Trump–Xi Meeting Shaky After Rare-Earth Disputes, China Cancels Xi's Hotel Booking | China in Focus

Welcome to China in Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. Our top story, US markets bouncing back after President Trump softens his tone on China, easing fears of a major trade war. But a face tof face with Chinese leader Xi Jinping still up in the air. One month after actor Yong Long's mysterious death, public pressure for answers is only growing from China to the rest of the world. Citizen investigators now pointing to China's top leadership and the case may involve a secret criminal system behind the scenes. China's ally Russia might face a game changer in its war with Ukraine. President Trump says he may offer long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine. Betting on America's future, JP Morgan dropping$10 billion dollars into US supply chains, powering energy, defense, and high-tech. Details on the move. And General Motors staying ahead of supply chain troubles with China since 2021. It's been building up its rare earth magnet production on US soil, cutting reliance on Beijing. We take a closer look. [Music] Following President Trump's uproar over China's new rare earth expert controls, all eyes on the regional summit APEC in a few weeks, which Trump and Chinese regime leader Xiinping are expected to attend and have their first bilateral meeting this year. But now, strange things are adding uncertainty to whether their meeting will actually take place. South Korea is hosting this year's Apex Summit at the end of the month. The country's foreign minister said on Monday that Trump is highly likely to skip main events of the summit as the president would leave one day before the start of the events, but he confirmed a bilateral meeting between Trump and South Korea's president, adding it will probably be in the city where Apac is happening. As for bilateral meetings between the US and China and between China and South Korea, the top diplomat disclosed that they will likely be in the same city. As of now, Beijing has yet to confirm regime leader Xi Jinping's trip to South Korea despite media reports anticipating she's visit. What's also fueling the speculation that she might skip the meeting weeks ago, China cancelled its booking of an entire hotel in Seoul reportedly for she's visit according to South Korean media. The Chinese side did not provide any explanation. Meanwhile, multiple insider sources hint the Chinese regime might be going through a big power shakeup. A former CCP official said his source told him that she might have suffered a stroke earlier last week. And cannot independently verify the source. She did appear on state television Monday. Trump's recent comments that some very strange things are happening in China and he just had a bad moment also fuel speculation about his grip on power. Treasury Secretary Scott Besson said on Monday that President Trump was on track to meet with Chinese regime leader Xi Jinping in South Korea. Here's the secretary during an interview on Fox News. >> China that this was a provocative move. Uh we have substantially uh deescalated. Uh President Trump said that the tariffs would not go into effect until November 1st. Uh he will be meeting with party chair Xi in Korea. I believe that meeting will still be on. This is China versus the world. They have pointed a bazooka at the supply chains and the industrial base of the entire free world. And you know, we're not going to have it. China is a command and control economy. They are neither going to command nor control us. >> US China relations taking sharp turns in just days after Beijing sudden rare earth restrictions last week. Over the weekend, President Trump softened his tone in a post on Truth Social, stating, "Don't worry about China." and that Chinese leader Xiinping just had a bad moment. Less than 48 hours earlier, Trump just vowed hefty new tariffs on China, pushing total rates to about 130% over what he called Beijing's trade hostility. Beijing fired back on Sunday. NTD's Flora Hua has more. President Trump posted the latest update on Truth Social after Beijing pushed back on his tariff hike threats. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce responded earlier on Sunday. It did not threaten any specific tariffs on US goods in retaliation, but said China is not afraid of a trade war with the US. It also said China's new export controls don't constitute export bans, adding that applications meeting China standards will be approved. Beijing also warned that applications for military related purposes will be denied. Beijing's new restrictions issued earlier last week target a wide range of rare earth products. They're both critical for high-end tech manufacturing and military applications. China dominates the global refinement of rare earth. Following China's statement, the US trade representative Greer said that US won't allow China to continue its power grab of rare earth minerals. Here's the ambassador responding to China's reaction at Fox News the Sunday briefing. >> Well, their announcement today, they didn't announce anything specific. Again, I think that they've realized they've overstepped. And remember, we've had a deal in place with China since May where we said, "We'll keep our broad tariffs in check. If you keep sending us rare earth magnets, we've kept our broad tariffs in check." And they've decided to expand their controls on rare earth. So, so clearly there's a violation of our agreement there. So, it makes sense that the president would would take an enforcement action or propose an enforcement action. >> Greer also said the US wasn't notified ahead of Beijing's move. Instead, they found out about it from public sources and then reached out to their Chinese counterparts. The top trade negotiator did not rule out the possibility of a Trump she meeting at the end of the month. On Friday, President Trump hint he would cancel that meeting as he condemned China for quote great trade hostility. >> Just want to confirm, have you canled your meeting with President Xi and >> No, I haven't. So, but I don't know that we're going to have it, but I'm going to be there regardless. So, I would assume we might have it, but uh you know, they uh hit the world with something that really is not anything that people are going to do. And and it's uh it was shocking. Where did that come from? It was just that was out of the blue, right? Out of the blue, they came up with this uh whole import export concept and nobody uh nobody knew anything about it. >> The Trump administration did not make the tariff hike on China a dumb deal. Flora Hua, NT News. >> Wall Street is seeing some relief on Monday after President Trump softened his tone on China. The S&P 500 has recovered nearly half of its losses from Friday. The Dow Jones and the Nasdaq are also posting strong gains. Besides the major indexes, US stocks tied to rare earth also jumped on Monday as the Trump administration pushes to boost domestic production. US rare earth and critical metals surged more than 25% while leading US miner MP materials rallied about 20%. Meanwhile, gold and silver prices are hitting record highs. The precious metals are seen as safe bets for many investors amid US China trade tensions. However, multiple Chinese indexes plunged on Monday. Major tech giants including Alibaba and Tencent saw the biggest losses. To discuss China's rare earth expert controls, entities Carrie Dunn spoke to Dr. Keith Nton, co-founder and principal of Silent Majority Strategies. >> It seemed like out of nowhere, China escalated this trade war with the US. um basically saying even if the rare earths don't initially exist in China that they wanted to put export controls. What do you think of the timing? It pretty much happened on the same day that this breakthrough with Israel and the Arab partners pressuring Hamas. Do you why would China pick that day to ultimately create this new trade escalation? >> Well, they want to rain on his parade. Uh cannot be trusted. I'm not surprised at all that they would do this. There is no deal that you can cut with them, with the CCP, that will ever be held. Whenever they feel like violating a deal, they're going to do it. You've got no choice but to find ways to keep pressure on them. That's the only way to keep these deals going. I think China's been working and Xi Jinping for the last 15 years to become as self-sufficient as possible for their regime. And the more self-sufficient they are, the more that they're going to act this way. Um, under President Obama, they were the United States was completely asleep, allowed an enormous amount of technology to be stolen, did not prepare this country to be resilient in the case of uh any trade disruptions. Trump has started the process of making a country more independent. I actually think he needs to be more aggressive and I think he needs to do more than just tariffs. He's got to have a more broad strategy. But no one should believe that any deal with China is going to last ever. That should be just just a number one fact. So I wouldn't surprise So I wouldn't surprise at all. >> It's been 1 month since the mysterious death of Chinese actor Yumong who had nearly 30 million followers on Chinese social media platform. Public attention on the case remains unusually high. A grassroots movement seeking more information about his death is gaining support with participants from China and abroad. On Sunday, Chinese Americans handed out flyers and collected signatures on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, calling for justice for you. Meanwhile, Chinese authorities have censored username online. Even words that sound like his name, as well as symbolic references, are banned. What's behind the Chinese Communist Party censorship effort? Latest reports indicate connections to disturbing exhibitions inside Beijing's 798 art district, a modern art hub in a former military factory complex. Citizen investigators have raised questions about possible individuals involved, including the alleged illegitimate son of Tai Chi, currently ranked fifth in the CCP leadership, and a possible descendant of former Premier Lee Pong's family. Here's a closer look. Two disturbing videos have gone viral online believed to show the final moments of Chinese actor Yumong Long. One shows him hanging upside down outside a high-rise window. Another captures his screams as his pet dog is killed in front of him. On September 11th, news broke that you had died in a luxury apartment in Beijing. Within 12 hours, police had ruled it an accidental fall after drinking. No autopsy, no surveillance footage, no official report. Amid public outrage, authorities launched a sweeping censorship campaign both online and offline. China's entertainment industry stayed silent. Use name became taboo. Meanwhile, Chinese social media platform VBO announced a major clampdown, deleting over 100,000 posts, suspending more than 1,000 accounts, and disabling comments on over 15,000 others. The Chinese public did not remain silent. Independent investigators have identified five key leads in U's death. One, you was reportedly under long-term control by his management agency. He was trying to end his contract with EE Media, a state-owned talent agency under Mango Excellent Media. A top executive at Mango resigned unexpectedly last week. Two, you discovered that his name was being misused in arms deals and money laundering. He kept evidence on a USB drive. Three, you death appears linked to a coordinated murder involving actors, directors, producers, agents, and investors. At least two key suspects are believed to have ties to China's top leadership. Tai Ja is rumored to be the illegitimate son of Tai Chi, a top CCP leader and considered the country's fifth most powerful man. Both are from China's Fujian province and look strikingly similar. Information about him is scarce online. Another suspect, Lee Ming, also known as Ji Guang Guang, may be the grandson of former Chinese Premier Lee Pong and the greatgrandson of PLA General Yi Tang. The apartment where Yu was seen hanging is reportedly registered under Lee's name. Four, Yu's death echoes earlier suspicious celebrity deaths, including singer and actor Chi Ren Leyang in 2016 and martial arts actor Chiong, known as China's most handsome Shaolin Monk in August 2024. All three were managed by the same talent agency. Five. Strikingly, all three celebrities shoes appeared in a disturbing exhibit at Beijing's 798 Art District, a modern art hub with reports saying it features human skin clothing and body part displays. Due to heavy censorship in China, NTD cannot independently verify these online claims. A photography exhibition was held at Beijing's 798 Art District just before U's death running from September 6th to the 12th. You visited the district and posed for a commemorative photo with the gallery. Weeks later, someone mysteriously logged into his social media account and deleted that photo, possibly to remove evidence. In a sudden move, actress and producer Tian Ha Rang, widow of Chinese billionaire Shu Ming, who was closely tied to disgrace former high-ranking official Boi Li, broke her silence weeks after Yu's death. Tienne has been named as one of the alleged suspects in Yu's death. Back in 1999, Bo Sheili approved the construction of one of the world's largest facilities for plastinating human bodies used for research and public display. Bo was later jailed for corruption and Shu Ming died in prison. Some now wonder whether Tien has taken over Shu's operations. Why did Yu hold a photo exhibit at 798 Art Zone? Why did Yu Mong die during the exhibition period? Since Yu's death, no members of his family have appeared publicly. Despite heavy censorship, Chinese nizens continue calling for an investigation. Over 350,000 signatures have already been collected overseas demanding justice >> on China's ally Russia. Now, President Trump says he may offer long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine. He told reporters on Sunday that he has discussed the request with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zalinski. This Friday, Zalinsky will be coming to Washington to meet Trump. >> Well, I don't know. I may I might have to speak to Russia to be honest with you about Tomahawks. Do they want to have tomahawks going in their direction? I don't think so. I think I might speak to Russia about that. In all fairness, I told that to President Zullinski because tomahawks are a new step of aggression. >> Tomahawks have a range of roughly 1,500 miles, far enough to strike deep inside Russia, including Moscow. Trump said if it happens, the US would not sell the missiles directly to Ukraine, but would supply them to NATO, which can then offer them to Keefe. Zalinsky has said any longrange weapons would be used only for military targets and not against civilians. Trump said last week that before agreeing to provide more weapons, he wants to know how Ukraine would use them because he does not want to escalate the war. Zilinsky said he spoke on the telephone with President Trump yesterday, the second time in two days. The deputy chairman of Russia Security Council said on Monday that supplying US Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine could end badly for everyone, especially Trump. On Friday, Zalinsky will meet Trump in Washington to discuss Ukraine's air defense and long-range strike capabilities. Coming up, betting on America's future. JP Morgan dropping 10 billion dollars into US supply chains, powering energy, defense, and high-tech. Details on the move. And General Motors staying ahead of supply chain troubles with China since 2021. It's been building up its rare earth magnet production on US soil, cutting reliance on Beijing. We take a closer look. And Open AI zapping China linked users who tried to turn Chat GPT into a surveillance sidekick. The crackdown comes after requests tied to social media spying tools. More on that after the break here on China in Focus. Welcome back to China in focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. JP Morgan Chase plans to make a major investment of 10 billion dollars in critical US sectors over the next decade. The bank announced Monday it's investing in four key areas: supply chain resilience, energy independence, defense, and AI technology. CEO Jamie Diamond says the US has become too reliant on China for things like minerals and manufacturing, and this plan is meant to change that. The move could ramp up as much as $1.5 trillion in new investments over 10 years. It comes as tensions with China heat up again. President Trump threatened massive tariffs on Chinese imports after China decided to tighten control over rare earth minerals. JP Morgan is hoping that boosting domestic industry will pay off in this new era of trade wars and tech rivalries. Diamond says America needs more speed and investment and hopes the country can come together to rise to the challenge once again. One US automaker may be breathing a little easier after China tightened its grip on rare earth magnet exports again. The trade restrictions are sending shock waves through global supply chains. General Motors made a decision back in 2021 to move rare earth magnet production to the US, cutting its reliance on China years before these new restrictions hit. That decision now puts GM ahead of most of its competitors. GM started preparing for this moment during the pandemic in 2021 when supply shortages shut down car factories worldwide. The company's supply chain chief says the company realized a lack of resiliency is much more costly. So GM teamed up with Germany's VAC and US minor MP materials to produce Americanmade rare earth magnets. When production ramps up later this year, GM will be the only US automaker with a large domestic supply. Beijing is tightening its export controls on rare earth minerals. Taiwan says the new rules are not going to significantly affect chip production. Semiconductors don't seem directly affected at this point as most rare earth related purchases are indirect. Materials from Japan, equipment from the US, and few direct imports from China. Indirect repercussions may still occur. >> Taiwan said the direct impact is likely on motors, especially high-speed ones used in drones and other industries. A Ministry of Economic Affairs official added that Taiwan will also work to build its own rare earth supply chain. >> For example, we're using government technology projects to help establish a rare earth supply chain. Other countries are likely to develop theirs as well. So, we must move in that direction, too. Okay, >> Taiwan is home to the world's largest contract chipmaker, TSMC, and produces the vast majority of advanced chips that are a key component of AI applications. Open AI announces it is banning several Chatgipedia accounts linked to China's communist regime. A new threat report from OpenAI says some users break national security rules by asking Chat GPT to help develop social media surveillance tools. The company says last week that the accounts are tied to efforts supporting China surveillance programs, including requests targeting weaguers, an ethnic minority in China facing communist oppression. The move has raised global concern, showing how AI can be exploited for large-scale monitoring and repression. Open AAI also blocks other accounts linked to Chinese users who requested help building fishing and malware tools. In addition, some requests aim to improve China's AI competitor, Deep Seek. Open AAI says there's no evidence Chad GPT has aided malicious users with its new offensive features. Since cracking down on abuse early last year, Open AAI says it has disrupted more than 40 such networks. The move comes as the AI race between Washington and Beijing continues to heat up. These reports are raising new questions about how governments and companies should regulate AI. China is launching an antitrust probe into US chipmaker Qualcomm over its acquisition of Israeli firm Autotox. Beijing accuses Qualcomm of possible monopoly violations. China's market regulator confirmed the investigation Friday. It's the latest move in Beijing's campaign against American semiconductor companies. Just last month, China accused Nvidia of violating its anti- monopoly laws. Analysts say this latest probe adds to growing regulatory pressure on US tech firms operating in China. Qualcomm, which earns nearly half its revenue from Chinese tech companies, finalized its purchase of auto talks back in June. The Israeli firm develops communication chips for vehicles that help prevent crashes. These back-to-back probes could heighten tensions in already strained USChina trade relations. 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 and ffocusd.com. We'd love to hear from you. Around the clock original news coverage, visit us at ntd.com or download our NTD app. Thanks for watching. See you tomorrow. [Music]