90% of Key US Infrastructure Uses Chinese Code: Report; South Korean President Faces Impeachment

Welcome to China In Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. Our top story. How critical is protecting key U.S. infrastructure from China's threats? A security agency finds almost all the software they examine that's used by key industries contains code from Chinese developers. Officials say they have yet to be able to kick Chinese hackers out of U.S. telecom networks. Their message to phone users, switch to encrypted messages if you're concerned. South Korea in turmoil. President Yoon's martial law sparks protests, an impeachment motion, and resignations. How far could the situation escalate? And the head of the NATO alliance urging members to spend more on defense that's amid rising risks from China and Russia. A recent report finds almost all the software products they studied used in A Florida-based IT security firm is raising concerns to fellow Americans, citing several major hacking operations tied to China over the past few months. Fortress Information Security provides cybersecurity services. After analyzing over 2,000 software products, the company found 90% of them contain Chinese code, as do a quarter of software components. Software products play a significant role in powering critical infrastructure. The compromised code can act as a backdoor for threats, making the key systems more vulnerable to exploitation by adversaries. The report identified over 9,500 vulnerabilities across these products, and the majority come from just 20 components. This exposes our power grids, oil pipelines, telecom networks, and others to huge danger, all essential utilities that Americans rely on. Fortress' CEO Alex Santos is urging the country to eliminate China-borne code from key infrastructure, calling China an existential threat to national security. He said the U.S. shouldn't wait to take action. According to the Department of Energy, last year, U.S. power grids suffered at least five cyberattacks. Telecommunication and water system have also fallen victims to cyberattacks. U.S. officials are warning phone users to turn to encrypted messages and voice calls. That's because state-backed Chinese hackers are still lurking in the networks run by U.S. telecoms and internet service providers. U.S. officials said they hadn't been able to kick them out since a major breach two months ago. Authorities didn't mention the telecom companies that were hacked into, though previous reports mentioned Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. It's unclear when the hackers can be removed from the telecom network. Jeff Green is the executive assistant director of security at CISA, the top U.S. cybersecurity agency. He said it would be impossible to predict a time frame on when they can fully evict the hackers. Vice President-elect J.D. Ban said his phone was hacked by China during the breach, and that he believes President Trump's phone was hacked as well. Chinese hackers haven't been able to steal a lot of sensitive data. They tapped a number of targets in the U.S. government, and officials said the hackers stole a large volume of records, including data on where, when, and with whom individuals were communicating. Hackers also accessed backdoor infrastructure used for legal wiretapping. Officials said the access would allow hackers to know who the U.S. government is keeping an eye on. The Chinese espionage campaign doesn't stop at the U.S. Canada, Australia, and New Zealand came out with recommendations Tuesday to bolster cyber defenses. South Korea is still grappling with aftershocks following the president's martial law declaration, even though the order was later lifted amid widespread condemnation. South Korean defense ministers, as well as Yun's senior policy advisors, offered to resign soon after. Meanwhile, the country's largest union, KCTU, says its members will strike indefinitely until Yun steps down. Here's a closer look. Six South Korean opposition parties submitted bills of impeachment for President Yun Seok-yol on Wednesday. That came after Yun's sudden move imposing martial law the night before. In an address, he had claimed there were anti-state forces among his opponents. But after parliament unanimously rejected his decree, hours later, Yun backed down. A vote on his impeachment is expected within the coming days. It would pass in South Korea's National Assembly if two-thirds of lawmakers support the bill. And that would then lead to a trial held by South Korea's constitutional court. On Wednesday morning, the country's National Assembly building bore scars of violence the night before. Boxes, chairs piled up as barricades. Security camera footage released Wednesday gave a better view of events the night before. Soldiers tasked with imposing martial law landing on the sports pitch near parliament, before smashing the building's windows and clashing with parliamentary aides. It all marks South Korea's biggest political crisis in decades, and the first time martial law has been declared since 1980, before it became a democracy. Yun, a career prosecutor, had been very unpopular with the South Korean public. He's faced discontent over his economic policy, scandals and other controversies. Should Yun resign or be removed from office, Prime Minister Han Deok-su would fill in as leader until a new election is held. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington welcomed Yun's decision to withdraw his martial law decree. Take a listen. We welcome President Yun's statement, withdrawing the martial law order. But again, I think Korea is one of the most powerful stories in the world about the emergence of democracy and democratic resilience. And we'll continue to look to Korea to set that example. Investors have generally valued South Korea less than other markets, citing factors like its tensions with North Korea. This week's political developments have only added to those concerns. Here's more. Korean stocks fell and the won plunged to two-year lows on Tuesday after South Korea's President Yun Suk-yol shocked the world by declaring martial law. The impact was short-lived. Parliament overturned the ruling within hours and markets stabilised. But for investors, it was a reminder of the reasons Korean stocks and the currency have underperformed global markets for months. One is the risk that comes from long-running tensions between North and South Korea. Another is the nature of its business dominated by opaque family-run firms that seldom give out generous dividends. The discount deepened this year as investors fretted over how exposed Korea is to China, whose anemic economy now faces fresh US trade tariffs. South Korea's brief martial law declaration is still making waves with both South Korea and Japan key US allies. How could this shake up their relationship? And what does it mean for US forces in the region? To break it down, we sat down with retired Colonel Grant Newsham, Senior Fellow at the Center for Security Policy, and Research Fellow at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies. Grant Newsham, thank you so much for joining us. Great to have you back on the show. I'm glad to be here. Both South Korea and Japan are crucial allies of the US. Given that, how do you see the dynamic between those two countries following this martial law? And given that we do have US troops stationed in both countries, how will that affect the US force posture in the region? Well, US force posture will stay the same for the foreseeable future. But the Americans have really benefited recently from the South Koreans and the Japanese getting along better than they ever have. And this was because of President Yoon's efforts. And the Japanese and the Korean militaries have been conducting exercises together with the Americans as well. And it's just an unfreezing of the relationship. And that has really been some good progress in the last year and a half. And this could potentially come undone, particularly now that President Yoon is going to be in a very difficult spot for as long as he lasts. And the opposition, the people that have been giving Yoon so much trouble, they really stoke the resentment of Japanese that lies in a lot of South Korean society. There is always latent sort of resentments based on history. But the leftists, the Democrat Party, these guys just play that card and they hype the anti-Japanese feeling. And anyone who calls for a cordial approach to the Japanese like Yoon did, they're attacked as being sellouts and traitors, etc. It's like what the Chinese communists do. I want to expand on that because as you mentioned, President Yoon was part of that warming relations between the two countries, which did cause a lot of ire within his own country. A lot of South Koreans did not like that he did that. Given that, how do you see the relations or where do you see the relations between South Korea and Japan going, especially if the more leftist branch of the government there wins? Well, it entirely depends on the South Koreans. The Japanese are willing to just move along and get along as well as they can and improve relations. Most South Koreans actually support the U.S.-South Korea relationship. Most of them do not want to be governed by a government that's like the North Korean government. So despite what the extreme South Korean leftists want and are trying to do, they can't go against popular feeling too much. And I think they can make things slow down. But I think what we're likely to see is probably a bit of a slowing in the South Korea-Japan sort of military cooperation. But I think it will continue. And the Americans are, of course, going to try to encourage both sides, but particularly the South Koreans to keep playing ball. Grant Newsham, as always, thank you so much for joining us. I'm glad to be here. Thanks for having me. The head of the world's most powerful military alliance, NATO, urging members to up their defense spending Wednesday. That's amid an increase in attacks from China and Russia. Both Russia and China have tried to destabilize our countries and divide our societies with acts of sabotage, cyber attacks and energy blackmail. Right now, member countries spend two percent of their GDP on defense, but General Mark Rutte said that's not enough to keep up deterrence. He added that NATO must also ramp up its weapons production and delivery. What's more, NATO ministers also discuss ongoing support for Ukraine. They agreed on enhancing several measures to counter Russia. Rutte said NATO was monitoring developments in South Korea. The country is facing political chaos as its president declared martial law, but lifted it hours later. Coming up, a Chinese illegal immigrant living in California has been arrested. He's accused of shipping guns and ammunition to North Korea. We look at his motives. A new bill on teaching the dangers of communism is up for a House vote, should schools address its dark history. NTD hits the National Mall to hear from the crowd. And Detroit automaker General Motors is losing money in China, facing a $5 million hit from restructuring enclosures. More on that after the break, here on China In Focus. Welcome back to China In Focus, I'm Tiffany Meyer. A Chinese man living in California was arrested Tuesday. The Department of Justice accuses him of exporting guns, ammunition and other military products to North Korea. It's worth noting he is an illegal immigrant and has no right to possess any firearms in the United States. The Chinese man's name is Shenghua Wen. We allege that he conspired with government officials in North Korea to obtain military supplies, including firearms and ammunition, to obtain technology, and then conceal that technology and those materials in shipping containers that departed from the port of Long Beach, and then ship those materials on to North Korea. Law enforcement seized a military gear at Wen's residence in August. Wen came to the U.S. on a student visa 12 years ago and overstayed after the document expired. According to court documents, Wen disclosed that before coming to the U.S., he met with North Korean officials at two different North Korean consulates in China. There, he was directed to procure goods for the North Korean regime, including military uniforms, which could likely be used for disguising North Korean soldiers. Wen said he believed the weapons were for a future surprise attack against South Korea, a vital ally to Washington in the Indo-Pacific. Wen illegally resides near Los Angeles. Under U.S. law, he is prohibited from owning any firearms or ammunition. Exporting these military items requires licenses in the U.S., which Wen also lacks. On top of that, the shipments violated U.S. sanctions against North Korea. Now, the FBI, Homeland Security, along with three other federal agencies, are investigating the case together. If convicted, Wen is facing maximum 20 years in prison. President Biden is using his third and final day in Angola to showcase the Lobito Corridor Railway. The U.S. and key allies are investing heavily to refurbish 800 miles of train lines in Zambia, the Congo and Angola. The Biden administration says the corridor will help business interests and counter China's growing influence in Africa. The project aims to boost the U.S. presence in a region rich in cobalt, copper and other critical minerals. The key materials are used in batteries for electric vehicles, electronic devices and clean energy technologies. By decade's end, the rail line could even go a long way toward linking southern Africa's west coast with the continent's eastern edge. In Lobito, Biden will announce $600 million in new U.S. investment for projects associated with the corridor. General Motors' joint ventures with China are going poorly this year. The U.S. automaker told shareholders Wednesday that the company will write down assets and make a restructuring charge totaling more than $5 billion in the fourth quarter. GM partners with SAIC Motors in China to build Buicks, Chevrolets and Cadillacs. Once a profit machine for the Detroit automaker, the company has struggled to compete with Chinese rivals. The company lost about $350 million in the region in the first three quarters of this year. GM has not disclosed details of the restructuring. Educating high school students on the dangers of communism and other totalitarian government systems. That's the goal of a bill making its way through Congress. The measure is now up for debate by the Rules Committee. NTD correspondent Jason Blair has the details. The Crucial Communism Teaching Act is making its way through the federal legislative process being heard by the Committee on Rules on Tuesday. The bill aims to make a federal high school civic curriculum that will have students learn that communism has led to the deaths of over 100 million victims worldwide, understand the dangers of communism and similar political ideologies, understand that one and a half billion people still suffer under communism. The bill also wants to include a comparative discussion of certain political ideologies, including communism and totalitarianism that conflict with the principles of freedom and democracy that are essential to the founding of the United States. Included in the curriculum would be interviews, recordings and writings from people talking about their personal experiences living under the covered political systems or ideas. In April, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill requiring teaching the dangers of communism as well as communist history and tactics, including those used in the United States. Arizona also has a similar bill required in their education curriculum that was signed into law by the governor in 2022. Reporting in Washington, D.C., Jason Blair, NTD News. From the Great Purge in the Soviet Union to the Cultural Revolution in communist China, should public schools teach their students about the dark history of communism? NTD's Sam Wong was out on the National Mall in D.C. to hear from the crowd. Do you think students should be taught about the dark history of communism? I believe that students should be taught about any sort of history. I reckon it'd be a good idea. I reckon it'd be good to let people know what the dark side actually is. I think they should give them a full rounded view of all history. So it's obviously a great thing to like learn about even the worst things that we've done in the world. And, you know, that's why we had the World War II memorial up there. We shouldn't be keeping all these dark things, you know, hidden. We should make sure all our kids know everything that actually went on. Personally, in England, I think you do learn in history, especially in sixth form, you do learn a lot about communism and the parts to that. So I think it's important to understand history. I think they should be realistic about it. You know, don't sugarcoat it. Don't revise it to make it to make because your political agenda kind of leans in that direction. Over the past century, more than 100 million people died unnaturally under the rules of communism. So are you aware of that? Yep. I think that's why we don't want to lean that way. I think that's why we want to give everybody their own choices and freedom to make their own decisions in life. And, you know, that's what the military is all about. That's what the country is all about. Not a good thing at all. That just shouldn't happen. It's not. Horrendous. Horrendous. You would hope that we learn from the past and we make change and we don't just sit back and accept it. It's a crazy number, but some people may say it's too dark. But if we don't tell them, you know, they're never going to know. I don't doubt it at all. I mean, Mao was a brutal dictator. Stalin was a brutal dictator. The ideology of thinking that everybody's going to get taken care of. But everywhere communism's ever been tried, it ended in disaster. I have yet to see a successful communist government. I mean, millions of people were murdered. I mean, how can you be in favor of a government that operates under that notion? It is really terrible that things like that happen. And I guess that we're lucky that where I'm from, that it's not something that we have to think about too much, but we definitely should think on it more. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says his country is facing a big threat of sabotage, so he needs to prepare more for attacks and become more resilient. This is what he told parliament during a question and answer session Wednesday. Take a listen. The principal cause for attacks of this kind, which affect our cyber security, lies, as we all know, in Russia and increasingly in China every once in a while. That must not be disguised. Market sentiment among German firms in China is now hitting an all-time low. This comes as they battle a slowing economy and growing competition from their Chinese rivals. Here's more. For this year, it's about 60 percent of the respondents who expect that this year, from the overall economic situation which they are dealing with, the situation is worsening compared to last year. This is a significant increase, we have to say. According to the German Chamber of Commerce in China, more than half of German companies have indicated a downward spiral in their industries this year. They signaled a 32 percent improvement in 2025, the lowest growth figure since 2007. Today, Germany remains China's largest trading partner in Europe. Prominent automakers like Volkswagen and BMW have sent large investments into the communist nation. Beyond that, it's not just German companies enduring the blow. A recent British sentiment survey of companies operating in China also painted a bleak picture. Beijing considers foreign direct investment a sign of confidence for its economy. But that number has been falling for two straight years. Chinese tech giant Huawei reportedly tried to poach talents from Zeiss SMT, a German company that makes optics used in semiconductors. Huawei allegedly offered money to staff who have access to the German company's intellectual property. The Wall Street Journal says the Chinese giant offered to pay them up to three times their annual salary. 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 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 tomorrow. Coming up on NTD, stay tuned for America's Hope with Kelly Wright. Tonight, a conversation with former governor of Arkansas and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee to discuss his nomination as ambassador to Israel. And later, Jerome Smith, a former member of the previous Trump administration, shares his insight on the recent election and priorities for the second Trump administration. That's tonight at 10 p.m. after China In Focus. Thanks for watching. See you tomorrow.