US Deports 109 Chinese Illegal Immigrants; CCP Agent Sentenced for Trying to Bribe IRS Official

Welcome to China In Focus. I'm Don Ma. And for Tiffany Meyer, our top story. The US deporting over 100 illegal Chinese nationals back to their home country. The number is still just a handful compared to the total found that have entered illegally. Wall Street billionaire Howard Lutnick is tapped to lead Trump's trade agenda with 60% tariffs for China seemingly in his crosshairs. The US-China Commission sends recommendations to Congress on how to deal with the Chinese Communist Party. They outline the CCP's role in destabilizing the Middle East. Buying 90% of Iran's sanctioned oil, meaning it effectively pays for almost half of Iran's entire government budget. Beijing reacts to escalating tensions between the US and Russia. This after Putin relaxed nuclear weapons policies following a Ukrainian strike on Russia that used American-made missiles. The US deporting over 100 illegal Chinese nationals on a charter flight. The Department of Homeland Security said that they were sent back last Saturday and that this is the third China-bound removal flight in less than six months. The first flight happened in June, deporting 116 Chinese nationals. The second took off in October, removing over 130 Chinese nationals. Still, the numbers are small compared to the total count of illegal Chinese border crossers. Over 38,000 Chinese nationals were apprehended in fiscal year 2024, an over 50% increase compared to the previous fiscal year. Most of them are single adults. DHS's acting deputy secretary shared a message to those looking to cross illegally, writing, "...our message is clear. Individuals who lack a lawful basis to stay in America will be removed." Over a dozen lawmakers, including Representative Chip Roy, have written to the Secretary of State about illegal Chinese immigrants in the US. An illegal Chinese immigrant was arrested this April after breaching a US military base. Officials said he drove onto the military base in El Centro, California, without an ID and ignored orders to leave. China had stopped accepting its citizens deporting from the US in 2022, following then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan. Cooperation resumed this year. President-elect Donald Trump just revealed another nomination. Wall Street CEO Howard Lutnick is up next to lead the Commerce Department. Tariffs are a big part of Trump's economic agenda. During Trump's election campaign, Lutnick expressed support for a 60% tariff on Chinese imports. Here's more. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said Tuesday he will nominate Wall Street CEO Howard Lutnick as head of the Commerce Department. That means the investment banker will lead Trump's trade and tariff strategy for the agency that has become the U.S. weapon of choice against China's tech sector. He is a longtime friend of Trump and supports his vision to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. and promote cryptocurrencies. He is a big proponent of tariffs, especially aimed at Beijing. According to the New York Times, he said in a podcast interview last month, quote, Don't tax our people. Make money instead. Put tariffs on China and make $400 billion. Lutnick's appointment was a setback for two other Trump supporters who advise for the commerce job, including former small business administrator Linda McMahon. CNN reported on Tuesday that Trump is expected to name her as education secretary instead, heading a department that Trump proposed abolishing during his campaign. McMahon is the co-founder and former CEO of the WWE professional wrestling franchise. She was a major donor to Trump during his first presidential bid and headed up the small business administration in the billionaire's first term. Trump also said Tuesday that he had chosen television personality and surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz to serve as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The wide-reaching agency has annual spending of $2.6 trillion and runs Medicare and Medicaid, which together provide health insurance for over 140 million Americans. Trump promised during his campaign not to cut Medicare, but he is expected to let federal subsidies for Medicaid expire at the end of 2025. The agency also handles much of the health insurance enrollment under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Trump and other Republicans have previously tried to repeal the law, but now say they only seek to overhaul it. The president-elect said Oz would work closely with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump's nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. A Reuters poll predicts Trump would not slap a 60 percent tariff on Chinese goods as it could spike inflation in the U.S. Most of the 50 economists polled, most said a 40 percent tariff is more likely and that it would cut one percentage point off China's economic growth. Trump pushed back against China's unfair trade practices during his first term. The goal was to force Beijing to buy more U.S. goods, though this time China is in a much more vulnerable position. Its economy has been reeling and tariffs could hit its exports, a key driver for growth. Chinese authorities are under pressure to boost consumer spending to offset the loss. Looking at businesses here at home, many are stocking up on imports ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's second term. That's in response to his possible 60 percent tariffs on Chinese goods. Some economists say a surge in exports from China last month could be front-loading due to uncertainty over the next administration's trade strategy. Companies must also decide whether they will raise prices or if they'll choose to find alternatives to Chinese manufacturers. A supply chain expert predicts China will continue to dominate manufacturing, but points out that companies are beefing up their sourcing from other countries like Vietnam, India and Cambodia. The U.S.-China Commission releases its annual report to Congress. In it are recommendations to help the U.S. stay on top of the Chinese Communist Party's threat and underhanded tactics. NTD's correspondent Jason Blair reports from Capitol Hill. The U.S.-China Commission released its 2024 report on Tuesday. One of the key focuses was the Chinese Communist Party's involvement in the Middle East. Vice Chair Reva Price said the CCP is one of the key supporters of Iran, who is one of the top destabilizing forces in the region. Buying 90 percent of Iran's sanctioned oil, meaning it effectively pays for almost half of Iran's entire government budget. They don't have any other friends who can provide the same sort of economic support that China can. So it's a very unbalanced relationship. China can get what they want from Iran. Commissioner Aaron Frederberg described how the CCP is trying to keep the U.S. busy with conflict in the Middle East. China had an interest, in a sense, in keeping the pot boiling, but not have it boil over. Another focus was unsafe and unregulated Chinese consumer goods coming into the U.S. Commissioner Kimberly Glass said the commission looked closely into this coming from a consumer product safety perspective. Everything from children's toys to makeup to pool filters that ended up killing people. There are some very serious consumer product safety risks. She said that there's currently an inability to police these kinds of products coming into the U.S. They also highlighted how it's getting more difficult to know the true origin of where goods are actually made. Often things might be labeled being made in a country but still are actually coming from China. The U.S.-China Commission is a 12-member commission created by Congress in 2000. They focus on national security implication in regards to bilateral trade and economic relations with the Chinese Communist Party. They monitor, investigate and send Congress an annual report with recommendations for administrative and legislative action. Reporting on Capitol Hill, Jason Blair, NTD News. Members of the bipartisan House Select Committee on the CCP are running through possible scenarios of heightened tensions with China. They looked at how the U.S. would respond if a conflict emerged in the Indo-Pacific, such as the Chinese invasion of Taiwan. NTD's Washington correspondent Jack Bradley has more from Capitol Hill. The bipartisan House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party ran through an interactive simulation of what would happen if China invades Taiwan. And in the end, it doesn't look good for China. The simulation is ran by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. It takes place in 2026 assuming that China invades Taiwan and the results show that after months of battle, the Chinese Communist Party loses. The U.S., Taiwan and Japan suffer major losses but more so for China. Almost all the steps that I've seen the Chinese leadership, including Xi Jinping, take right now, the firing of Minister of Defense, Minister of Foreign Affairs, firing of several key PLA officials, the firing of several key defense industrial executives, indicates that they're not particularly thrilled with some of the key people they have and are probably not prepared for a major conflict at this point. The U.S. has the strongest defense industrial base, but Japan also plays a key role here, coming to the immediate aid of Taiwan as well. The researchers state Taiwan will need to fight the first month without U.S. naval support, as it takes about one month to bring in reinforcements. U.S. submarines and bombers with anti-ship missiles are the most effective support to combat the invasion. The reality is right now that the U.S. is facing a much more dangerous world out there, a wartime environment. The Russians in Ukraine, the Iranians in and around Israel in the Middle East, and heightened tension both in Taiwan and also the Korean Peninsula. The U.S., it acts, including its industrial base, operates as if it's in a peacetime environment. So I think there needs to be a fundamental shift in thinking as much as in action. The researchers recommend arming Taiwan with more munitions, stockpiling munitions here in the U.S. and creating more access to critical minerals. Reporting from Washington, D.C., Jack Bradley, NTD News. Beijing reacting to Russia lowering the bar for using nuclear weapons. China's foreign ministry said Wednesday that all relevant parties should remain calm and seek de-escalation through dialogue. This comes as tensions between the U.S. and Russia escalate. Kremlin updated its nuclear doctrine Tuesday, essentially lowering the bar for Russia to use nuclear weapons. The timing is critical. It comes as Ukraine fired U.S. long-range missiles into Russia for the first time, and two days after President Biden gave Ukraine the green light. Putin's spokesperson said Russia reserves the right to use nuclear weapons to respond to such strikes as long as they pose a critical threat to Russia's sovereignty. The new doctrine also said Russia could use nuclear weapons if a nuclear power supports a non-nuclear one to launch an attack, a clear reference to Washington's support for Ukraine. The White House said it's not surprised by the change. Coming up, an agent for the Chinese Communist Party has been handed a prison sentence after trying to bribe an IRS official to harass a performing arts group. The group highlights the Chinese regime's human rights abuses. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin voiced his disappointment at China's refusal to meet with them. More from the ASEAN defense ministers' meeting. Perseverance in the face of adversity. An art exhibition on Capitol Hill is conveying a message of spiritual elevation and human rights tragedy happening in modern China. We'll take you through the gallery after the break, here on China In Focus. Welcome back to China In Focus. I'm Don Ma. And for Tiffany Meyer, a Chinese agent has been sentenced to 20 months in prison for attempting to bribe an IRS official. It's part of a troubling case linked to the Chinese Communist Party. NTD's Daniel Monaghan reports. Prosecutors say John Chen tried to get the IRS to do the CCP's bidding and repress a U.S. non-profit it wants to bring down. They say Chen was the main actor in a $50,000 bribery scheme under the direction of the CCP. The target was New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts, whose non-profit status they tried to get revoked. Shen Yun has long been on the Chinese Communist Party's target list. The company tours around the world each year to display the ancient Chinese culture that prevailed before the Communist takeover of China. It also highlights the human rights abuses under the regime's rule, including the ongoing persecution of the meditation group Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa. Chen pleaded guilty in July after reaching a plea deal with prosecutors. He has spent the past 16 months in detention since his arrest in May 2023. He will now spend another four months behind bars in federal custody. He also has to forfeit $50,000 and face three years of supervised release after his prison term. For several months in 2023, authorities say Chen made attempts to push a fraudulent whistleblower complaint to help the Chinese Communist Party topple Falun Gong. Prosecutors say Chen and another co-conspirator, Lin Fang, paid $5,000 cash bribes to an undercover agent posing as an IRS agent. They promised an additional $50,000 for opening an investigation along with 60% of any awards from the complaint if it went through. A court filing says both Chen and Lin also traveled to Orange County in upstate New York, where Shen Yun is based, to spy on Falun Gong practitioners there. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said Chen aligned himself with the Chinese regime and its goal to harass and intimidate Falun Gong. Williams added that the U.S. Attorney's Office will not tolerate efforts to repress free speech by targeting critics of the CCP in the United States. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Lockard says Chen enjoyed the freedoms of America while trying to use those very freedoms to undermine the country. Prosecutors say Chen described how he and his CCP friends started this fight against the founder of Falun Gong 20, 30 years ago. Chen had online accounts showing him shaking hands with Communist leader Xi Jinping, who he said he met multiple times in a recorded call. Daniel Monahan, NTD News. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was in Laos Wednesday. He attended the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting for security talks. Austin expressed disappointment that China refused to meet with him. Let's take a listen. Now, I regret that the PRC chose not to meet here. The PRC's decision is a setback for the CCP at any time. Austin had hoped to meet with China's Minister of National Defense, but China rejected the request. They cited a recent Taiwan arms sale. The meeting comes at a time of increasing maritime disputes with China in the Asia Pacific. Other countries attending the meeting in Laos include Japan, South Korea, India and Australia. Hong Kong mogul and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai testified for the first time in Hong Kong's High Court Wednesday. Lai said he never asked the U.S. to take action against Hong Kong. Here's the story. Hong Kong authorities, under the control of Beijing, accused Lai of colluding with foreign forces, including calling for sanctions against Hong Kong and Chinese officials. Lai pleaded not guilty. Both the U.S. and Britain have called for Lai's immediate release, saying that the trial is politically motivated. Lai said he asked then Vice President Mike Pence to voice his support for Hong Kong during a 2019 visit to the U.S., but he said he did not ask the U.S. government to take any action, saying it's beyond me. A supporter of Lai explained why he came out to support him in court despite the rain. Mr. Lai represents the Hong Kong spirit. After he came to Hong Kong, he greatly admired the atmosphere of democracy and freedom here. His testimony comes just a day after Hong Kong jailed 45 pro-democracy activists for up to 10 years in a separate national security case. In October, President-elect Donald Trump pledged to secure Lai's departure from China if he won the election. The U.S. is preparing new sanctions after Hong Kong sentenced 45 pro-democracy activists to up to 10 years in prison. The activists were prosecuted under a strict national security law imposed by Beijing. Let's take a look. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the United States is working to impose new visa restrictions on Hong Kong officials who are responsible for implementing the measure. He also called on Beijing to uphold the city's judicial independence. The national security law was largely seen as a way for the CCP to crush dissent outside its jurisdiction. China initially promised to let Hong Kong keep its democratic autonomy, but fast forward to today, the regime's grip is still tightening. This says hundreds of pro-democracy activists were forced into prison or exile. The majority of the 45 people sentenced on Tuesday had already served nearly four years behind bars. Paintings conveying the message of truth, compassion, and tolerance are on display in the nation's capital. The works offer a look into the beauty of spiritual elevation and the brutality of communist China's. NTD Sam Wang takes us through the exhibit. Inner strength through spirituality, an ongoing human rights tragedy in modern China. These are subjects of an art exhibit at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. The gallery features paintings from critically acclaimed artists from around the world. Through the bustling streets of New York City, a young girl stands with a sign in her hands and conviction in her eyes. Under the rain-drenched poncho is an innocent face that brings awareness to a nationwide persecution in China, a campaign that seeks to eradicate those who follow the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. The brutality pictured in these paintings fulfilled everything I had heard about the persecution, and it fulfills everything I expect, sadly, from the Chinese Communist Party. In July 1999, the Chinese Communist Party launched a nationwide persecution against Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa. Although it was a peaceful spiritual practice, the regime saw it as a threat to its power. Millions of practitioners have since been detained, and some were murdered on demand to supply China's organ transplant market. The infant child and her mother in the picture were just two among many who have lost their lives in the persecution. My thing is, I feel for the Falun Gong and all the religious minorities. We need to have the same moral clarity when it comes to China that many of the things they're doing is evil. You know, doing organ harvesting is evil. Beyond the dark time are brighter days ahead. This picture depicts a true story. An American woman was arrested for protesting in Beijing against the persecution. In a bleak jail cell, she sings a song of hope into the conscience of a policeman who was guarding her. On the other side of the world is a cross-generational moment. A young girl extends a paper lotus flower to an elderly woman, a symbol of purity and spiritual awakening in Asian culture. There are things deeper than politics, and that is our spirituality. Far deeper than politics. What I've gotten from all these paintings is ugliness but hope in the face of despair. The Chinese people deserve better. They deserve a government that respects their choices, respects their choice to worship the way they want to worship, and it can be done. Reporting from Capitol Hill, Sam Wang, NTD News. That's all for today's China In Focus. I'm Don Man. If you have any feedback on the show or have something you would like to see us cover, send us an email at ChinaInFocus at NTD.com. We'd love to hear from you. For around-the-clock original news coverage, visit us at NTD.com or download our NTD app. Thanks for watching. See you soon. Coming up on NTD, stay tuned for America's Hope with Kelly Wright tonight. A discussion about the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 with community leaders from the historic Greenwood District, once known as Black Wall Street. Gary Lee, managing editor of the Oklahoma Eagle newspaper, Mary Williams, a historian, and Dr. Eloise Cochran, a professor at Langston University, reflect on the trauma and resilience of their community. They discuss the false accusation that sparked the violence, the destruction that followed, and the rebuilding efforts. That's at 10 pm tonight after China In Focus. Thanks for watching. See you tomorrow.