New COVID-19 Variant Driving China's Outbreak Lands in US

Welcome to China in Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. Our top story, the new CO 19 strain fueling China's latest outbreak has now been detected at major US airports. Back in China, lockdown style health checks are returning as reports of sudden deaths rise. A look at what's happening. House lawmakers are launching an investigation suspecting the Chinese Communist Party's involvement behind protests in Los Angeles. They're zeroing in on a man believed to be working for Beijing. Just a few clicks can cost you your life savings. Chinese stock scams are targeting US investors. Find out how to stay safe. A warning from Minnesota Governor Tim Walls. He's raising concerns that America's global influence is weakening and China is stepping in to fill the gap. But is that really what's happening? We take a closer look now. Who is the voice in the world that can negotiate some type of agreement in this? Who holds the moral authority. China's CO 19 outbreaks are intensifying and the virus has now reached the United States. The US CDC has detected multiple cases of China's new CO 19 variant NB1A1 at major airports. Infections have been found in travelers arriving in California, Washington State, Virginia, and New York City. Zooming in on China, China CDC recently admitted that CO 19 infection rates hit their highest level since July 2023. Here's what Chinese doctors and citizens are sharing with us. To protect their identities, we have distorted their voices. Given the nature of the current infectious outbreaks, I fear it could become quite severe in June and July. I believe there's a possibility of explosive growth. Most patients don't get better for months. The illness just keeps going. The virus is flaring up again. I believe it never really stopped. Earlier this month, China CDC reported over 440,000 new CO 19 cases in May, including more than 600 severe cases and seven deaths. It's important to note that the Chinese regime has a history of under reporting data related to outbreaks. On Monday, a citizen captured photos of health monitoring teams back on a highway in Shing Jang. These teams, nicknamed Big White, were common during China's CO peak in 2020. In southern China's Guangjo City, a third grader's parents received a notice last month requiring a week-long home quarantine after a positive COVID 19 test. Zooming out, many in China have told NTD they're seeing a rise in CO 19 cases around them with some developing pneumonia and even dying suddenly. They also report that hospitals are under strict orders to conceal the outbreak. The outbreaks are quite severe in southern China. In Shenzhen, many hospitals and clinics have long lines. They all have sore throats and fevers. Official reports say this is a new variant of CO. But even if someone dies from this illness, the Chinese regime won't tell you that they died of this illness. Chinese media have reported a rise in sudden deaths among the country's young elites, including professors, scholars, police officers, and internet influencers. Many were only in their 30s or 40s. In nearly all cases, no cause of death was given. Even inside the regime's top political circles, two senior state level officials died last week with no official explanation. Well, that's you because testing would cause panic. Once people start dying, everyone gets scared. Now, some local health bureaus are telling us there's no need to report cases. The lack of transparency is fueling growing concern that China's CO 19 crisis could have global implications. Both the World Health Organization and the US CDC say they are closely monitoring the situation as protests continue in Los Angeles. House lawmakers suspect the Chinese Communist Party is involved behind the scenes. The House Oversight Committee has launched an investigation into a man they suspect is working as an agent for the regime to fan the flames. NTD's Molina Weissup reports. Lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee are digging into funding behind the LA protests and riots. An American businessman is on the radar. Nelville Singum, a US billionaire currently residing in China. They're calling Singum to testify about his political activity in funding the party for socialism and liberation, a Marxist political organization, the People's Forum, and other leftist groups that support US adversaries. The lawmakers wrote to Singum, "You have created an elaborate dark money network, which allows you to send funds to a series of nonprofits such as the United Community Fund and Justice Education Fund that have almost no real footprints. Their main concern is that he is acting as an agent for the Chinese Communist Party, using its strategy of sewing discord. The goal is to fan the flames of internal dispute, making them deep enough to distract the US from its conflict with the regime. Senator Chuck Grassley previously wrote to the attorney general and the FBI that Singum works closely with the Chinese government media machine and is financing its propaganda worldwide. Singum has until June 27th to respond. In the meantime, the lawmakers asked the attorney general to brief them on any ongoing investigations into Singum. Singham and the party for socialism and liberation did not respond to an earlier request for comment from the Epoch Times. Reporting from Washington DC, Molina Weissup, NTD News. Just a few clicks could cost you your life savings. Chinese stock scams are on the rise in the US targeting unsuspecting investors. Now, Washington is taking action. These scams often follow the same playbook. Victims are lured in by investment ads on platforms like Facebook or WhatsApp, promising so-called expert tips and quick returns. The advice points them to littleknown Chinese companies listed on the NASDAQ stocks that appear to rise steadily for months. But once enough investors buy in, the prices suddenly collapse, sometimes dropping 50% or more overnight. Many of these companies are small and easy to manipulate. Fact set data shows nearly 60 China-based companies have gone public on the NASDAQ since 2020. Over a third have suffered sudden one-day crashes of 50% or more in the last 2 years. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has warned about these risky IPOs. But US regulators face a major hurdle. They can't access records inside China, even when the stocks are sold to Americans. Experts say what's happening amounts to an epidemic of fraud. In response, the Justice Department launched a new task force last month, targeting areas like market manipulation, digital assets, and threats to national security. Minnesota Governor Tim Walls took the stage at the Center for American Progress with a warning. He raised concerns that America is slipping on the world stage and China is poised to fill the gap. Here's what he had to say. Now, who is the voice in the world that can negotiate some type of agreement in this? Who holds the moral authority? Who holds the ability to do that? Because we are not seen as a neutral actor. And we maybe never were. I don't want to tell anybody that. I think there's a lot of people say you always leaned one way in this, but I think there was at least an attempt to be somewhat of the arbitrator in this. We saw President Carter do it with with Bean and Sedat. We've had certain wins along the way that we're we're actually mutually beneficial both ways. Now I ask who that is. And I mean consistently over and over again, we're going to have to face the reality. It might be the Chinese. W's comments touch on a concern among some US leaders about America's role on the world stage, especially managing international conflicts. But is the US truly losing its edge in global power? Within just the past three months, the White House has issued a number of executive orders aimed at bolstering American ship building, nuclear power, and drone defense. President Trump is also proposing a 13% increase in the US military budget for 2026, a major jump from recent years. As for Washington's negotiating authority on the global stage, Trump said on Sunday he would soon broker peace between Israel and Iran. China is trying to frame itself as an alternative peace broker in the conflict. yet condemned Israel Monday for its weakened missile strikes. Those strikes are aimed at dismantling the Iranian regime's nuclear program. Notably, Tim Waltz ran as Kla Harris's running mate in the 2024 presidential election. He's also visited China more than 30 times and has said he doesn't view the CCP as an adversary despite its extensive history of IP theft, human rights abuses, and global aggression. WS and his wife started a company to bring US students to China. With China paying for most of the expenses, China's grip on the global solar panel industry may come with hidden dangers. Experts warned that some solar components made in China could contain kill switches, devices that might let Beijing remotely shut down parts of the US power grid. American thought leaders host Yana Kell sat down with investigative journalist and author Michael Schillenberger to break down the national security risks behind America's clean energy push. It's now been revealed that the Chinese who manufacture virtually all of our solar panels um both in the United States and Europe, they have been installing uh cellular radios inside the inverters which can act as kill switches. And you might think, well, that sounds like a conspiracy theory. Uh, not a conspiracy theory. There was actually a a a Chinese solar uh company that turned off the solar panels and sent up a little message uh to its users saying, "We've we've turned this off because uh this sol these solar panels are only authorized to be used in certain countries, not they can't be used in Pakistan, the United States, and a few other countries." It popped right up on the monitor. It was a huge discussion about it. So we know that the Chinese solar companies all of which are essentially can be used as arms of the Chinese military. There's really no daylight between them. The Chinese government has made it clear that they're can be viewed as extensions of the Chinese security state. Uh they are able to uh to switch off large amounts of solar and if you are able to do that then you are able to cause the depowering and thus the blackouts of the grid. How big of a problem is this? We don't know. I mean, there's been we know that that these these capacity exists in the inverters. Obviously, the Chinese government wants to continue to be to be able to sell solar panels to us. I think most national security experts view this as something that the Chinese could do. If there was, for example, an invasion of Taiwan and the United States decided to defend Taiwan. The Chinese could potentially trigger blackouts in the United States and Europe. As crazy as that sounds, that is the reality. And that and in fact, there's not any debate about that. That that's that's ex where we're at. And so the only question now is how is the United States government responding to that? Give me a picture of how is it that China achieved total dominance in basically the this technology in manufacturing this technology because the United States was in dream world. We're in dreamland. You know, it's still the solar obviously they're able to make solar panels cheaper than anywhere in the world in in large part due to the coerced labor from these weaguer Muslims who are in these concentration camps. Again, not a conspiracy theory. This has been very well reported uh that that's where the the vast amount of solar cell manufacturing and and panel manufacturing is occurring are in those areas. We know the Chinese government has been uh massively subsidizing uh this their the investment on solar precisely so they can you know dump the solar panels in other countries to destroy other nations indigenous solar manufacturing and then we just look we've been you know in dream world we've imagined that it's okay to let the Chinese manufacture not just solar but I mean we're talking drones you know we're talking critical military technology. I mean, imagine the country that we're most likely to go to war with or have some wars with, whether they're proxy wars or direct wars, is the country upon which we're dependent for our military technologies. So, I the good news is I think there is a bipartisan uh agreement now in Washington that that's a huge problem. The biggest or maybe one of the biggest of course is the fact that you know most of our semiconductors uh which also means then our microchips are being manufactured in Taiwan. So if China takes Taiwan uh you know then we are in in very serious trouble. Well, and the CCP did this with a whole bunch of very critical industries, notably steel is one of them, right? But but also telecom like Huawei, you know, for national security reasons is uh, you know, massive been massively subsidized and there's a whole bunch of countries. I mean, think there's like 140 countries that rely on Huawei for their telecom right now. Well, it's incredible. And of course there was the you know Congress did act to then you know restrict US reliance on Huawei but then Huawei also made the solar inverters or made the inverters that are used in solar projects. So uh and and we just the scandals kind of keep going on on. It turned out that there was that Huawei was sort of the main uh partner with the with the government of California in something that was called I think it was called China SF or uh you know was a it was an initiative basically to increase ties between the United between California and China at a time when we were doing a big solar buildout. So, I mean, one of the places that is most vulnerable to a potential uh Chinese sabotage is California because of our high dependence on solar. And so, yeah, I mean, I think the other maybe the unsaid but should be said part of it is the Chinese have poured a huge amount of money into influencing uh American politics in terms of its uh propaganda campaigns in terms of the spending by the Chinese government directly and indirectly um on the American political system. So I think that we have been asleep at the wheel for really decades uh arguably 30 years or longer. The fact that just the drones example, the microchips example, certainly the solar inverters example, that ought to be a very harsh wakeup call and requires some emergency action. Well, Michael Shalenberger, it's such a pleasure to have had you on. Thanks for having me. Coming up, Oregon forcibly taken and sold for huge profits. This horrifying practice is a brutal reality under China's communist regime and is reaching beyond its borders. Now, medical experts are urging the US and other countries to take action. Iran is reportedly buying thousands of tons of ballistic missile components from Chinese companies. An expert weighs in on the potential risks posed by Iran China ties. And the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier has left the South China Sea heading west towards the Middle East. It was deployed to maintain a presence amid growing threats from communist China. That and more in just a minute here on China in Focus. Welcome back to China in Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. Imagine being in prison for one's beliefs than having organs forcibly removed and sold for massive profit. That's the grim reality many face under China's communist regime. Now, a group of medical experts is urging the US and other nations to help stop these atrocities. Entities Arian Pdar has the story. Ending the persecution and and force organ harvesting and holding the perpetrators accountable. Medical experts from around the globe are making a plea for China to stop life organ harvesting. An organization called Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting held a round table this weekend shining light on the ongoing crimes against humanity. It's time for the G7 to take the lead to end this atrocity in China. The US Congress previously found that China's black market is filled with stolen organs. A member with the organization says that China's black market for organs also affects legal organ donations. If we have a perpetrator like state sanctioned forced organ harvesting, it undermines everything based on an ethical medical practice. Independent research has found that China sells the organs for up to $150,000. US lawmakers have been calling on the Chinese regime to stop the atrocity. Arian Pastor, NTD News. This human rights abuse also involves some Americans who travel to China for organ transplants because of the unusually short weight times. Congress is now working to confront the issue of forced organ harvesting in China. In 2019, the Independent China Tribunal in London found that Fong Gong practitioners are likely the main victims. Fallen Gong is a spiritual meditation practice that has been brutally persecuted in China since 1999. Earlier this year, Congress passed the Falong Protection Act, the law with sanctioned doctors involved in forced organ harvesting. Iran is reportedly buying thousands of tons of ballistic missile components from Chinese companies. What is the threat to Israel and American forces in the Middle East? To discuss entity Steve Lance was joined by Brent Sadler. He's the senior research fellow for naval warfare and advanced technology at the Heritage Foundation. Brent Sadler, thank you so much for joining. Yeah, thanks for having me on your show today. It's great to have you back with us. So Brent, according to a Wall Street Journal report, Iran has now ordered thousands of tons of ballistic missile components from none other than the Chinese Communist Party, including materials such as ammonium perlorate. You had a similar shipment that was monitored and reported in the in social media and in the news that ended up in fairly large explosions and fires in uh Iranian port that where that material was processed. And it seems like they're replacing what they had destroyed because they probably were handling it improperly. Uh so critical component in their ballistic missile program. I think more uh challenging or troubling is the fact that these rockets that they produce, the smaller and shorter range ones, even some of the longer ones, find their way in the hands of the Houthis who still attack Israel to this day and of course the proxies they support in Iraq. That was going to be my next question is sort of what level of threat do you think this poses these materials, these ballistic missiles to Israel and US forces in the region and is there any way to intercept or deter uh these transfers more effectively? So the the material that's probably coming from China is being purchased. I mean it's not that complex to make solid rocket fuel. just making it well and reliable and at scale to deliver a heavy missile. That may be something Iran's got a challenge with, but the material that's coming from China is probably some of the secret ingredient that gives the Iranian ballistic missiles their ability to loft a heavy warhead over longer ranges. So, the threat again, it's really in the design of the seeker head and the size of the warhead. And the Iranians performance has been mixed, but I would say good enough to cause a lot of death and destruction, which is the real problem here. The USS Nimits aircraft carrier departed the South China Sea Monday morning, heading west toward the Middle East. That leaves just one other US currier in the Indoacific, maintaining a presence to counter communist China's growing threats. Here's more. A reception for its planned port call in central Vietnam was cancelled. The Nimitz carrier strike group conducted maritime security operations in the South China Sea last week. The activity was part of the US Navy's routine prisons in the Indoacific. Another aircraft carrier, the USS George Washington, is now permanently stationed in Japan. Two or three other US carriers are regularly rotating through the Indoacific. As the US China tech war heats up, Taiwan is joining the fight. It's adding Chinese tech giant Huawei and chipmaker SMIC to its export control list following the US lead. Here are the details. Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs confirmed on Sunday that it has added China's Huawei and China's largest trimm maker SMIC into its strategic high-tech commodities enters. Taiwanese firms now need government approval to export to them. Both Huawei and SMIC are already on the US entity list. Although China and the US have reached a certain stage in talks, the US hasn't changed its stance on targeting SMIC and Huawei. Taiwan may have identified companies involved in trans shshipment for Huawei or SMIC and is now moving to block them. The ministry said the move was based on the prevention of farms proliferation and other national security considerations. Experts say it will affect China's semiconductor and AI chip production. Nvidia said it would exclude China from forecasts, a clear signal. Earlier, the US also banned certain software and equipment sales to China. Without them, China can't advance unless it goes fully domestic. More countries are now joining the US in these curbs. Taiwan is home to the world's largest chipmaker, TSMC, which is a major supplier to Nvidia. Taiwan's government has repeatedly bowed to crack down on what it says are efforts by Chinese companies, including SMIC, to steal technology and drop talent away from the island. Reporting from Taiwan, Joy Cho, Ant News. 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 chinafocusentd.com. We'd love to hear from you. For roundtheclock original news coverage, visit us at ntd.com or download our NTD app. Thanks for watching. See you tomorrow.