way people think and if Tik Tok the basic the basic tell on this if Tik Tok is okay why don't they allow it in China they don't allow it in China they offer a different version that is far more regulated and in their social credit score they get marked down for watching it too much Tik Tok is digital fentanyl it's intentional scop aimed at our population there's no reason anybody should be using it and as far as the security concern and uh even with wuwei uh phones um there's a concern that they're collecting data but there's more to it there what else should we be concerned with there well Absolut that's part of the digital twin program is because you they have access to all of your activity let's take DJI F uh uh drones for example you can't turn the rotors without authenticating your phone to the the DJI Network which means your phone and all the contents uh is has you have given very easy access to the ministry of State security when you authenticate your phone to the DJI Network same with Huawei you're you're there's all kinds of hidden back doors inside the phone and the Huawei routers here John Ms thank you very much for your time here thank you next would' like to take a moment to share some of your comments about our show a number of viewers sent in comments on our top story on our last episode one comment offered up a summary of China's current situation it reads China's demographic decline marked by a record low total fertility rate and a shrinking population poses a significant challenge to its economic growth and stability this trend coupled with strain relation with key trading partners highlights the urgent need for policy reforms to address labor shortages healthcare costs and potential fiscal deficits the comment goes on to suggest the long-term implications including lower housing demand and structural economic slowdown underscore the importance of strategic planning and international cooperation to mitigate challenges the trend follows a general shift in Chinese Society in recent years as public sentiment towards the Chinese Communist part party takes a further plunge you might have noticed how Top Gun attempted to strip the Taiwanese and Japanese flags off of Tom Cruz's jacket or how Iron Man 3 inserted a Chinese doctor into the movie who saves the life of Tony Stark is it artistic license or something more Sinister these are the issues explored in the groundbreaking new documentary Hollywood takeover China's control in the film industry this entity original film pulls back the curtain on how Hollywood is helping to further a global adversary's agenda the consequences that will have on America's future and what Brave individuals are doing to change the tide the film is premiering on the red carpet in Los Angeles on March 6th at 630 p.m. and the film will be released globally on March 8th on Epoch TV for more information about the documentary please visit Hollywood takeover. that's all for today's China InFocus on YouTube we're now sharing a shorten version of our program here after being demonetized for 3 years if you'd like to support us consider donating find us at donorbox.org chin in-focus or subscribe to our partner platform epic TV where you can watch our full episodes here's what to look out for in our second half at the nation's capital Monday Chinese dissidents laid out blueprints for a future China without communism we spoke to some of them for details a new documentary reveals Hong Kong's fight for Freedom find out why Hong kongers are eager to have their voices heard and an expert says China's communist leader has an ultimate goal to overtake America as the world's largest economic power by 2035 that's as the nation grapples with economic decline more on that after the break here on China in Focus thanks for watching China in Focus I'm Tiffany Meyer see you tomorrow [Music]