Free Republic

IT is ChINA’S gravest economic test since the most far-reaching of Deng Xiaoping’s reforms began in the 1990s. Last year the country achieved growth of 5%, but the pillars of its decades-long miracle are wobbling. Its famously industrious workforce is shrinking, history’s wildest property boom has turned to bust and the global system of free trade that China used to get richer is disintegrating. As our reporting explains, President Xi Jinping’s response is to double down on an audacious plan to remake China’s economy. Blending techno-utopianism, central planning and an obsession with security, this sets out China’s ambition to dominate...

A huge bridge said to be big enough for a column of tanks to cross is set to spring up in Panama in one of the most dangerous migrant crossing points in the world. According to reports, the structure is being built in Yaviza which sits on the Rio Chuconaco - the separation point between Central and South America and one of the most southerly points reachable by roads from North America. Until now, the Pan-American highway - which weaves through central America towards South America - has ended in Yaviza, which sits on the edge of the 100-mile Darien...

President Biden informed his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, of the US position on several issues during a call Tuesday, the White House said; Xi’s response was essentially, “F-U.” No, Xi didn’t use those exact terms. But close enough. Biden emphasized the importance of “peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” “the rule of law and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea” and America’s “commitment” to denuclearizing North Korea, the White House reported. And he raised “concerns” over climate change, China’s “support for Russia’s defense industrial base” and its “unfair trade policies,” etc., etc. Yet Xi, per Beijing’s readout...

The Taiwanese government has rebuffed an offer of help extended by Beijing as the island contends with the aftermath of a deadly 7.3 magnitude earthquake that struck on Wednesday morning, killing at least nine people.At least 934 people are reported injured and 56 remain trapped in the quake that struck off the east coast at 7.58am and sparked tsunami warnings. Soon after the disaster, Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council offered the island disaster assistance. In response, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said in a short statement there was no need for the mainland to help. “We noticed that...

Microsoft will stop packaging its Teams videoconferencing app with its Office software after the practice attracted antitrust scrutiny...

President Joe Biden held a phone call on Tuesday with China’s genocidal dictator Xi Jinping in which the American leftist leader reportedly emphasized his distaste for a “new Cold War” or “conflict” with the Chinese Communist Party and assured Xi he would not pursue economic “decoupling.” Those details appeared in the flagship Chinese news outlet Xinhua, which paraphrased Xi’s remarks as berating Biden to deny the existence of the nation of Taiwan, reject pressure to limit China’s malignant influence in the United States, and endeavor to “coexist in peace.”

John Solomon and ‘AMAC’ President Rebecca Weber host ‘China Syndrome: How Biden policies and family business have empowered Beijing to America’s detriment,’ sponsored by The Association for Mature Americans (AMAC) for frank conversation with lawmakers, China experts exposing the shocking truth of China’s access to the American public and how this has happened with no pushback from U.S. officials. Guest list includes: House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, Former Assistant Secretary of State Bobby Charles, Gatestone Institute Senior Fellow Gordon Chang, and Heritage Foundation Director of the Center for National Defense Robert Greenway. To watch the special or see the...

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Sunday that he expects to move a package including aid for Ukraine with “some important innovations” when the House returns from recess. In an interview on “Sunday Night in America With Trey Gowdy,” Johnson stressed the difficult position he’s in, with a historically narrow House majority, but said he was working throughout the current work period to come up with a package and plans to put it on the floor when the House gavels back into session.

The bodies of eight Chinese nationals have been found on a beach in the Mexican state of Oaxaca after their boat capsized, officials say. The bodies were found on Friday along a route used by illegal migrants trying to reach the United States. The seven women and a man were on board a boat operated by a Mexican that set off from Chiapas state, on the border with Guatemala, on Thursday. One other person survived. It was not clear what happened the boat's driver. The prosecutor's office in Oaxaca said the bodies were found near a beach in the town...

A Chinese national who entered the U.S. illegally was arrested after sneaking onto a Marine Corps base in California and refusing to leave, U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirmed. Border Patrol agents confirmed to a local news outlet that the Chinese national was arrested Wednesday after entering onto the Marine Corps base in Twentynine Palms. “His purpose & intent behind his actions are still being investigated,” Border Patrol Chief Patrol Agent Gregory K. Bovino posted on X. According to the Daily Mail, there have been over 100 instances of Chinese nationals infiltrating military bases in the U.S. over the past...

A Chinese national living in the Guangdong Province, China, became the proud owner of a “fixer upper” in Penobscot County in February thanks, in part, to title transfer services provided by Paul H. Mills, the eldest brother of Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D). Xiling Ou, 44, of Malden, Mass., was the original owner of the ramshackle house and its three-bay garage, along with nine-acres of land, located at 51 Cider Hill in Corinna. But 13 days after the Penobscot Sheriff’s Department and Homeland Security agents raided an illegal marijuana grow just five miles away, she gifted the property to her...

EXCLUSIVE: An expert tells Daily Express US that China will be "worried" as ISIS-K "will try and attack inside China."ISIS-K could try and target China next after killing 137 people in Moscow last Friday, an expert has chillingly warned. Tajiki gunmen entered the Crocus City Hall and gunned down concertgoers before setting the building on fire. The men were caught after the attack and were charged with terrorism offenses. Images of them being tortured also circulated online, with one man having part of his ear cut off while another was electrocuted through his genitals. ISIS-K have long hated Russia due...

Here we go again. The once and possibly future President Donald Trump’s proposal to implement a tariff of ten percent on goods imported into our Republic has been met with a cantillating chorus of critiques claiming they will come at a cruel cost to consumers. The Democrat-aligned Center for American Progress Action Fund has ginned up an analysis that it says shows the tariff would amount to an annual tax of roughly $1,500 on American families. The dire forecast creates the illusion of precision and analytical depth by estimating that households would pay $90 more for food, $90 more for...

During an interview released on Wednesday’s “Pod Save the World,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said that Israel “is a right-wing country, increasingly becoming a religious fundamentalist country” where some officials have a view that is “not a whole lot different, by the way, than what Hamas is saying.” And “Israel certainly had the right to defend itself, but it did not and does not have the right to go to war against the entire Palestinian people” in a way that is comparable to Putin’s war on Ukraine. He also called for America to work in a “much more cooperative way”...

Image is a screenshot of a social media post from the Chinese government in Pingshan, Shenzhen, showing CapChem's chairman Qin Jiusan delivering a speech to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in 2017. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Top executives behind a Chinese chemical manufacturer planning to build two U.S. factories belong to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and affiliated influence outfits, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation has found. Capchem Technology USA, the wholly-owned subsidiary of China-based Shenzhen Capchem Technology (Capchem), is slated to build a $120 million factory in Ohio and a $350 million plant in Louisiana. At the same time, Capchem...

The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland which crosses the Patapsco River has reportedly Collapsed within the last few minutes after being Struck by a Large Container Ship

The Chinese Communist Party has aggressively built up its military, expanding its arsenal of both conventional and nuclear capabilities. The growth was largely funded by its rival, the United States.That is one of the arguments made by James Fanell, a retired U.S. Navy captain, and Bradley Thayer, a senior fellow at the Center for Security Policy, a Washington-based think tank, during a recent interview with EpochTV’s “American Though Leaders“ program.“The Chinese Navy now is over 150 naval combatants greater than the U.S. Navy. They are now the largest navy in terms of numbers of hulls and tonnage,” said Mr. Fanell,...

Global bank messaging network SWIFT is planning a new platform in the next one to two years to connect the wave of central bank digital currencies now in development to the existing finance system.. The move, which would be one of the most significant yet for the nascent CBDC ecosystem given SWIFT's key role in global banking, is likely to be fine-tuned to when the first major ones are launched. 90% of the world's central banks are now exploring digital versions of their currencies. Most don't want to be left behind by bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, but are grappling with...

It may seem like a surprise to many that there could be a confrontation between Chinese gangsters at a marijuana farm on the Oklahoma prairie.But it is a reality that has been commonplace in Oklahoma since legislators opened the state up to the medicalmarijuana business. As of January 2022, there hadn't been widely reported cases of Chinese gangsters specifically involved in the Oklahoma marijuana business. However, it's important to note that organized crime groups often exploit vulnerabilities in various industries, including the cannabis market. Here are some ways in which organized crime groups, including those with Chinese connections, might become...

The Philippines accused the China Coast Guard of blocking a Filipino supply vessel and damaging it with water cannon on Saturday morning (Mar 23) off a remote and contested South China Sea reef. The Philippine military said the nearly hour-long attack occurred off Second Thomas Shoal, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannon and collided with Filipino vessels in similar stand-offs in recent months. The military released video clips that showed a white ship repeatedly dousing another vessel sailing alongside it with a water cannon. One clip showed two white ships simultaneously firing water at the same vessel.