American Kids Trained to Be China's Little Police; Biden Happy American Detainees Are Home

Welcome to China In Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. Our top story. Summer camps in China training American children to become little overseas Chinese police. A report uncovers Beijing's political infiltration and it's getting attention from U.S. lawmakers. We tap a senior investigative reporter for more. Some of these programs are being run by individuals belonging to Four people were sent back to China in exchange for the freedom of American citizens, from stealing trade secrets to distributing child pornography. A look at why the convicted Chinese citizens were held in U.S. custody. The U.S. ambassador to China condemning Beijing's sentencing of a state media journalist, Ron Howey-Lunch, with a Japanese diplomat, led to his arrest. And Beijing voicing its displeasure with the Taiwanese president's upcoming stopovers in Hawaii and Guam. The trip marks President Lai's first overseas visit since taking office. From tours about the Chinese Communist Party's history to trainings by Beijing's soldiers and intelligence officers, the activities are part of an unusual schedule for some summer camps in China and some of the campers are actually American children. A Daily Caller report reveals a chilling discovery about these summer camps. Some of these programs are being run by individuals belonging to various Chinese security forces. So that could be the People's Liberation Army or that could be individuals belonging to the Ministry of Public Security. Philip Lenzicki authored the report. He's a senior investigative reporter at the Daily Caller News Foundation. To dive into his investigation first, flash back to 2016. Over 50 children from the U.S., Canada and other countries went to a summer camp in China. Pictures on an official Chinese website revealed that the campers were getting military training from two Chinese soldiers at a facility featuring obstacle courses and field combat training areas. The following year, a summer camp organized American and British kids to travel to Beijing and enrolled them in two days of military training. If that's not shocking enough, in summer 2019, a series of camp events saw over 1,000 foreign children get training from China's top spy body, the Ministry of Public Security. The official webpage for the event said it was designed to train kids to be quote, little overseas Chinese police. The event was later published on a website affiliated with China's United Front Work Department or UFW. The U.S. Department of Justice identifies the UFW as a Chinese intelligence agency, which also oversees the circulation of pro-Beijing propaganda outside China. Exactly how concerning are these events? In the name of so-called route seeking, these camp programs have enrolled thousands of Chinese-born American children over the past two decades. They were first launched as a kind of exchange program by the U.S. and China in 1999. The reason for this is that they see children as a means to control the future. Now the Chinese Communist Party believes that individuals who are ethnically Chinese in China and outside of China are essentially belonging to them and that they should be natural allies. So how did American schools and parents miss these concerns? Philip pointed out that the camps look like any other travel abroad program on the surface, attracting people with visits to typical tourist attractions in China. But later, they might slide aspects of what's called red tourism into the trips. So this would be visiting places of historical significance to the Chinese Communist Party. That could be a military site, such as visiting the Red Army Base. These things are mixed in and the children are gradually, I believe, exposed to a worldview that is sympathetic to the Chinese Communist Party. To solve the issue, Philip suggests the U.S. government should investigate these camp organizers more closely and most importantly. The main issue here is that we should not be allowing a hostile foreign power to be attempting to recruit our citizens for political or any type of military training in their countries. That should be a bright red line that we do not allow other countries to cross. Congressman John Molinar, chairman of the House Elect Committee on the CCP, commented on the matter, saying, quote, we need to protect all those on American soil from the CCP's authoritarian agenda, particularly by educating the American public on the true nature of the party and its dystopian vision. China confirming Thursday that the U.S. returned four people to China in a prisoner swap. Three of them are Chinese citizens, including one convicted for possessing child pornography. The identity of the fourth person was not disclosed. Beijing freed three American citizens in the swap. They are Mark Sweden, Ky Lee and John Leung. The State Department designated all three as wrongfully detained. On the Chinese side, one of the Chinese citizens in the swap is Jing Shanlin. He had pleaded guilty to possessing child porn three years ago. He also admitted to distributing over 600 images and videos of child pornography back when he was a Ph.D. student at Southern Methodist University in Texas. Police said Jing's computer had child pornography videos on it when authorities entered his home, adding that the videos involved infants and toddlers. Jing was originally supposed to be released in 2027. An FBI agent testified before that his family was connected to influential party officials in China. The other two Chinese citizens returned in the swap are Ji Chaoquan and Xi'an Jun. Ji attempted to collect information on defense technology for China's Ministry of State Security. He was sentenced to eight years in prison. Xi is a Chinese intelligence officer who tried to steal trade secrets from GE Aviation. Back on the U.S. side, three U.S. citizens wrongfully detained by China arrived in Joint Base San Antonio, Texas just hours before Thanksgiving. They're Mark Sweden, Kai Li and John Liu Yong. Li is free after about eight years in prison. His son is thanking government officials and NGOs for bringing his father home for the holidays. President Joe Biden is also expressing his happiness about their release. Take a listen. Never would we have imagined in our wildest dreams that he'd be whisked away by agents of China's Ministry of State Security on these charges of espionage. I spoke with all three of them. You know, one was there only three years, but he was for a life sentence. Other than one was there for I think it was a total of 20 some years anyway. And I'm really happy they're home. I got to talk to them all when they landed in Alaska. They're reunited with their families. And it's a very, very happy day. Sweden's mother Catherine lives in Texas. Senator Ted Cruz serves the state and is praising U.S. efforts to help his constituent's son. Liu Yong had been serving a life sentence for spying charges. U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns condemned Beijing's sentencing of a Chinese journalist Friday. This comes after a Beijing court sentenced veteran journalist Dong Yu to seven years in prison. Dong worked for Chinese state media Guanming Daily. A family member told Reuters Dong was sentenced on espionage charges. According to a statement from the U.S. National Press Club, he was detained by police in Beijing in 2022 while having lunch with a Japanese diplomat. He was later charged with espionage. Dong previously wrote opinion pieces in Chinese media on topics from legal reforms to social issues. He advocated for moderate reforms and avoided direct criticism of regime leader Xi Jinping. There was a heavy police presence outside the court where he was sentenced. At least seven police cars were parked nearby. China criticizing Taiwanese president's upcoming stopover in Hawaii and Guam during his trip to the South Pacific. The trip marks William Lai's first overseas visit as Taiwan's president. He's set to leave Taiwan on Saturday for a week-long trip to visit three diplomatic allies in the Pacific, the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau. The Chinese Communist Party claims Taiwan as part of China despite never having ruled it. It has vowed to take Taiwan under control by force if necessary. The U.S. doesn't have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, so the island's leaders have been using stopovers on U.S. soil to engage with American politicians. Chinese foreign ministry said it firmly opposes any form of official interaction between the U.S. and Taiwan. The Chinese military sent at least 19 fighter jets and drones near Taiwan Thursday evening. Coming up, tensions are in the air as South Korea spots several Chinese and Russian jets in its air defense zone, deciding part of a string of such intrusions in recent years. A high-level official at China's military suspended and under investigation. We take a look at recent shakeups at Beijing's top defense body. And Google ad costs keep rising for well-known competitors of Xin and Timo. How the Chinese e-commerce companies be sneaking into Black Friday online searches? More on that after the break. Here on China In Focus. Welcome back to China In Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. South Korea's military spotted nearly a dozen Chinese and Russian warplanes entering its air defense zone Friday. The Chinese aircraft passed between the Korean peninsula and Japan and flew towards an island near the country's eastern coast. Seoul deployed air force jets in response. Beijing's defense ministry cited an annual joint patrol between the Chinese and Russian militaries. Worth noting, air defense identification zones are regions that countries use to monitor the approach of foreign aircrafts. Beijing and Moscow have repeatedly flown jets over South Korea's air defense zone since 2019. Officials cited joint military exercises, but have never given notice ahead of time. China and Russia are allies of North Korea, which is seen as an adversary by its southern neighbor. Meanwhile, the Kremlin's defense minister is visiting North Korea for talks with political leaders. Officials did not announce whom he would meet or what the talks would focus on. Next, moving to the high-stakes South China Sea. China sent out a warning to the Philippines. That's in response to a potential U.S. missile deployment in the nation. NTD's Flora Hua has the latest on the story. Flora, what can you tell us? Yes, Tiff. So, China's foreign ministry on Thursday urged the U.S. and the Philippines to immediately drop a missile deal. It warned that a sale could provoke conflicts in the region. That's after the Philippine defense secretary confirmed two weeks ago that the country is considering purchasing a mid-range missile system from the U.S. Early in April, the U.S. and the Philippines conducted a joint drill with this system, targeting areas in southern and eastern China, the South China Sea, and the Taiwan Strait. NTD has reached out to the Pentagon and the Philippine defense ministry for comment. All right, Flora, thank you for that. China's defense body is seeing major turbulence. Here's a message from a spokesperson at Beijing's Miao Hua, a member of the Central Military Commission's CMC and director of the Political Work Department of the CMC, is suspected of a serious breach of discipline and has been suspended for inspection by the Party Central Committee. It's worth noting that serious violations of discipline is a term the Chinese Communist Party often uses to allude to corruption. Miao served as director of the Political Work Department of China's Central Military Commission. The body oversees the People's Liberation Army, the world's largest standing military. Miao is also reportedly a close aide to Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping. The news marks the third recent major shake-up for China's defense establishment. In June, China announced that former defense minister Li Xianfu and his predecessor Wei Fenghe were expelled from the party and both accused of corruption. China has opened a deep water port in Peru, sounding alarms in Washington over potential security concerns. For a deep dive discussion into the Chinese regime's growing ties with Latin America, NTD's Kevin Hogan spoke to Antonio Graceffo. He's a China economic analyst and author of Red Alert, China's Global Power and How It Threatens U.S. National Security. This is a major port. It's just shipping fruit right now, or at least it's going to be. But in Washington, they're very concerned. The chief of southern command says that it might be used for intelligence gathering, some military applications. Is that a realistic possibility? Oh, absolutely. And China manufactures surveillance equipment. They also manufacture remote-operated cranes and other types of port equipment that's being distributed all over the Americas, and it's all equipped with surveillance equipment. This port in Peru is particularly concerning, but this issue is all along Latin America and all through the Caribbean. So there's a professor at the U.S. Army War College, and he says that China is seeking secure access to resources, critical minerals, and there could be a train line that goes from Peru out of this port into Brazil. On the economic front, does that alone present a challenge or a threat to the United States? Absolutely. This gives the CCP greater access to minerals and resources. This decreases their costs. This allows them to compete with us on world markets. It also gives them a bit of security that if we do go to war, that they will have more secure supply chains and they would be less concerned about running out of or experiencing shortages during a war. And of course, it brings these countries closer to Beijing's orbit. And these are countries that are in the backyard of the Americas. So I mean, this is a multibillion dollar deepwater port, meaning they don't have to use multiple ports to get all these ships together to consolidate. They just go right there. And this is generating about four and a half billion dollars in annual revenue for Peru. So definitely a tightening tie there. My question to you is, Antonio, why did the U.S. not engage President Boarte when she came to Washington prior to this rollout of this port? Yeah, that's a very good question. I mean, this was an absolute slap in the face of the United States, really slap in the face of Joe Biden. Biden was there for the APEC summit. This port was inaugurated during the summit. I don't believe Biden was invited. And this is Xi Jinping's way of saying that he is now in the Americas. He's landed there and he's planted his flag and he's creeping up through our back door. Antonio Graceffo, China economic analyst and author of Red Alert. Thanks for coming on our show. Thank you. Heavy online marketing spending by Chinese e-commerce platforms, Timu and Xian, is making it more costly for other retailers to reach shoppers on Black Friday. Marketing and industry experts say this is because both platforms are bidding heavily on search keywords used by competitors. NTD's Sean Marshall has the details. China's kings of cheap e-commerce products, Timu and Xian, are driving up cost of advertising for other companies. That's according to data on Google search ads compiled by online marketing platform SEMrush for Reuters. In the United States, Timu has bid on keywords including Walmart Black Friday deals, Kohl's Black Friday deals and Bed Bath Beyond. And Xian has bid on keywords including Walmart clothes, Zara jeans, mango dresses and Nordstrom rack shoes in the U.S. And with Black Friday approaching, why not find out what people are shopping for and what people think about Timu and Xian. I used to buy on Xian previously and then I watched this documentary about how they do things in, you know, those places in China and then I stopped. Yeah, it's really, really like fast fashion monster, you know. It's so bad for the environment. The cost per click for Walmart clothes increased by 16 times from August 2022 to August 2024. The greater the demand for a keyword, the more the search engine charges for each click on an ad appearing in those results, a metric called cost per click. So Black Friday is coming up this week. Any specific items you plan to look for? Actually, we're just out shopping for scarves and gloves and I'm always looking for women's shirts. Generic keywords like cheap clothing online and shopping have also become much more costly. According to the data, retailers compete for their advertised products to appear high up in online search results by bidding on keywords. Have you seen a lot of like Timu and Xian ads here and there on the internet? No, but word on the street is stay away from the clothing sold on those sites because it's always coming back in like an extra small. Everything's not what it appears to be. So stay away from Xian and Timu as far as clothes are concerned. I mean, maybe electronics, but man, like little accessories like balaclavas or maybe even gloves, but cheaper stuff. Those sites I don't recommend for like, you know, stuff that's going to last. Mikaela Shuffman, director of communications at Jacklynx, gave this advice to not get caught up in the bidding war with Timu and Xian. Smaller brands need to focus on what makes them unique and lean into marketing strategies that don't rely solely on paid search. At the same time, they can explore less competitive niche words or even rethink their timing, maybe targeting shoppers before or after Black Friday instead of trying to compete head to head. Sean Marshall, NTD News. A bipartisan group of senators introduced a new measure aimed at addressing financial threats from China. Are both sides of the aisle concerned about China's role in the global economy? NTD's Steve Lance sat down with former Democratic Senator Doug Jones for more. Former Senator Doug Jones, thank you so much for joining. My pleasure. Thanks for having me. Senator, a bipartisan group of senators has introduced the China Financial Threat Mitigation Act. One of the sponsors, Democratic Senator Mark Warner, stated as, quote, as the Chinese Communist Party continues to ramp up aggression toward the United States, it is crucial that we take proactive steps to protect U.S. institutions and interests and our financial sector to no exception. And, quote, how can Democrats and Republicans effectively collaborate on addressing the challenges posed by the CCP? Well, you know, I really believe that the threat of China and a number of the things that they did is one of those areas that you can find common ground and some bipartisanship going forward. I think there has been that in the past. I don't expect that to change right now. It could get a little bit more aggressive. You know, there was the recent Chinese hack that I think has really raised a lot of questions, a very serious hack, as well as the disinformation and misinformation that was out there. So overall, if you look past a lot of the political rhetoric that's been going on over the last few months, I think you'll see a fair amount of common ground and a concern of China's role in the global economy and in our national security. So that's an area that I'm hopeful that both senators and members of the House and the administration can work together on. Former Senator Doug Jones, I really appreciate your insights. My pleasure. Thank you. Ever snagged a deal on a Gibson guitar that seemed too good to be true? Turns out some of those dream finds could be nightmares for both buyers and the brand. Here's NTD's Don Ma with more on the largest counterfeit musical instrument seizure in Southern California. U.S. Customs investigators seized more than 3,000 counterfeit Gibson guitars at Los Angeles' Long Beach Seaport. If they had been the real thing, the cache of instruments would have sold for more than $18 million. Authorities say the containers arrived from Asia. Authentic Gibson guitars are only made in the U.S. Last year, investigators seized more than 19,000 shipments containing nearly 23 million counterfeit goods. They said counterfeit goods from China and Hong Kong accounted for 46% of seizures. That's all for today's China In Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. If you have any feedback on or have something you'd like to see us cover, send us an email at ChinaInFocusNTD.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.