FCC to Fine Chinese Smart Doorbell Maker Eken;Florida Man Sentenced to 4 Years for Being China Agent

Welcome to China In Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. Our top story. The Federal Communications Commission is mulling a $700,000 fine on a Chinese doorbell maker. What an investigation reveals about how easily the devices can be controlled. Google says it has blocked over 1,000 fake news websites promoting pro-Beijing content. President-elect Trump tapping Wall Street veteran Scott Besson to lead the Treasury puts his approach to Trump's China tariffs. And is China looking to cash in on the help it offered Russia for its war? Atop U.S. admirals as the Communist nation could score big wins from Moscow in submarine technology. I expect Russia to provide submarine technology to the PRC. Before we dive into today's top story, we'd like to share in an important update. You can now catch China In Focus on Genjing World every Tuesday instead of YouTube. To watch, simply click the link in the description box down below or search China In Focus at genjingworld.com. Have you ever bought a doorbell camera called Eken from Amazon, Shein or Walmart? The Federal Communications Commission is now flagging the company's products after an investigation found their security flaws could allow anyone to come to your door and take control. Plus, they could get a hold of images the camera snaps. An investigation from Consumer Reports says Amazon sells thousands of Eken smart doorbells each month. The company's official app called Eyewit has over 1 million downloads on Google Play. Here's how hackers could take control. After creating an account on the doorbells official app called Eyewit, malicious users can pair a doorbell with their smartphone once in close proximity. FCC Commissioner Jeffrey Starks has urged Amazon, Shein, Timu and other online shopping platforms to stop selling Eken doorbells. Starks said a compromised device creates a backdoor into networks and by using that, hackers can steal identities and commit fraud, costing consumers potentially billions of dollars. What's worse, hackers can compromise a large network of such devices to unleash large scale attacks. Starks pointed to a Chinese state back hacking group that installed malicious software on over 260,000 devices from cameras to video recorders and routers, setting the stages for cyber attacks in the U. S. On top of flagging the products, the FCC is also weighing a fine for the company to the tune of over $700,000. That's for allegedly making a false statement over on Capitol Hill. Senator Marco Rubio has called on the FCC to look into the allegations against Eken and if necessary, hold retailers accountable for selling dangerous products. Ntd has reached out to Eken but did not hear back before airtime. Last month, Chinese made robot vacuums called Ecovacs were hacked in multiple U. S. And owners said hackers remotely access the vacuums, live camera feeds and used built in speakers to shout profane language. Chinese kettles and irons have also been found to carry wireless spy chips that can connect to wifi and spread computer viruses. And U. S. Researcher found that even some Chinese smart coffee machines also collect data on their customers. Google said it has blocked over 1000 websites with pro China fake news in the past two years. That's according to a statement published on Friday. Google found these news websites claim to be independent or based in any one of dozens of different countries. But in fact, they were spreading similar narratives all aligned with China's political interests. Therefore, the search engine categorized them as part of one network nicknamed Glass Bridge. According to Google, four entities were manipulating these websites. All four have connections to China. Google said it hasn't confirmed whether the Chinese regime is writing checks to these entities. This marks one of the latest alerts from U. S. Tech giants. Pro China fake news outlets are extending their reach beyond social media. President elect Trump has named Wall Street veteran Scott Besson as Treasury secretary. Trump has vowed to put a 60% tariff on Chinese goods. If Besson is confirmed by the Senate, he's expected to carry out Trump's tariff agenda and lead trade negotiations with Beijing. Besson is the founder of hedge fund Key Square Capital Management. He was the chief investment officer for George Soros is investment firm, though some economists are skeptical about tariffs, saying they could raise inflation. Besson said he sees tariffs as a quote one time price adjustment and not inflationary. He said they could be seen as an economic sanction without a sanction, adding if you don't like Chinese economic policy flooding the market with overproduction, you could put a sanction on them or a tariff. It's also an answer to currency manipulation. He also wrote in an op ed that tariffs are a useful tool for foreign policy goals, from getting allies to spend more on defense to opening foreign markets to U. S. exports, as well as deterring military aggression. He described Trump's tariff plan on China as a maximalist negotiating position. Besson told CNBC that he recommends tariffs be layered in gradually. President-elect Trump is almost finished making his cabinet picks with just a few posts remaining. Next, let's take a closer look at one of his latest nominees, Scott Besson for Treasury secretary, along with previous prominent picks known for their tough on China stances. Are they right for their prospective jobs? Joining us to discuss is John Mills, retired Army colonel and former director of cyber security at the Defense Department. John Mills, thank you so much for joining us. Great to have you back on the show. Thank you, Tiffany. Always an honor to be on your show. Now, John, the latest Trump cabinet pick Scott Besson as Treasury secretary is making the headlines. Now, he said in a previous interview with CNBC that Trump's tariff threats on China is a quote maximalist negotiating position. Now, how will Beijing likely view a pick like a Besson? Will it give more negotiating power to Beijing? Or how do you see Beijing viewing this? Well, I think Scott is a great choice. I think he is going to continue in the first term tradition of hard negotiations with China that China respects and responds to. But I think this is a continuation and a maturation of essentially the first term that was turning classic economics upside down because the classic approach to economics was not working. It's not this free trade thing, which we now realize China has taken advantage of. It's fair trade and it's going and it's and it's using tariffs right back at them. The classic economist would say, oh, no, that's that's what led to the Great Depression and blah, blah, blah, blah. I'm sorry. Times have changed. And giving away American jobs to China in the long run, there's nothing good about that. So I think Scott is going to follow through. And yes, this is these are negotiation tools, but they are going to be quite effective. Now, as for the other picks, Trump has been stalking his cabinet with a lot of China hawks, with the likes of Florida Senator Marco Rubio for secretary of state, Florida Congressman Mike Waltz for national security adviser. Now, what do you make of those picks so far and what that means for U. S. China relations going forward? I think this is an absolutely awesome slew of nominees. I think it's great. It shows that we're going to put American interests first. And there's nothing wrong with that, again, because we follow the standard globalist elite concepts of fair, free trade and giving away things. It deforested our industrial capacity. All of these are going to be very good for America. All these choices are going to be very good for America with these personalities. Now, the Wall Street Journal is noting that despite these China hawks, Beijing is actually relieved by these picks. That's because Mike Pompeo, former secretary of state and Robert O'Brien, former national security adviser, have not been named this time around. What do you make of Beijing's relief here? I'm not sure I buy into that report. I read that report. I'm not sure I totally buy that. I think it's creative thinking. And maybe they're just echoing talking points are being given by China on this matter. Yeah, I think this this group is going to be even more pervasive in holding China accountable. So that report, I don't give a whole lot of credence to. John Mills, thank you so much for your time. Tiffany, thank you. Always an honor to be on the show. Taiwan's defense ministry reported a Chinese balloon over the ocean to its north Monday. It's the first time since April that one has been spotted near the island. Here are the details. Taipei views such occurrences as part of a pattern of harassment by Beijing. Taiwan said in January that Chinese balloon activity took place at an unprecedented scale. That was the period leading up to its presidential election. It described the incidents as part of a Chinese pressure campaign, calling it gray zone warfare designed to exhaust an enemy using irregular tactics without open combat. China has previously dismissed Taiwan's complaints about the balloons, saying they were for weather monitoring purposes. The Chinese regime claims Taiwan as part of its territory, despite never having ruled the island. Could China end up profiting from the war in Ukraine? Indo-Pacific commander Samuel Pepero says the conflict could result in a dangerous quid pro quo between Russia and China. PRC has rebuilt, helped to rebuild Russia's war machine with 90% of its semiconductors and 70% of the machine tools that have rebuilt that war machine. I expect Russia to provide submarine technology to the PRC that has the potential of closing American undersea dominance to the PRC. Pepero said that tech exchange could help China close the gap on American undersea dominance. The Indo-Pacific commander spoke at the Halifax International Security Forum over the weekend. China boasts the largest Navy in the world, with more than 370 ships, but its submarine fleet is considered inferior to the U.S.'s. A recent report said U.S. submarine capabilities remain an area of unquestionable U.S. dominance. The United States has 66 nuclear submarines, while China has 12. Pepero also expressed concern about the growing cooperation among China, Iran, North Korea and Russia. Coming up, Washington's second highest diplomat shedding light on China's reaction to a stronger defense alliance between Russia and North Korea. In his description, Beijing is increasingly uncomfortable, even unnerved by the growing ties. A top NATO official urging businesses to prepare for wartime scenarios. More on why Western dependence on Chinese supplies could be an Achilles' heel. And from a Chinese labor camp to the head of an international newspaper. Epoch Time CEO Janice Trey details her personal journey, plus what keeps her and the newspaper going, despite relentless threats, even on American soil. My family members have received death threats. Our ties were punished. Our vehicles were smashed on the windshields in China. I know here in America, the United States. More on that after the break here on China in Focus. Welcome back to China in Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. How does China view a stronger alliance between Russia and North Korea? Washington's second highest diplomat says he believes Beijing is quote increasingly uncomfortable about the outcome. The U. S. Government said more than 11,000 North Korean soldiers are deployed to Russia's border city with Ukraine, Kursk. The deputy secretary of state, Kurt Campbell, believes China is quote unnerved by the Russian North Korean alliance, even though Beijing has stayed silent since the news broke. Campbell disclosed that Beijing appeared to be unaware of some intelligence regarding North Korea's troops during its talks with Washington. And those intelligence gaps unnerved China. That's because the regime could fall out of the loop when it comes to the alliance's future military operations, especially if they go against China's interests. The deputy secretary of state made the remark during a think tank event last week. A top NATO official urged businesses on Monday to be prepared for a wartime scenario. He said companies should adjust their production and distribution to be less vulnerable to blackmail from China and Russia. Dutch Admiral Rob Bauer is the chair of NATO's military committee. He said making sure all crucial services and goods can be delivered no matter what is a key part of NATO's deterrence. Bauer noted western dependencies on supplies from China. The communist country produces 60% of all rare earth minerals and processes 90% of them. He said chemical ingredients for sedatives, antibiotics, anti inflammatories and low blood pressure medicines also come from China. Bauer said we are naive if we think the communist party will never use that power. He added that business leaders in Europe and America need to realize the commercial decisions they have make strategic consequences for the security of their nation. He said, while it may be the military that wins battles, it's economies that win wars. House lawmakers are asking Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to rethink ties with Hong Kong's banking sector. They say the city has become a top location for money laundering and sanctions evasion. In a letter to Yellen over the weekend, the bipartisan leaders of the House Select China Committee said Hong Kong has turned into a hub for U. S. Trade controls violations from exporting controlled western technology to Russia and creating front companies to buy Iranian oil. Research shows nearly 40% of the goods shipped from Hong Kong to Russia last year were semiconductors, microchips that could prove useful in Russia's war on Ukraine. The letter said that Hong Kong went from a global financial center to a critical player in the axis of China, Iran, Russia and North Korea. The lawmakers wrote that the U. S. Must question whether long standing U. S. Policy toward Hong Kong is still appropriate from child labor inside a Chinese labor camp to the CEO of New York based international newspaper. The Epoch Times Janice Trey sat down with Prager you to explain how surviving communism helps her better counter it. Entities Juliet Song has more Janice Trey, the CEO of the Epoch Times, had an unusual start. She was born in a labor camp in southern China. I walk 1.5 hours to school on another village, walk past cemetery hill farms and ran for life because snakes were all around me. Trey's parents were engineers sent to work at the camp during China's cultural revolution, a time when many of China's well educated urban population was forcefully relocated to rural regions. The massive political movement took over 700 million lives. As a child, she labored in the field. I have to pick up crops on the crop fields during harvest season, carry fertilizers to the top of the hill of the sugar farm that funded the school. Trey's family later escaped to Hong Kong, where she first experienced a true sense of freedom. She eventually got her degree in the U. S. And worked her way up to the job of executive for several Fortune 500 companies. Now she spearheads the Epoch Times, an independent newspaper that's been at the forefront of covering Beijing's atrocities. NTD is the sister media of the Epoch Times. We are the only media that the Chinese Communist Party most afraid of. We have our websites being attacked all the time and like cyber attacks, cyber attacks. And we also have our journalists being harassed and my family members have received death threats. Our ties were punched. Our vehicles were smashed on the windshields in China. I know here in America, the United States, U. S. Businesses that advertised with the Epoch Times have received threats from the Chinese embassy. Some of the most extreme cases have included bomb threats. We hosted the, um, martial arts competitions and the vocal, um, competitions and the two venues, one in Manhattan, one in New Jersey. Both of those two venues received a bomb threat trying to cancel our events. The list goes on. The paper's then chief technical officer was beaten up by Chinese agents in his Atlanta home. It's printing press in Hong Kong set on fire. The Epoch Times was founded to counter Beijing's persecution of innocent people. Its founders fled persecution under communism in China and came together to counter the Chinese regime's propaganda. They were reporters in China, so 30 of them were arrested and sentenced from 3 to 3 to 10 years just by providing information to the Epoch Times. Still, the Epoch Times did not budge under pressure. The newspaper covered the stars outbreak in China in 2003, weeks before Beijing admitted the virus existed. We have, um, uh, readers who send us thank you notes that when they read about it, they changed the flights, returned to U. S. And you wrote and such that they were not, um, Paris, Trey said. She believes good will triumph over evil and that the paper acts responsibly for their readers. Because of that, its leadership and staff are unafraid. I could have died during the cultural revolutions. I could have died during the Tiananmen Square massacre. I could have died to the persecution. The fact that I am alive in front of you, Marissa, it's my duty and responsibility to give a voice to the voiceless. She noted the importance of speaking up, likening those acts to small candles that can light up a whole room, adding that six million Jews might not have perished during the Holocaust if people made their voices heard, Trey said. She appreciates the chance to make a difference at the Epoch Times Julia. Some entity news next. The latest update on the case of a man in Florida found to be acting as an agent for China. The defendant was sentenced to four years in prison on Monday, plus a $250,000 fine. After that, he's subject to three years of supervised release. Ping Lee is a China born U. S. Citizen for over 13 years. He allegedly cooperated with China's top spy body, the Ministry of State Security. The Department of Justice charged Lee for secretly spying on Chinese dissidents, including members of the faith group following Gong on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party. Following Gong, also known as following Dafa, has been heavily persecuted by the Chinese regime since 1999. Over 70,000 Children's down jackets made in China seized due to quality concerns. The jackets were priced at less than $13 each. Here's more. Down jacket is supposed to be insulated with soft and warm under feathers from ducks or geese. These Children's down jackets had none, and yet their labels read 70% duck feathers. These clothes were made in a garment factory in southern province of Zhejiang. A spokesperson said they replaced the duck feathers with an alternative because the business wasn't running so well this year. The story became one of the most searched topics on China's biggest website Baidu on Sunday. This is not the first time that China made products have been found to have quality issues. Many Chinese products from electric vehicles to clothing on shine and Temu have faced similar scandals. The Chinese owner of Timu PDD Holdings reporting lackluster third quarter revenue Thursday. That's as China's consumer spending remains weak amid a sluggish economy. PDD's third quarter revenue student over $13 billion below analyst forecast. Its shares in the U. S. Were down more than 10% last Thursday. Following the news, a number of factors have played apart at the top of the list. Higher youth unemployment in China and a property sector crisis. Both have taken huge tolls on consumer confidence. PDD's major rivals, Alibaba and JD dot com also reported tepid sales growth in their third quarters. That's all for today's China in Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. If you have any feedback on the show or have something you'd like to see us cover, send us an email at China in Focus entity dot com. We'd love to hear from you for around the clock. Original news coverage. Visit us at NTD dot com or download our NTD app. Thanks for watching. See you tomorrow. Coming up on NTD. Stay tuned for America's hope with Kelly Wright tonight. A focus on fentanyl. Richard Tate, an expert on drug addiction, discusses potential solutions to the U. S. Drug crisis and the role of the incoming Trump administration in addressing the issue. Tate stresses urgency, the need for open conversations and the importance of community support for recovery. That's tonight at 10 p.m. After China in Focus. Thanks for watching. See you tomorrow.