China Subsidizes Fentanyl Exports: Report | China In Focus

Welcome to China In Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. Our top story, China's role in the U.S. fentanyl crisis. A congressional committee reveals the communist regime is subsidizing deadly fentanyl exports, escalating America's opioid emergency. The PRC and the CCP are not just bystanders. They are prime movers. Bill aimed at targeting China's imports of Iranian crude oil. This comes on the heels of Iran's drone attack on Israel. We bring you the details. House Speaker Mike Johnson taking action on wartime aid for Israel and Ukraine. More on a new aid package and what's unique about it. And Germany's chancellor is working to fend off Chinese espionage during his trip to the country. What precautions are his team taking? U.S. lawmakers are pointing fingers at the CCP, blaming Beijing for actively promoting the fentanyl epidemic in the U.S. A U.S. House committee releasing findings from an investigation it says unveiled China's incentives for pushing the deadly chemicals and how it profits from the crisis at the expense of American lives. NDD's Jack Bradley brings us more from the committee's A new report today says the Chinese regime is awarding companies that produce the chemicals that create some of the deadliest narcotics in the world. The report comes today at the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. An investigation by the committee found the Chinese regime has been giving grants and awards to companies that traffic fentanyl materials and other synthetic narcotics since 2018. All of these drugs have no known legal use worldwide and kill tens of thousands of Americans every year. This has got to stop. It's got to stop. It's got to stop now. They're not cooperating with our law enforcement. They're not taking down websites and web postings that clearly are selling fentanyl from China and they're subsidizing it through these tax rebates. You just saw those pictures of victims and we really have to stop that. China is not just infiltrating this United States but at the same time they're creating all these drugs to kill. The investigation found that nearly all of the world's fentanyl precursors come from China. Those chemicals are sold to and trafficked by Mexican drug cartels into America mostly through the ports of entry in California. In many cases people taking the drug don't know that it's fentanyl because it's made to look like prescription painkillers. My sister and brother passed away from fentanyl poisoning. My sister passed in 2019 and my brother passed away in 2021. My baby siblings. They wasn't expecting that it was going to be fentanyl. From my understanding they thought it was Percocets. It's not an overdose. When you ask for a specific thing and someone gives you absolute poison, it's not an overdose. It's a poisoning. It's a drug-induced homicide and that's exactly what happened to my child. Panelists recommend using economic sanctions along with other forceful measures to stop the Chinese regime from incentivizing companies from producing fentanyl. It remains to be seen how Congress will act now that this report has come to light. Reporting from Washington D.C., Jack Bradley, NTD News. Iran's attack on Israel firing over 300 missiles over the weekend. Now the world is responding. For the West, sanctions are on the table but some say targeting Iranian oil sales may prove difficult without going after China. NTD's Juliet Song has more. U.S. and European officials are discussing potential responses in Washington. But here's the problem. Iran is already one of the most sanctioned states in the world. Right now over 3,000 sanctions are hanging over its head. What more can be done? One option is to go harder on Chinese firms that buy oil from Iran. Beijing buys over 90 percent of Iran's oil exports. An economic lifeline for the Islamic State amid crippling sanctions. But for the Biden administration, going after China to squeeze Iran's oil sales could prove a risky move. First, it could push up gas prices. Not an ideal situation for Biden in an election year. The move is also likely to anger the Chinese communist regime. Just after Washington sent Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and other officials to repair strained U.S.-China ties in recent months, President Biden has made it clear that the U.S. wouldn't join any Israeli attack against Iran. The priority is to de-escalate tensions so that the attack doesn't grow into another war. Over on Capitol Hill, pressure is growing on the Biden administration. The House passed a bill Monday designed to squeeze Iran's oil sales to China. If passed, it would ban U.S. financial institutions from having accounts for Chinese companies involved in Iranian oil sales. On this vote, the yeas are 383, the nays are 11, two-thirds being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. The legislation is titled the Iran-China Energy Sanctions Act of 2023. Brought by New York Republican Mike Lawler, the law seeks to curtail third-party transactions between Chinese financial institutions and sanctioned Iranian banks on oil products. Under the bill, the U.S. has to decide annually on whether these Chinese firms have taken actions that could get them sanctioned. The bill's background says Iran's crude oil exports topped a staggering 1.5 million barrels per day, and 80 percent of those sales went to China's private refiners known as teapots. The new sanction plan received unanimous support from the House Financial Services Committee last November. It is unclear if the bill would pass the democratically-controlled Senate. Many Democratic lawmakers are wary of pushing up oil prices. President Biden is asking Israel not to retaliate for Iran's military strike on Saturday. According to senior adviser to former President Trump, Kash Patel, that message tells Iran it's winning. NTD's Steve Lance spoke with him about what some are calling the Biden administration's appeasement of Iran and about the U.S. request to China to help restrain Iranian aggression in the Middle East. Kash Patel, thank you so much for joining. Hey, it's great to be with you. I know there's a lot to talk about. Indeed. First, let's get to President Biden. He's taking some incoming criticism from senators on both sides of the aisle. You have Senator John Fetterman and Marco Rubio. This after Biden telling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to retaliate to Iran's drone strike in Israel. What message do you think this might send to Iran? That they're winning. Look, this war, this world war, is entirely of Joe Biden's making, because he's chosen to completely politicize national security in the defense of this country. How can he, with any measure of credibility, go to our number one ally and say, you are not to defend yourselves? I think it is as offensive as his incompetence has been that has led us to this position. Kash, following Iran's attack, Secretary of State Antony Blinken appears to have asked China to use its influence to dissuade Iran from striking Israel any further. China on Monday said it calls on relevant parties to stay calm and exercise restraint. China's foreign ministry publishing a statement calling for a UN ceasefire resolution. What role do you perceive China is trying to fulfill in this situation? And how does this stance align with China's broader global ambitions, if you will? We have the Biden administration asking our number one adversary to help us out with the number one state sponsor of terror that China is selling arms, ammunition and nuclear supplies to. It is with money that Joe Biden gave to Iran. You literally can't make this kind of fiction up. It is so bad. It is such a treacherous position for the United States to be in. Now we've got the number one supplier to Iran of arms and weaponry material in the world, in the CCP, and they have played their hand masterfully over the Biden administration and Blinken. They are dominating the United States in the national security arena, and the world tragically suffers for it. All the while, Joe Biden is going to go out and do some sort of victory lap because he's going to say he got the CCP involved. Kash Patel, really appreciate your insights. Thank you. Thanks. Have a great day. Prices and demand for copper are soaring, but China and Russia appear to have found a way to skirt taxes on the metal. Sources told Reuters copper wire rod is being shredded to look like scrap metal. This allows both exporters and importers to profit from differences in tariffs. The discrepancy in sales data further supports the alleged practice. Chinese customs data showed China has bought significantly more copper scrap from Russia since December, while Russian figures show the amount of scrap exported to China was negligible. Russia has turned to China for its exports after the U.S. imposed sanctions on Russia for invading Ukraine. In response, the U.S. and the European Union have imposed sanctions on Chinese companies for supporting Russia. House Speaker Mike Johnson is unveiling a new proposal for passing wartime aid for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan. NTD's Daniel Monaghan has more on the elaborate plan, which breaks the aid package into separate votes. The Republican speaker huddled with fellow GOP lawmakers Monday evening to lay out his strategy to gain House approval for the funding package. Johnson was facing mounting pressure to address funding for Israel and Ukraine amidst worsening situations in both conflicts. We have terrorists and tyrants and terrible leaders around the world like Putin and Xi and Iran, and they're watching to see if America will stand up for its allies and our own interests around the globe, and we will. Facing an outright rebellion from conservatives fiercely opposed to aiding Ukraine, Johnson said he would push to get the package to the House floor under a single debate rule. The speaker then plans to hold separate votes on aid for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and several foreign policy proposals. It really was the will of my colleagues to vote on these measures independently and not have them all sandwiched together as the Senate had done. U.S. aid has been delayed by Johnson's unwillingness to consider a $95 billion bipartisan bill the Senate passed in February, including $14 billion for Israel as well as $60 billion for Ukraine. Also included were billions to strengthen allies in the Indo-Pacific, where China is becoming more assertive, and for international humanitarian aid. Johnson said the new House bills provide roughly the same amount of foreign aid as the Senate bill but would include differences including some aid in the form of a loan. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene says she is firmly against the plan as it stands right now. This is such a scam and people are so done with it. People care about actions. Republicans aim to release legislative text as early as Tuesday morning, but will observe a 72-hour review period before voting. Johnson said votes on passage could come late on Friday. Daniel Monahan, NTD News. As the Philippines contends with aggression from Beijing, the country says it isn't planning to welcome Washington into more of its military bases. President Ferdinand Jr. answered the question during a Monday forum, saying the Philippines has no plan to create any more bases or give access to any more bases. Just last year, the country expanded U.S. access to include four more bases for a total of nine. Three of them are located nearby Taiwan, while the fourth is close to the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. It's the site of persistent conflict between China and the Philippines. Recent incidents have seen Chinese troops blast Filipino vessels with water cannons, as well as collisions. Washington is raising concerns over American intellectual property rights and infringement happening in China. The director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office said Tuesday. The U.S. rights holders and business leaders continue to highlight IPR as a top concern in China, and they face significant challenges with IPR infringement, whether it's insufficient deterrence for infringement, challenges to pharmaceutical related patents, or the misappropriation of trade secrets. IPR stands for intellectual property rights. The U.S. trade representative has designated China as a priority watch on its concern list for the past 10 years. According to an official survey collected from many American firms, IPR infringement in China impacts a wide range of their businesses, including their brand names, product reputation, and losses of sales, profits, and licenses. Back to the remarks, the senior U.S. official is demanding higher penalties to tackle infringement. She also highlights that beyond American firms operating in China, IPR infringement also impacts other foreign companies. A slew of measures to fend off Chinese espionage. Media reports a German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is working to avoid surveillance on his trip to China. His delegation brought disposable burner phones, and most members left behind their laptops that could connect with internal networks in Germany. Germany's security agency also told the delegation to be on their adding that hotels and safes are not safe. The delegation was also urged to not use other people's chargers or else data on their phone or laptop could be stolen. Public Wi-Fi offered by China is also not to be trusted. The German security agency also warned the delegation that their conversations could be monitored at any time, including inside cars and bedrooms. Next, we'd like to take a moment to share some of your comments about our show. Here's a comment from Michael James 3229. Quote, I'd just like to say thanks and recognize your courage and tenacity for sticking with it over the years. I first saw your channel on Epic Times, but I found I watch more here now. This is a longstanding issue, as I'm sure you're all aware. With media influence aside, it feels like we're really at a point where decisions made decades ago are starting to show the real impact. I see changes being asked for, but I also feel it's not happening fast enough. A number of viewers also sent in comments about our top story on Tuesday. It covered how drones Iran fired toward Israel may have contained Chinese-made parts. One comment speculated that there's no doubt why the largely deflected drones couldn't hit their targets. Another asked, is this a surprise to anyone? Noting that U.S. military equipment has some Chinese parts, and saying the USA needs to decouple from China and Russia. Don't forget to tell us what you think of today's show. Or if you have an idea for something you'd like to see us cover, send us an email at ChinaInFocus at ntd.com. 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 three years. If you'd like to support us, consider donating. Find us at DonorBox.org or subscribe to our partner platform Epic TV, where you can watch our full episodes. Just click the link down below. Here's what to look out for in our second half. Coming up, a 1.5 billion dollar investment offer from Microsoft to an Emirati AI firm with ties to China. What must the company do in return to end the deal? U.S. based chip makers are developing AI chips just for China. That's after the U.S. further tightened their rule last year, capping the shipping of high-end technology to China. And more Chinese citizens are entering the U.S. legally. We have the latest numbers on the crisis. More on that after the break here on China In Focus. Thanks for watching China In Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. See you tomorrow.