Trump Signs Executive Order for TikTok Deal; Taiwan’s Rare Diplomatic Win Through Chips

Welcome to China in Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. Our top story, President Donald Trump signing an executive order paving the way for a long- aaited deal on the Chinese-owned app Tik Tok. Taiwan lifting planned chip export restrictions on South Africa. The rare sanctions were imposed in response to South Africa downgrading Taiwanese offices, a move connected to its growing ties with China. President Trump announcing plans to use tariff revenue to support American farmers. This comes as Beijing halts US soybean purchases amid ongoing trade tensions. Seven US universities ending joint scholarship programs with China. Lawmakers warning continuing cooperation could fuel China's military and scientific growth. And a bipartisan US congressional delegation wrapping up a 5-day visit to China. They met with top officials, including China's defense minister. Could these talks help the US and China avoid a possible military showdown? No amount of talking is going to convince the the Chinese that you cannot be defeated. [Music] Before we dive into today's news, don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter using the link down below. In tomorrow's newsletter, we're taking a closer look at US businesses pulling back major investments in China and what it could mean for all Americans. It drops Friday morning straight to your inbox. Don't miss it. President Trump signed an executive order aimed at clearing the way for the Tik Tok deal and cracking down on political violence. And today's Washington correspondent Mario Su has more. Good evening, Mari. What can you tell us about the executive actions the president's signing today? Tiff, good evening. Yes, just a little while ago, uh, President Trump signed an executive order that approves a deal to keep Tik Tok alive in the US. Uh now in his first term uh the president called for the app to be banned but he's since changed course uh delaying that ban four times now until December. Um and while this executive order confirms that the Tik Tok deal complies with America's national security standards, some lawmakers have been expressing concerns about the deal over the app's ties to the CCP. Uh points of concern have been twofold. Uh one, the CCP continuing to control Tik Tok through its algorithm. um and the CCP's access to American user data posing a large national security threat. But President Trump insists that the app will be owned by majority American investors and that those investors will be controlling the algorithm. Here's Vice President JD Vance on this issue. Watch deal really does mean that Americans can use Tik Tok but actually use it with more confidence than they had in the past because their data is going to be secure and it's not going to be used as a propaganda weapon against our fellow citizens. The White House is touting this as a historic deal, saying businesses using Tik Tok will generate as much as $178 billion in the US in the next four years. Uh the deal entails the American tech company Oracle serving as a security provider and storing American data. The president says Larry Ellison of Oracle is involved as one of the investors as well as Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch. Taiwanese authorities announced Thursday that they are suspending the chip export restrictions and posts on South Africa just two days earlier. The move comes after a request from the South African government. Taiwan rarely uses chip exports as diplomatic leverage, but this time the move came after South Africa downgraded to Taiwanese representative offices in the country. South Africa first proposed the downgrade in 2023, asking Taiwan to move one of its offices out of its capital. That same year, it hosted the brick summit and welcomed Chinese Communist Party leader Xiinping. With she expected at the G20 leader summit this November, South Africa has stepped up pressure on Taiwan. In response, Taiwan imposed 47 semiconductor export restrictions on South Africa. Officials cited national security concerns. The restrictions were originally scheduled to take effect at the end of November. South Africa has now agreed to talks with Taiwan over the representative office issue. President Trump says tariff revenue will be used to support US farmers. He made the remarks on Thursday from the Oval Office during a meeting with Turkish President Erdogan. Take a look. And we're going to take some of that tariff money that we made. We're going to give it to our farmers who are for a little while going to be hurt until it kicks in. The tariffs kick in to their benefit. So, we're going to make sure that our farmers are in great shape because we're taking in a lot of money. We're finding the other day it was very interesting. They found $31 billion. They said, "Sir, we found 31." I said, "You mean positively, right?" They said, "Yeah, 31 million more than we knew." American farmers have been feeling the effects of ongoing trade tensions between Washington and Beijing. Earlier this week, the president of the American Soybean Association urged President Trump for assistance. China has stopped purchasing US soybeans due to higher tariffs on American goods, heavily impacting farmers revenues. Instead, it bought 1.3 million tons of soybeans from Argentina. President Trump announced this latest effort to help American farmers with tariff revenue, but it's unclear if he meant 31 million or 31 billion dollar. Seven US universities are ending programs that could help China's military gain access to advanced technology. John Mulinar, chairman of the House Select China Committee, praised their decision. The universities include Dartmouth College, Temple University, University of California campuses at Davis, Irvine, and Riverside, the University of Notre Dame, and the University of Tennessee. They've ended joint scholarship programs with China Scholarship Council, or CSC. Molinar said the CSC is part of Beijing's effort to transfer American Know-How to support China's military and scientific growth. The agency sends Chinese students to study at elite US colleges, but their scholarships come with strings attached. Some applicants must pledge loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party. One CSSE guideline states applicants must support the leadership of the Communist Party. Another guideline says the program will not send students who have political problems. CSSE also requires sponsored students to report to Chinese consulates on their academic progress every 3 months. In other news, a Republican and a Democrat are backing a bill to release Americans wrongfully detained in China. Here's more. Congressman Chris Smith says the CCP holds more Americans as prisoners than any other nation in the world. The congressman said it is well past time that the United States responds forcefully and fearlessly to rescue its citizens who have been held hostage by the CCP. His bill would direct the Secretary of State to create a plan to identify all cases of concern and use leverage available to release citizens in Chinese custody. It also aims to counter the CCP's tactic of suppressing free speech abroad by holding family members of American citizens as hostages. One example is the sister of weaker American activist Rashan Abbas. After she spoke out against the CCP's human rights abuses in Shenzhang, her sister was handed a 20-year prison sentence on terrorism related charges. Smith said these deliberate assaults on the freedoms and livelihoods of American citizens and their families must end once and for all. It's a race for dominance in space. NASA is gearing up to send four astronauts on a 10-day trip around the moon in 2026. This marks the first step toward putting Americans back on the lunar surface since 1969. The mission is part of NASA's Aremis program launched during President Trump's first term. The program aims not just to put Americans back on the moon, but to reach Mars one day. NASA is teaming up with Firefly Aerospace. Earlier this year, Firefly became the second US company to land an unmanned aircraft on the moon with the help of SpaceX rocket technology. But the US isn't alone. China, working closely with Russia, is pouring resources into its own lunar program. Beijing now aims to land a crude mission on the moon by 2030. One major reason for the US China lunar race, Helium 3, a resource scarce on Earth, but plentiful on the moon. It could power everything from national security systems to healthcare technology and even quantum computers. Just two pounds of it could sell for around $20 million. Acting NASA administrator Shawn Duffy says whoever reaches the moon first sets the rules. Those rules could cover a lot from securing digging sites to setting up communication systems and even building a nuclear reactor. In recent weeks, China has conducted tests on its landing and takeoff systems. Its space agency says their superheavy lift rocket designed to kickstart the mission passed two major tests. The report has some US officials and NASA veterans worried China could reach the moon before the US. Meanwhile, President Trump is pushing to cut government red tape to speed up the US space industry and keep America ahead in the space race. A bipartisan congressional group wrapped up their visit in China on Thursday. The delegation was led by Congressman Adam Smith. is the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee. That's the panel that oversees the Pentagon and US military. In a rare move, the group met with China's defense minister during their five-day visit. To discuss the trip, we spoke with retired US Marine Colonel Grant Nam. He's a senior fellow at the Center for Security Policy. Grant, earlier this week, a bipartisan delegation of lawmakers met with Chinese Defense Minister Don Jun in China. This was the first such delegation in six years those types of formal trips ended with co 19 and of course the tensions that followed between the two countries. First, what do you make of this rare visit and talks with the defense minister? Well, ultimately not much. I think after some period of time, say in this case 30 or 40 years where we've exchanged these kind of visits, you have to ask yourself what has been the positive outcome of this? Has China become less aggressive? Have they stopped bullying the Japanese, the Philippines, the South Koreans? Have they stopped seizing the South China Sea? Have they stopped building a military intended to defeat the United States and to dominate uh every other country in the region and with global ambitions? Is it a more liberal society in in China as was supposed to be the case if we just talked to them and showed them our by our example how they should behave? And what has been the outcome of that of these meetings? I would suggest not much at all. You know, most recently we have Xiinping comes to San Francisco and meets President Biden and while he's there, he he lays down the law to President Biden and says, "We're not going to wait forever when it comes to Taiwan. You've got to stop containing us. We expect you to do this, this, and this." The American side just sat and took it. That's those sorts of sort of lecturing. And the also at the same time it was a win-win for Xiinping because he had a a room full of business luminaries from America get two standing o give him two standing ovations. Uh so it looked pretty good from China's perspective to be hosted that way. Uh and they will play it that like that. And I wouldn't expect however any change in Chinese behavior owing to these kinds of meetings. I want to zoom into that because we just saw recently the military parade and then seems a more belligerent China and say the South China Sea against the Philippines especially and always around Taiwan there's that tension bubbling. Of course there's the current trade tensions between the two given that some are concerned about this meeting with the delegation and the defense minister in terms of militarytoilitary communication pointing to history that we saw something similar with countries talking to Germany right before World War II. Should we be concerned in that regard? I think we should. I think the fact we're talking doesn't mean that China has changed its objectives and what it intends to do at all. And you do have precedent for this both in terms of Chinese behavior. But also, as you've mentioned, before World War II, you had, for example, you did have interactions between the the Vermach, between the the German military and the allies, and they would even actually attend each other's exercises. So, you had engagement. And well, what did it what did it get you? I would say not very much. Sometimes you're going to be taken more seriously by a regime like like the PRC or like Germany in the 1930s if you show that you're not too eager to talk, but you're very eager to defend yourself and that you will do whatever is necessary. Uh that gets taken seriously. Uh talking and having a nice dinner and exchanging toast, uh that doesn't get you very far, nor do hot lines and at all. And given all of that, what should the US be doing in terms of signaling either deterrence or just sending that message to China to not ramp up aggression? Well, first when it comes to talking and engaging is if you've got something to talk to us about, come and see us, but we're not going to beat down the door so that we we can be let in. And at the end of the day, if we're not willing to do what is necessary to build up our navy, to rebuild our military, to get our war stocks and our industrial capacity up to where it needs to be, well, no amount of talking is going to convince the the Chinese that you cannot be defeated. Uh so we have to do these concrete steps and also get our financial house in order somehow. Coming up, the US is about to charge Chinese-made chips hefty fees for docking at American ports. how this policy is affecting the global shipping industry and even US farmers exporting goods and Chinese leader Xiinping ramping up control in western China's hing. More on that after the break here on China in focus. Welcome back to China in Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. President Trump's push to counter China's dominance in ship building is starting to have an impact. The US will begin charging hefty fees on Chinese-built ships that call at American ports starting mid-occtober. Some fleet owners are now rethinking orders from Chinese yards. Meanwhile, Japanese shipyards are seeing a growing number of inquiries. That's according to Hayoshi Nagasawa, president of the Japanese Ship Owners Association. He told the Financial Times that the new US port fees will weaken China ship building dominance and boost Japanese and South Korean competitors. He added that relying solely on China for ship building is risky. Some of the world's largest shipping companies are already pulling Chinese-built ships off US routes, replacing them with South Korean vessels. Under Trump's order, Chinese built ships must pay $120 per container at American ports. that can easily push a midsize vessel's cost close to $700,000 per visit. German's proposal has drawn push back from the US agriculture industry, especially farmers exporting to China. They say the added cost could threaten exports of wheat, corn, and soybeans. The US and China are competing for dominance in ship building. China controls half of the world's commercial ship production. US shipyards have been in decline for decades. In 1975, America built 70 ships per year. Today, that number is down to just five. Chinese leader Xiinping is tightening his grip on China's western region of Shing Jang. There, the US says Beijing has been committing genocide against the weaguer ethnic minority. On Wednesday, she urged local officials to spare no effort to maintain social stability while visiting the region. For Beijing, social stability means no criticism or protests against the ruling regime. Over a million weaguers have been reportedly detained in China, and many have been used as forced labor. Washington has slapped sanctions on more than 30 Chinese companies over forced labor. That list includes one of the world's largest textile manufacturers. Shing Jang officials said last week that US sanctions have affected the local economy. [Music] Next, we zoom in on communist ideologies spreading in US college classrooms. Just days ago, at Ohio's Oberlin College, during a class called Revolution, Socialism, and Reform in China, a pro-communist professor defended a student for endorsing political assassination. We take a closer look at what these courses are teaching American young people and the potential impact on US higher education. My teacher said, "I'll give you five minutes for hot takes about Charlie Kirk." I was the only person who raised their hand. I said, "I've been saying we need to bring back political assassinations. I don't feel bad and I don't think that everyone deserves the right to free speech." In the video's caption, Julia She said her professor defended her points, but later she told the New York Post that some students in the class disagreed with her position. Her remarks quickly sparked heavy criticism across social media platforms, including X, Facebook, and Instagram. Gordon Chang, veteran political analyst and author, says those advocating political assassinations pose an existential threat to America. This is an existential threat. There's no other way to put it and this is a case where we have failed to educate the next generation of Americans. So this is our fault. Um but this is something that we can deal with because it is our educational system and we have to deal with this as a matter of highest priority. The advocacy of violence if it's accepted by people will destroy our society. In the Tik Tok video, Julia Shei said she made the comments during a class on revolution in China. She also described how the ideologies of Maadong, founder of communist China, shaped her views. Mark Bletcher is the professor of this class. He teaches politics in East Asian studies at Oberlin College. His syllabus described the radical policies of mouse era half a century ago as innovative and econic and said they accomplished a great deal. In fact, during that time, tens of millions of innocent Chinese people died under Mao's brutal rule. The professor also reportedly framed Beijing's infamous Tinaman massacre in 1989 in a positive light, calling it decisive and successful and praising the Chinese communist regime. Back to she's comments. She admitted in Professor Bletcher's class that she had expressed support for political assassination. Later, she and the school deleted or hid most of her digital footprint. She also issued an apology to the New York Post, saying she does not advocate political assassinations and that neither her professor nor her classmates agreed with her. This problem didn't arise on one day. This is the result of decades of our inattention to what is being taught in our schools and it's also our inattention to what the Communist Party has been trying to do to influence Americans. So, uh, this is an existential threat for us. We absolutely have to end the Communist Party's influence in our country. Florida Congresswoman Maria Salazar reintroduced a bill earlier this year aimed at teaching youth about crimes committed by communist parties. In a statement, she said, quote, "Communism is one of the most destructive political ideologies the world has ever seen." 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 chinainfocusenttd.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. [Music]