Donald Trump cited billionaire egghead venture capitalist Marc Andreessen to advocate for high tariffs. Trump argued that tariffs will magically replace the income tax and pay off US public debt (which is more than 120% of GDP). This is utterly false, and mathematically absurd.
For Trump, tariffs are just another convenient excuse to cut taxes on the rich — which will in fact increase the US deficit, and therefore public debt.
Thanks to Trump’s tax cuts during his first term, the richest billionaire families in the US paid a lower effective tax rate than the bottom half of households in the country.
Janine Jackson interviewed Free Press’s Yanni Chen about the appellate court TikTok ruling for the December 20, 2024, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript.
Janine Jackson: As we record on December 18, we’ve heard that the Supreme Court will address TikTok’s challenge to the federal law that was set to ban the platform in the US on January 19, unless they divest from Chinese ownership. The New York Times yesterday noted:
Lawmakers said the app’s ownership represented a risk because the Chinese government’s oversight of private companies would allow it to retrieve sensitive information about Americans, or to spread propaganda, though they have not publicly shared evidence that this has occurred.
A DC Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an earlier challenge from TikTok, ruling that the measure was justified by what were called “grave national security threats.” The judges, the Times reported, were united in accepting the US government’s arguments that “the Chinese government could exploit the site to gain access to users’ data to spread covert disinformation.”
Well, one can practically hear the buzzing in the heads of anyone who has used social media, ever: “Access to our data? No way! Disinformation? You don’t say.” We are in medias res, but what’s at stake, not even so much for TikTok as a company, as for its 170 million US users’—and really everyone’s—ability to access information we want and need, and our rights within those spheres?
Yanni Chen is policy counsel at the group Free Press, who’ve been working on this. She joins us now by phone. Welcome to CounterSpin, Yanni Chen.
Yanni Chen: Thank you so much for having me, Janine.
JJ: The fact that the rhetoric around the TikTok ban relies on phrases like “foreign adversary nation” doesn’t make it sound very 21st century, for a start, but the statement that we aren’t offered evidence that the thing being charged is happening, shouldn’t that at least raise questions about this move, and what else might be going on?
YC: I think absolutely, and that’s one thing that we found pretty troubling about the opinion in general. The court goes through and says that either intermediate or strict scrutiny, which are the higher of the two levels of constitutional analysis that is afforded to constitutional claims, applies here. And they say the highest scrutiny that the court applies, strict scrutiny, this law passes that, and then they don’t cite any evidence that the government didn’t provide publicly. They don’t substantiate it.
And so I think one thing that we have trouble with is the idea that the court can find that a law passes strict scrutiny with a clearly viewpoint-based angle, and not provide even a shred of evidence. And this opens up the door for further precedent, for further laws to be put on the books without that kind of substantiation either.
JJ: I’m going to ask you about that viewpoint angle, but I just want to say it early, in case it gets missed: We lose by making this a solely Trump thing. It’s not that he’s not as weird and dangerous as he is, but this TikTok ban, this proposed ban, doesn’t just map neatly onto a Trump agenda, does it?
YC: No, this is a bipartisan bill that passed overwhelmingly on both sides, by both the House and the Senate. I think it was justified mostly by national security concerns, but the committee hearings were closed doors. So the public doesn’t really know exactly what there is.
And as we’ve discussed before, there isn’t much public information to substantiate anything that we’re talking about. There’s no public evidence of the kind of content manipulation that TikTok is being accused of participating in.
JJ: I would just draw you out on that, because the Times report tells me that Judge Sri Srinivasan said, yes, Americans might lose access to an outlet for expression, a source of community and even a means of income, but national security threats, blah blah blah. But then also:
Because the record reflects that Congress’s decision was considered consistent with longstanding regulatory practice and devoid of an institutional aim to suppress particular messages or ideas, [therefore] we are not in a position to set it aside.
And I wanted to hear how you respond to the idea that this has nothing to do with suppressing viewpoints, and it’s consistent with longstanding practice.
YC: Yeah, I’ll take the last one first. What Judge Srinivasan was alluding to with longstanding regulatory history on foreign control in communications, he’s talking about the broadcast space and the FCC. But broadcast and the FCC is kind of a special realm within the First Amendment, justified by bandwidth scarcity, or the amount of waves that are available to be used. So it receives, actually, a different level of First Amendment protection than other fora. So that’s one distinction.
And then also, certainly, the government and regulators can put in place restrictions for foreign control, but that doesn’t mean that they can do it in any way possible. So just because the government has that power with respect to some broadcasting does not mean that they have the power here. Remind me of the first part of that question, too.
JJ: What do we make of Judge Srinivasan’s contention that this conclusion, this ruling, has nothing to do with an institutional aim to suppress particular messages or ideas? Now I think we can all say that it will, in effect, suppress particular messages or ideas, but this is trying to say, well, that’s not what it’s trying to do, so we shouldn’t address it in that way.
YC: Yeah, I think that position requires ignoring a lot of the statements that lawmakers said themselves. You have lawmakers on the record making statements about the type of content that not only TikTok is pushing, but US users are creating, that they take issue with. So you have to ignore all of the statements of the people who wrote the law themselves to get to that position. It’s hard to really swallow.
JJ: The statement that we’re not being offered evidence, actually, that what is being charged is happening—that should raise questions. But also in this context of where, US listeners, we hear all about the free market, the market responds to what people want, so banning an outlet isn’t a thing that should go down easy, generally speaking. And wouldn’t the government need to show that its stated goals could not be achieved any other way, other than banning this outlet? Shouldn’t they have to show that?
Yanni Chen: “It singles out a single app without really providing any justification why, and then they just say, ‘Congress picked this one.’”
YC: Yeah. So that’s actually the exact requirement of strict scrutiny, is that it needs to be the most tailored, or the narrowest restriction possible, to achieve the need that the government wishes to accomplish. So, yes, I think, formally and on the books, that is the requirement. And I think the application is where you see some problems.
And I think what you’re seeing, also, between the majority opinion’s application of strict scrutiny and Judge Srinivasan’s intermediate scrutiny dialogue, is that I think it is relatively clear that strict scrutiny does apply, because it is clearly a viewpoint-based restriction. It singles out a single app without really providing any justification why, and then they just say, “Congress picked this one.” That’s the definition of speaker discrimination. So you have that, but then you kind of have to do a backend to make it fit strict scrutiny and pass strict scrutiny. So you’re seeing some mental gymnastics happen in that logic.
And then, the other side of that, you have Judge Srinivasan, who says, “No, no, no, this is intermediate scrutiny.” And I think one reason, at least, motivating this is that strict scrutiny is a very high bar to meet, and most laws should not really pass it, just by definition of what that test is. And so having a law on the books that passed strict scrutiny does create risk of that precedent I talked about earlier, of creating bad law, where a flimsy application of strict scrutiny could lead to more laws passing strict scrutiny where they shouldn’t.
So that is one justification for applying intermediate scrutiny, but then making the law fit such that intermediate scrutiny is the right application, or the right test, then it strikes people as odd too, because it doesn’t actually do that. It is a law that requires a strict scrutiny test.
JJ: And I think it’s just weird, as a layperson, to hear, “Oh, we’re not trying to ban TikTok,Tiktok’s fine, we just need them to sell to a buyer that the US approves of.” I just feel like that lands weird, in terms of common sense, to folks.
YC: And that is something that was brought up in the litigation too. TikTok did raise the issue that, functionally, this divestment requirement would be a ban, and it’s kind of dealt with relatively, in a flip manner, in the decision itself. So you have Judge Ginsburg saying, “270 days, there’s plenty of time to meet a divestment requirement.” We just bypass the idea that it is something that you can’t do.
And the court does say, “Well, we can’t let the Chinese government set the standards for our requirements as the US government.” But what we’re talking about is the First Amendment. And the First Amendment applies to what the US government can do to US entities, and its citizens and Americans more broadly.
JJ: It just lands so weird to folks who are accustomed, at this point in 2024, to consuming news from around the world, from not unfettered, but relatively open access to media outlets from different countries, from different perspectives. It just sounds strange.
But part of the reason that this maybe has more legs than it might is that people do see a problem with platforms collecting their data, with using algorithms to push certain messages and to hold back others. And the question has to do with whether a wholesale ban of one platform is really the way to address that, or really how should we address that? If we were really concerned about privacy and targeted disinformation, what are some other responses that we might be looking at?
YC: Yeah, so TikTok is, as you recognize, not the only platform that collects too much data. Meta, certainly Google, other companies track data; they use it, they sell it, they sell it abroad, they sell it here and they sell it to governments. So TikTok is not a unique case.
So I think one thing at Free Press that we advocate for is wholesale data privacy protection, across the market, rather than targeting a single platform, and not only targeting a single platform, but taking it off the market. Because even if your concern is data collection by the Chinese government, in TikTok’s case, the Chinese government can still buy US user data through other intermediaries. So it doesn’t really make sense to cut people off from access from this single source—particularly, as you mentioned, people’s livelihoods depend on this platform, people really generate a sense of community through it—instead of addressing that larger issue. So I think there have been plenty of advocates for federal privacy law that is broadsweeping, but we can’t seem to get congressional momentum on that, where we can on a law that is, in at least some part, rooted in xenophobia.
JJ: And sinophobia, absolutely, which I think we’re going to be dealing with, anti-China—not “going to be dealing with,” we already are. Everything China is bad. It has a very musty feel about it, and I feel we’re in for a lot more of it.
YC: Yeah.
JJ: Finally, it feels a little bit like flailing. It feels a little bit like closing the barn door after the horses are out.
I mean, technology allows us to find news sources. Humanity makes us care about people, even if they are designated “official enemies.” Curiosity impels us to learn about what’s going on beyond our shores, and judgment helps us see what is weird disinformation, and what is news we can use. So the moment feels like people are far out in front of corporations and politicians. And I just want to ask you, finally, what hopeful thoughts you have about this.
YC: Hopeful thoughts? I mean, I do think that what you mentioned about, from a layman’s standpoint, that this strikes as odd. I do have a lot of hope that it seems like people are understanding that there’s something not right with this decision, and not right with this law. There was something not transparent about it in the first place. This is targeting a specific company, and how it affects our dialogue and our community, so that gives me a lot of hope that people aren’t taking what the court has said here as a wholesale endorsement of the law, and taking it for what it’s worth.
I think that that’s been something that’s really heartening, and I think that it puts the power in the people, and that will be even more important moving forward, where, as you mentioned, information like this is important, and it has a democratic value. And in closing that off here, we put ourselves in line with some of the more repressive governments that do this, and we legitimize that further, as the United States doing this as an example for other countries. So having the civilians, and people who aren’t in government necessarily, sense that there’s something wrong here is definitely heartening.
JJ: All right, then. We’ve been speaking with Yanni Chen; she’s policy counsel at Free Press. They’re online at FreePress.net, and they also have a YouTube channel where you can find their recent webinar on this, breaking down the TikTok ban. Yanni Chen, thank you so much for joining us this week on CounterSpin.
The designers of a subway exit in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou are going back to the drawing board following online complaints that one of their subway exits resembled the “gateway to the underworld,” because its shape recalled a traditional Chinese coffin.
The developer rebuilt part of the newly renovated Exit D for the Huadiwan stop on the Guangzhou Metro overnight after it went viral on social media, sparking ridicule and outrage over its “coffin-like” shape.
“Is this the entrance to the Underworld?” read one comment, while another quipped: “Going into the subway is like going through a portal between two worlds.”
Others wondered if the design team had any understanding of Cantonese culture, which views as unlucky anything that reminds a person of death and mourning, or resembles coffins, graveside offerings and other funeral-related items.
For example, sticking chopsticks upright into a bowl of rice or laying them across the bowl is frowned upon, as it resembles the way offerings of food are made to the ancestors.
According to a widely circulated photo of the orange-pink Exit D at Huadiwan, the structure had a similar bulbous shape to a traditional Chinese coffin, described as “very unlucky” by one comment on social media.
“Is this the work of a professional team?” one social media user wanted to know, while another quipped that “down to earth doesn’t mean going into the earth.”
A man stands next to coffins displayed at a funeral services shop in the Kowloon district of Hong Kong, March 17, 2022.(Isaac Lawrence/AP)
Artist Du Yinghong said metro designers clearly lacked a developed aesthetic sense.
“Their aesthetic tends toward the old-fashioned and the secular, and of course that’s ugly,” Du said. “The Guangzhou subway exit design is like the oval shape of a coffin.”
“They eventually said that it was inspired by the kapok flower, but this explanation is pretty far-fetched.”
It’s not the first time architects working in China have come up with questionable designs.
The Beijing headquarters of state broadcaster CCTV, designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhas and completed in May 2012, has drawn comparisons on social media with a pair of legs and a person squatting over a toilet, before eventually being nicknamed the “Big Boxer Shorts” by the general public.
According to Du, the more ghastly designs are often driven by a desire to please ruling Chinese Communist Party officials.
“When local governments do these prestige projects, including statues and sculptures, they like to put their own symbols into them,” Du said. “It’s a way to give a literal, concrete form to their so-called political achievements as architecture and sculpture.”
“But it’s against the background of an absurd and distorted era [in China’s history].”
Shandong resident Lu Qiumei said she had been surprised to see such a design.
“We can’t figure out what was going on in the brains of these designers,” Lu told RFA Mandarin in a recent interview. “I guess they want to update public aesthetics, and I guess they think such designs are pretty imposing.”
“But quite frankly this design is crass and ambiguous,” she said.
Coffins and other death-related imagery have sometimes appeared as a form of political protest in Hong Kong, where veteran democracy activist Koo Sze-yiu was jailed earlier this year for carrying a fake coffin, amid an ongoing crackdown on political opposition and public dissent.
State media have also weighed in on the design, calling on the developer in reports on Dec. 30 to take action.
Guangzhou Metro responded that they had intended the design to resemble the kapok flower, the provincial flower of Guangdong.
But by Dec. 30, demolition work on the exit had begun, according to The Paper and state broadcaster CCTV.
Huadiwan Station is one of the oldest stations on Guangzhou Metro Line 1, and had been due to reopen following refurbishment in mid-January.
Social media comments have also hit out recently at Guangzhou’s Wushan subway station for installing a forest of silver bollards, joking that they resembled the “plum blossom” pillars used to show off martial artists’ feats of balance in kung fu movies.
The authorities issued a statement saying the bollards were installed to prevent the “disorderly” parking of e-bikes on the sidewalk.
Translated by Luisetta Mudie.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Qian Lang for RFA Mandarin.
TAIPEI, Taiwan/MANILA – The South China Sea has become one of the world’s most perilous geopolitical hot spots in recent years, with China stepping up the reinforcement of its expansive claims and countries from outside the region getting increasingly involved.
Here are five areas to watch in 2025:
Taiwan Strait
The situation in the Taiwan Strait has been becoming notably more tense, with nearly 3,000 incursions into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone between January and November 2024, as well as two major military exercises – Joint Sword A and B – coinciding with important political events on the self-ruled island.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping reiterated in his New Year message that the unification of Taiwan was “inevitable.”
“China will continue to hold exercises in 2025 if senior Taiwanese officials visit the United States or top U.S. officials visit Taiwan,” said Shen Ming-Shih, a research fellow at the top Taiwan government think tank, the Institute for National Defense Security Research (INDSR).
Chinese military exercises such as joint fire strike, joint blockade, and joint anti-access and area denial will continue, but they will become less effective as Taiwan develops effective countermeasures, Shen said.
Another INDSR research fellow, Ou Si-Fu, director of the Division of Chinese Politics, Military and Warfighting Concepts, told Radio Free Asia that China was not ready for a full-on war with Taiwan.
“Xi is not confident with his army,” Ou said, pointing to recent sackings in the top ranks of the People’s Liberation Army.
“The PLA has not fought a real war in a long time, so an imminent invasion of Taiwan is not expected,” the analyst said. “They may be preparing their forces, but we are preparing, too.”
Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te waves with the Taiwanese flag during a ceremony in Taipei, Taiwan, on Jan. 1, 2025.(Taiwan Presidential Office/AP)
Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te said in his New Year message that his government would increase the defense budget and strengthen military capabilities.
Scarborough Shoal
Latest developments at the chain of reefs in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone but under China’s de-facto control are worrisome. Just before the New Year, the PLA Southern Theater Command conducted large-scale combat readiness drills at the shoal that involved both naval and air force troops.
China’s coast guard is maintaining a strong presence in the area, as is its maritime militia.
A month earlier, Beijing announced a set of baselines around the Scarborough Shoal to define its territorial waters and airspace – a step seen as illegal by many but used by China to justify its actions against the Philippines and its ally the United States.
The Chinese coastguard in early December fired a water cannon at a Philippine fisheries bureau boat taking supplies to fishermen in the shoal, saying it “dangerously approached” Beijing’s territorial waters.
“You cannot draw baselines if you don’t own the features,” said former Philippine Supreme Court justice Antonio Carpio. He suggested that the Philippines should challenge China’s announcement at an international tribunal.
Scarborough Shoal is unoccupied and there are no structures on it but that may change in 2025, given Beijing’s assertiveness. Philippine forces have been removing Chinese floating barriers around the reefs but access by Filipino fishermen to their traditional fishing ground remains restricted.
The Philippines is believed to be considering a new legal case against China for its violations of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea but since Beijing refused to take part and rejected the ruling of the 2016 U.N. arbitral tribunal, there is little chance it will participate.
Lcdr. Lee Omaweng, commanding officer of the Philippine coast guard vessel BRP Sindangan, which serves at both Scarborough and Second Thomas Shoal, speaks to reporters on board his ship, Dec. 8, 2024.(RFA)
Second Thomas Shoal
Throughout 2024, China and the Philippines were engaged in stand-offs at the Second Thomas Shoal, also inside the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, where Manila deliberately grounded an old warship in 1999 to serve as an outpost.
In the last few years, China’s coast guard has been blocking and disrupting Philippine resupply missions to the ship, the BRP Sierra Madre, and the troops stationed there.
On June 17, 2024, in an unprecedented confrontation, China coast guard personnel, armed with pikes and machetes, punctured Philippine boats and seized firearms during a Philippine rotate and resupply mission, wounding a Filipino sailor.
Both sides later called for de-escalation. On Dec. 12, China said it had granted permission to the Philippines to resupply the “illegally grounded” warship on Second Thomas Shoal on a humanitarian basis.
But the June 17 incident showed that the situation could easily escalate into conflict, especially given the proximity of Second Thomas Shoal to a Chinese naval base on Mischief Reef, an artificial island that China built and has fully militarized.
Manila and Washington signed a Mutual Defense Treaty in 1951 under which both parties are obliged to support each other in the event of an armed attack. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in November revealed that the U.S. military had set up a Task Force Ayungin, the Filipino name for the Second Thomas Shoal.
Chief of the Philippine armed forces, Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., told an RFA reporter in Manila that his country was pursuing a three-pronged strategy when it comes to maritime defense: to establish an effective presence; to create effective deterrence and modernize military equipment; and to leverage alliances and partnerships with like-minded nations.
Beijing, however, is not expected to give up its demand that Manila removes the BRP Sierra Madre and leave the disputed shoal.
For its part, the Philippines is determined to defend it.
“We’ll never abandon our territory at Ayungin,” insisted Col. Xerxes Trinidad, the Philippine armed forces’ spokesperson.
Vietnam’s island building
Vietnam’s island building in the South China Sea has reached a record, with the total area created in the first six months of 2024 equaling that of 2022 and 2023 combined, according to a study by the Washington-based Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI).
Between November 2023 and June 2024, Hanoi created 692 new acres (280 ha) of land across a total of 10 features in the Spratly archipelago. Vietnam’s overall dredging and landfill totaled about 2,360 acres (955 ha), roughly half of China’s 4,650 acres (1,881.7 ha).
“Three years from when it first began, Vietnam is still surprising observers with the ever-increasing scope of its dredging and landfill in the Spratly Islands,” AMTI said.
Vietnam occupies 27 features and has been carrying out large-scale reclamation works on some over the past year.
Satellite image of Barque Canada Reef, May 11, 2024.(AMTI/Maxar Technologies)
A new 3,000-meter airstrip is nearly finished on Barque Canada reef, where the total landfill area more than doubled in one year to nearly 2.5 square kilometers, or 617.7 acres, by October 2024.
Vietnam has had only one airstrip on an island called Spratly, measuring 1,300 meters, but besides Barque Canada, AMTI said that “it would be unsurprising” if Hanoi also considers runways on Pearson and Ladd reefs.
New bases and runways “would give Vietnam a position on the other side of China’s ‘Big Three’ islands,” said Tom Shugart, adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security.
He was referring to China-developed Fiery Cross, Subi and Mischief reefs, which are the largest artificial islands in the South China Sea. The next four largest are all newly expanded Vietnamese reefs.
“Its progress in the last five months suggests that Hanoi is determined to maximize the strategic potential of the features it occupies,” said AMTI, adding that “it remains difficult to say when the expansion will end—and what new capabilities Vietnam will have once it has.”
Code of Conduct in the South China Sea
Malaysia is taking over as chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, from Laos this month and every time the chair changes hands, the question of a legally binding code of conduct (COC) for all competing parties in the South China Sea surfaces.
China and ASEAN countries have been negotiating a COC after reaching an initial Declaration of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea in 2002.
More than two decades later, it seems many obstacles remain despite Beijing’s repeated assertions that the consultation process is going well and agreement is close.
Premier Li Qiang told an ASEAN summit in October that China and the bloc were “striving for early conclusion” of the code of conduct.
China and five other parties, including four ASEAN countries – Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam – hold conflicting claims over parts of the South China Sea but China’s claim is by far the most expansive, covering nearly 90% of the sea.
China is adamantly against what it sees as “a politicization” of the COC, as well as any “external interference” in the matter. Yet its assertiveness has prompted some countries to seek a counterweight from outside ASEAN.
“Negotiations on the COC continue at a snail’s pace,” former Thai Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon told Reuters news agency in October.
“An agreement seems impossible,” said Philippine legal expert, former Supreme Court justice Antonio Carpio. “China will never agree to some provisions, Vietnam to some others and so on.
The target of concluding the COC by 2026, therefore, was “unrealistic,” he said.
One of the underlying obstacles is ASEAN’s own division and weakness.
“ASEAN could strengthen its collective bargaining power by aligning the interests of its member states and speaking with a unified voice in negotiations with external powers like China,” said Isha Gharti, a public policy professor at Thailand’s Chiang Mai University.
It remains to be seen how the new chair Malaysia will seek to raise a collective ASEAN voice.
Edited by RFA Staff
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Staff.
TAIPEI, Taiwan – The cybersecurity breach of the U.S. Treasury Department by China-backed hackers is “extremely concerning,” said senior American lawmakers, urging Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to provide them with a detailed briefing on the matter.
The department announced on Monday that China-backed hackers in December accessed workstations and unclassified documents through a compromised third-party software provider. It reported, however, having “no evidence” the hackers were still able to access the information.
“This breach of federal government information is extremely concerning,” Sen. Tim Scott, a ranking member on the Senate Banking Committee, and House Financial Services Committee Vice Chair French Hill said in a letter to Yellen.
“This information must be vigilantly protected from theft or surveillance by our foreign adversaries, including the Chinese Communist Party, who seek to harm the United States,” they wrote, requesting a briefing on the breach in eight days with full detail on the information accessed by the hackers
The department said it was working with cybersecurity experts, the FBI, intelligence agencies and independent investigators to understand the incident and assess its impact.
It did not specify what documents had been accessed, but said the service from the affected third-party software provider had been shut down, and so far, there was no evidence that the hackers still had access to Treasury information.
The department did not respond to RFA’s request for comment by time of publication.
China’s ministry of foreign ministry called the U.S. accusation of Chinese involvement in the hack “groundless.”
“On this kind of unwarranted and groundless allegations, we’ve made clear our position more than once,” said Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning on Tuesday.
“China opposes all forms of hacking, and in particular, we oppose spreading China-related disinformation motivated by political agenda,” she added.
In November, The New York Times reported that a Chinese hacking group known as Salt Typhoon had been embedded in the systems of one of America’s largest telecommunications companies for over a year.
Salt Typhoon, which reportedly has strong ties to China’s Ministry of State Security, targeted phones belonging to then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance.
This effort was part of a broader intelligence-gathering campaign that also targeted Democrats, including staff from Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York.
The newspaper cited U.S.officials as saying that although the Chinese hackers appeared to stop their activities after the breach was exposed, it would be premature to assume they had been fully removed from the nation’s telecommunications system.
In December, the Treasury Department offered a US$10 million reward for information about a Chinese company and employee it accuses of violating the firewalls of 80,000 computer networks worldwide, including for 36 items of “critical infrastructure” in America.
Edited by Taejun Kang.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Alan Lu for RFA.
With the door now shut on 2024, many will heave a sigh of relief and hope for better things this year.
Decolonisation issues involving the future of Kanaky New Caledonia and West Papua – and also in the Middle East with controversial United Nations votes by some Pacific nations in the middle of a livestreamed genocide — figured high on the agenda in the past year along with the global climate crisis and inadequate funding rescue packages.
Asia Pacific Report looks at some of the issues and developments during the year that were regarded by critics as betrayals:
The assembly passed a resolution on December 11 demanding an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, which was adopted with 158 votes in favour from the 193-member assembly and nine votes against with 13 abstentions.
Of the nine countries voting against, the three Pacific nations that sided with Israel and its relentless backer United States were Nauru, Papua New Guinea and Tonga.
The other countries that voted against were Argentina, Czech Republic, Hungary and Paraguay.
Thirteen abstentions included Fiji, which had previously controversially voted with Israel, Micronesia, and Palau. Supporters of the resolution in the Pacific region included Australia, New Zealand, and Timor-Leste.
Ironically, it was announced a day before the UNGA vote that the United States will spend more than US$864 million (3.5 billion kina) on infrastructure and military training in Papua New Guinea over 10 years under a defence deal signed between the two nations in 2023, according to PNG’s Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko.
Any connection? Your guess is as good as mine. Certainly it is very revealing how realpolitik is playing out in the region with an “Indo-Pacific buffer” against China.
However, the deal actually originated almost two years earlier, in May 2023, with the size of the package reflecting a growing US security engagement with Pacific island nations as it seeks to counter China’s inroads in the vast ocean region.
Noted BenarNews, a US soft power news service in the region, the planned investment is part of a defence cooperation agreement granting the US military “unimpeded access” to develop and deploy forces from six ports and airports, including Lombrum Naval Base.
Two months before PNG’s vote, the UNGA overwhelmingly passed a resolution demanding that the Israeli government end its occupation of Palestinian territories within 12 months — but half of the 14 countries that voted against were from the Pacific.
Affirming an International Court of Justice (ICJ) opinion requested by the UN that deemed the decades-long occupation unlawful, the opposition from seven Pacific nations further marginalised the island region from world opinion against Israel.
Several UN experts and officials warned against Israel becoming a global “pariah” state over its 15 month genocidal war on Gaza.
The final vote tally was 124 member states in favour and 14 against, with 43 nations abstaining. The Pacific countries that voted with Israel and its main ally and arms-supplier United States against the Palestinian resolution were Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Palau, Tonga and Tuvalu.
Flags of decolonisation in Suva, Fiji . . . the Morning Star flag of West Papua (colonised by Indonesia) and the flag of Palestine (militarily occupied illegally and under attack from Israel). Image: APR
In February, Fiji faced widespread condemnation after it joined the US as one of the only two countries — branded as the “outliers” — to support Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territory in an UNGA vote over an International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion over Israel’s policies in the occupied territories.
Fiji’s envoy at the UN, retired Colonel Filipo Tarakinikini, defended the country’s stance, saying the court “fails to take account of the complexity of this dispute, and misrepresents the legal, historical, and political context”.
However, Fiji NGOs condemned the Fiji vote as supporting “settler colonialism” and long-standing Fijian diplomats such as Kaliopate Tavola and Robin Nair said Fiji had crossed the line by breaking with its established foreign policy of “friends-to-all-and-enemies-to-none”.
Indonesian military forces on patrol in the Oksop regency of the West Papua region.
2. West Papuan self-determination left in limbo For the past decade, Pacific Island Forum countries have been trying to get a fact-finding human mission deployed to West Papua. But they have encountered zero progress with continuous roadblocks being placed by Jakarta.
Pacific leaders have asked for the UN’s involvement over reported abuses as the Indonesian military continues its battles with West Papuan independence fighters.
A highly critical UN Human Right Committee report on Indonesia released in May highlighted “systematic reports about the use of torture” and “extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances of Indigenous Papuan people”.
But the situation is worse now since President Prabowo Subianto, the former general who has a cloud of human rights violations hanging over his head, took office in October.
Fiji’s Sitiveni Rabuka and Papua New Guinea’s James Marape were appointed by the Melanesian Spearhead Group in 2023 as special envoys to push for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights’ visit directly with Indonesia’s president.
Prabowo taking up the top job in Jakarta has filled West Papuan advocates and activists with dread as this is seen as marking a return of “the ghost of Suharto” because of his history of alleged atrocities in West Papua, and also in Timor-Leste before independence.
Already Prabowo’s acts since becoming president with restoring the controversial transmigration policies, reinforcing and intensifying the military occupation, fuelling an aggressive “anti-environment” development strategy, have heralded a new “regime of brutality”.
And Marape and Rabuka, who pledged to exiled indigenous leader Benny Wenda in Suva in February 2023 that he would support the Papuans “because they are Melanesians”, have been accused of failing the West Papuan cause.
Protesters at Molodoï, Strasbourg, demanding the release of Kanak indigenous political prisoners being detained in France pending trial for their alleged role in the pro-independence riots in May 2024. Image: @67Kanaky /X
3. France rolls back almost four decades of decolonisation progress
When pro-independence protests erupted into violent rioting in Kanaky New Caledonia on May 13, creating havoc and destruction in the capital of Nouméa and across the French Pacific territory with 14 people dead, intransigent French policies were blamed for having betrayed Kanak aspirations for independence.
While acknowledging the goodwill and progress that had been made since the 1988 Matignon accords and the Nouméa pact a decade later following the bloody 1980s insurrection, the French government lost the self-determination trajectory after two narrowly defeated independence referendums and a third vote boycotted by Kanaks because of the covid pandemic.
This third vote with less than half the electorate taking part had no credibility, but Paris insisted on bulldozing constitutional electoral changes that would have severely disenfranchised the indigenous vote. More than 36 years of constructive progress had been wiped out.
“It’s really three decades of hard work by a lot of people to build, sort of like a future for Kanaky New Caledonia, which is part of the Pacific rather than part of France,” I was quoted as saying.
France had had three prime ministers since 2020 and none of them seemed to have any “real affinity” for indigenous issues, particularly in the South Pacific, in contrast to some previous leaders.
In the wake of a snap general election in mainland France, when President Emmanuel Macron lost his centrist mandate and is now squeezed between the polarised far right National Rally and the left coalition New Popular Front, the controversial electoral reform was quietly scrapped.
New French Overseas Minister Manual Valls has heralded a new era of negotiation over self-determination. In November, he criticised Macron’s “stubbornness’ in an interview with the French national daily Le Parisien, blaming him for “ruining 36 years of dialogue, of progress”.
But New Caledonia is not the only headache for France while pushing for its own version of an “Indo-Pacific” strategy. Pro-independence French Polynesian President Moetai Brotherson and civil society leaders have called on the UN to bring Paris to negotiations over a timetable for decolonisation.
West Papuan leader Benny Wenda (left) and Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka . . . “We will support them [ULMWP] because they are Melanesians.” Rabuka also had a Pacific role with New Caledonia. Image: Fiji govt/RNZ Pacific4. Pacific Islands Forum also fails Kanak aspirations
Kanaks and the Pacific’s pro-decolonisation activists had hoped that an intervention by the Pacific Islands Forum in support of the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) would enhance their self-determination stocks.
However, they were disappointed. And their own internal political divisions have not made things any easier.
On the eve of the three-day fact-finding delegation to the territory in October, Fiji’s Rabuka was already warning the local government (led by pro-independence Louis Mapou to “be reasonable” in its demands from Paris.
Rabuka and Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown and then Tongan counterpart Hu’akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni visited the French territory not to “interfere” but to “lower the temperature”.
But an Australian proposal for a peacekeeping force under the Australian-backed Pacific Policing Initiative (PPI) fell flat, and the mission was generally considered a failure for Kanak indigenous aspirations.
Taking the planet’s biggest problem to the world’s highest court for global climate justice. Image: X/@ciel_tweets
5. Climate crisis — the real issue and geopolitics
In spite of the geopolitical pressures from countries, such as the US, Australia and France, in the region in the face of growing Chinese influence, the real issue for the Pacific remains climate crisis and what to do about it.
Controversy marked an A$140 million aid pact signed between Australia and Nauru last month in what was being touted as a key example of the geopolitical tightrope being forced on vulnerable Pacific countries.
This agreement offers Nauru direct budgetary support, banking services and assistance with policing and security. The strings attached? Australia has been granted the right to veto any agreement with a third country such as China.
Critics have compared this power of veto to another agreement signed between Australia and Tuvalu in 2023 which provided Australian residency opportunities and support for climate mitigation. However, in return Australia was handed guarantees over security.
The previous month, November, was another disappointment for the Pacific when it was “once again ignored” at the UN COP29 climate summit in the capital Baku of oil and natural gas-rich Azerbaijan.
The Suva-based Pacific Islands Climate Action Network (PICAN) condemned the outcomes as another betrayal, saying that the “richest nations turned their backs on their legal and moral obligations” at what had been billed as the “finance COP”.
The new climate finance pledge of a US$300 billion annual target by 2035 for the global fight against climate change was well short of the requested US$1 trillion in aid.
Climate campaigners and activist groups branded it as a “shameful failure of leadership” that forced Pacific nations to accept the “token pledge” to prevent the negotiations from collapsing.
Much depends on a climate justice breakthrough with Vanuatu’s landmark case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) arguing that those harming the climate are breaking international law.
The case seeks an advisory opinion from the court on the legal responsibilities of countries over the climate crisis, and many nations in support of Vanuatu made oral submissions last month and are now awaiting adjudication.
Given the primacy of climate crisis and vital need for funding for adaptation, mitigation and loss and damage faced by vulnerable Pacific countries, former Pacific Islands Forum Secretary-General Meg Taylor delivered a warning:
“Pacific leaders are being side-lined in major geopolitical decisions affecting their region and they need to start raising their voices for the sake of their citizens.”
With the start of winter school break in Tibet, Chinese authorities have implemented new restrictions on Tibetan children, banning private Tibetan-language lessons and requiring ones that focus on Mandarin skills and Chinese political topics, two sources with knowledge of the situation said.
In some areas, they are even forbidding children from wearing religious symbols or participating in religious activities, since the winter break began on Dec. 30, said the sources who requested anonymity for safety reasons.
The restrictions are the latest moves that appear to be part of Beijing’s wider goal to suppress and even erase the Tibetan language and culture and subsume everything under Han Chinese culture and the Mandarin language.
During the two-month-long winter break, Tibetan students in the capital Lhasa and across Tibet are prohibited from receiving tutorials outside of school-planned assignments or taking private lessons in the Tibetan language, they said.
Instead, authorities have instructed students to focus on improving their Mandarin-language skills by taking lessons to further enhance their proficiency, the sources said.
Tibetan students learn Tibetan writing in a first-grade class at the Shangri-La Key Boarding School in Dabpa county, Kardze Prefecture, Sichuan province, China, Sept. 5, 2023.(Andy Wong/AP)
In Dzoge (Zoige in Chinese) and Ngaba (Aba) counties in Aba Tibetan Qiang Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan province, authorities have restricted children from wearing clothing with Tibetan religious symbols, one of the sources said.
This comes along with a ban on Tibetan-language tutoring and a prohibition on parents from taking their children to monasteries or letting them participate in religious activities during the vacation. Teaching any academic modules beyond the Chinese state-approved curriculum is strictly prohibited, the sources said.
Vacation assignments
The restrictions are being enforced across various Tibetan areas such as Golog (Guoluo) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai province and Dzoge, Ngaba, and Kardze in Sichuan province, they added.
The Chinese government has specifically prohibited the teaching of Tibetan language during the winter break, mandating that students focus on school homework based on Chinese government political education only.
“In Golog, for example, the Qinghai Provincial Education Department has issued specific vacation assignments focusing on the improvement of the Mandarin language alongside the ban on learning Tibetan language and culture in the area,” the second source said.
Tibetan students line up at the Shangri-La Key Boarding School in Dabpa county, Kardze Prefecture, Sichuan province, China, Sept. 5, 2023.(Andy Wong/AP)
These so-called vacation assignments require both parents and students to jointly study Chinese political education, including Xi Jinping’s ideology, he added.
Additional restrictions have been imposed in Lhasa and other Tibetan regions, where Chinese authorities have issued notices mandating the strict surveillance of students and prohibiting them from joining online groups or community activities, sources said.
In 2021, Chinese authorities in various Tibetan areas began prohibiting Tibetan children from taking informal Tibetan-language classes or workshops during their winter holidays, a move that local Tibetans and parents of affected children said would negatively impact the children’s connection to their native language.
In late 2023 and in early 2024, Chinese authorities stepped up efforts to enforce the ban on children taking private lessons and participating in religious activities by going door-to-door to conduct random checks in residential areas and commercial establishments, RFA learned at the time from sources.
Translated by Dawa Dolma for RFA Tibetan. Edited by Tenzin Pema for RFA Tibetan, and by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Tibetan.
Taiwan’s government on Thursday hit back at a New Year’s propaganda video created by China’s People’s Liberation Army in which President Xi Jinping reiterated Beijing’s claims on the democratic island.
The video, set to the song “Chinese People” by veteran Hong Kong pop star Andy Lau, features Chinese warships and planes, and what appeared to be a Chinese fighter jet flying near a P-8 Poseidon patrol aircraft that the United States sometimes sends through the Taiwan Strait.
The accompanying Weibo post read: “The officers and soldiers in the war zone are ready to fight at any time and resolutely safeguard the reunification of the motherland.”
In a Jan. 1 address to the nation, Xi vowed to unify Taiwan with the mainland.
“We Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one and the same family,” Xi declared. “No one can ever sever the bond of kinship between us, and no one will ever stop China’s unification.”
Taiwan has never been ruled by Beijing, nor formed part of the People’s Republic of China. It is governed by the Republic of China government, formed after the 1911 fall of the Qing Dynasty under Sun Yat-sen, that fled to Taipei in 1949 after losing the civil war to Mao Zedong’s communists.
Psychological warfare
Taiwanese Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung told reporters that the video is an example of China’s United Front propaganda targeting the island’s 23 million people, and aimed to intimidate them with an “illusion” of unity.
“It is the People’s Liberation Army showing its intimidation of Taiwan,” Lin said, adding that the video was a form of psychological warfare.
A music video published by the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command shows China as ready to invade democratic Taiwan, Jan. 1, 2025.(PLA Eastern Theater via Weibo)
While China insists on eventual “unification” with Taiwan — by armed invasion if necessary — the majority of Taiwan’s 23 million people have no wish to give up their democratic way of life to submit to Communist Party rule.
China has threatened the death penalty for supporters of Taiwan independence, while Taipei says Beijing has no jurisdiction over the actions of its citizens.
A recent public opinion poll from the Institute for National Defense and Security Research showed that 67.8% of respondents were willing to fight to defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion.
The video came as Chinese warplanes and ships carried out the first “combat patrol” around Taiwan in 2025. The island’s defense ministry said it had detected 22 Chinese military aircraft including J-16 fighter jets, carrying out a “joint combat readiness patrol” around Taiwan in conjunction with Chinese warships starting Jan. 2.
It omits footage of Taiwanese students shouting and waving pro-democracy slogans at the Chinese delegation, however.
‘No discounts on freedom’
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te said his government would boost defense spending this year to keep up its defenses and protect it’s democratic way of life.
“Taiwan needs to prepare for danger in times of peace,” Lai said in his Jan. 1 address. “We must continue increasing our national defense budget, bolster our national defense capabilities, and show our determination to protect our country.”
He called on the island’s people to build resilience, vowing to “combat information and cognitive warfare, so that the populace rejects threats and enticements and jointly guards against malicious infiltration by external forces.”
He warned people not to be enticed by Chinese ID card schemes or junkets to China, quoting a Taiwanese saying: “Nothing costs more than a freebie.”
“Democracy is priceless, and there are no discounts on freedom,” Lai warned. “A wrong step today could mean a far higher price to pay in future.”
Stealth fighter
Across the Taiwan Strait, state media said the People’s Liberation Army video showed “the determination, will and ability of officers and soldiers in the theater to stay vigilant, remain ready to fight at any time and resolutely safeguard the reunification of the motherland.”
A music video published by the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command shows Chinese celebrities visiting democratic Taiwan, Jan. 1, 2025.(PLA Eastern Theater via Weibo)
“The PLA Eastern Theater Command’s release of the video on the first day of the New Year also issued a stern warning to the separatist forces of ‘Taiwan independence’,” the paper reported on Thursday.
It quoted Chinese military expert Zhang Junshe as saying that it showed China would “resolutely fight back and … will never allow any forces to split the island of Taiwan from China’s sovereign territory.”
Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said the song reminded people in Taiwan that they are “all Chinese.”
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council responded: “Taiwanese people should be more alert to China’s United Front propaganda targeting Taiwan and strengthen their understanding of cross-strait relations.”
Andy Lau
Hong Kong current affairs commentator Sang Pu said Lau was a shrewd choice to act as Beijing’s mouthpiece, given his huge fan-base across the sinophone world.
“People who love freedom and democracy definitely won’t like Andy Lau, but he’s a very good United Front tool when it comes to centrists, or the politically apathetic,” Sang said. “He can be used as leverage.”
He said Lau, who is also a movie actor, holds a number of official posts in the Chinese Communist Party regime, including vice chairman of the China Film Association and visiting professor at the Sichuan Opera School.
Sang called on Taiwan to ban him from performing there, following a visit in November where Lau performed “Chinese People” on Taiwanese soil.
Former Hong Kong district councilor Lee Man-ho said Hong Kongers have known Lau is a mouthpiece for Chinese propaganda for years.
“A few years ago he made a video promoting the ‘Tomorrow’s Lantau’ [development] project, which was an attempt at United Front brainwashing in Hong Kong,” Lee, who now lives in Taiwan, told RFA Cantonese.
“But nobody fell for it. Everyone in Hong Kong has seen through Andy Lau.”
Lee said that back in the 1990s, Lau had been a staunch supporter of Taiwan, and used to make a point of celebrating the Republic of China’s national day on Oct. 10, instead of the Chinese Communist Party’s national day on Oct. 1.
“But after 30 years of manipulation by the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party, he has totally changed,” he said.
Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Yam Chi Yau for RFA Cantonese.
WASHINGTON — Radio Free Asia photojournalist Gemunu Amarasinghe has had a distinguished career capturing images across Asia. His ability to access intimate moments sheds new light on the stories behind the struggle for freedom and human rights.
In the special report, “In Washington, Myanmar democracy advocates push for a Breakthrough,” Amarasinghe captures the efforts of Myanmar’s National Unity Government in Washington, D.C., as Deputy Foreign Minister Moe Zaw Oo and press aide Aye Chan Mon navigate the complexities of international diplomacy.
In “Nyah Mway: The boy who will forever be 13,” he delves into the tragedy of a young refugee from Myanmar who was fatally shot by police in Utica, New York. His photographs reveal the effect the incident has had on Nyah’s family and community, offering insight into broader issues of systemic violence and the experiences of displaced people in the United States.
Through his lens, Amarasinghe provides a comprehensive perspective on resilience and transition. Here are some of his photos:
Zin Mar Aung, Moe Zaw Oo and Aye Chan Mon, members of Myanmar’s National Unity Government, walk outside the U.S. Capitol after meeting with lawmakers in January 2024.(Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA)Aye Chan Mon, a press aide with Myanmar’s National Unity Government, works from home as her cat tries to intervene.(Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA)Moe Zaw Oo, deputy foreign minister of Myanmar’s National Unity Government, is seen at the NUG’s office at a coworking space in downtown Washington.(Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA)Buddhist monks chant at the burial of Nyah Mway, 13, in Utica, New York, July 6, 2024.(Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA)Nyah Mway’s mother Chee War, father Ka Lee Wan, and little sister Paw War at their home in Utica, New York, Aug. 18, 2024.(Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA)Hong Kong democracy activist Frances Hui stands outside the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Washington, D.C., during a protest to mark World Press Freedom Day, May 2, 2024.(Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA)Huen Lam visits the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, D.C., March 30, 2024.(Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA)
Edited by Jim Snyder.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Paul Nelson and H. Léo Kim for RFA.
The World Health Organization has called on China to fully release crucial data surrounding the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan in 2020, although the call was dismissed by Beijing.
Five years ago, on Dec. 31, 2019, WHO’s Country Office in China picked up a media statement by the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission on cases of “viral pneumonia” in Wuhan, China, the World Health Organization, or WHO, said in a statement commemorating the start of the pandemic.
“In the weeks, months and years that unfolded after that, COVID-19 came to shape our lives and our world,” the United Nations health body said. “We continue to call on China to share data and access so we can understand the origins of COVID-19. This is a moral and scientific imperative.”
The statement came after the World Health Organization (WHO) urged China to release key COVID-19 origin data from Wuhan.
It added: “Let’s take a moment to honor the lives changed and lost, recognize those who are suffering from COVID-19 and long COVID, express gratitude to the health workers who sacrificed so much to care for us.”
China on Tuesday dismissed calls on its government to release more data from the emergence of the pandemic, which has killed at least 7 million people worldwide, and defended its record on international collaboration.
Peter Daszak, a member of the World Health Organization team investigating the origins of COVID-19, takes a swab sample on the balcony of a hotel in Wuhan, China, Feb. 6, 2021.(Hector Retamal/AFP)
“After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic five years ago, China immediately shared epidemic information and virus gene sequences with the World Health Organization and the international community,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a regular news briefing in Beijing on Tuesday.
“On the issue of COVID-19 origin tracing, China has always adhered to the spirit of science, openness and transparency, actively supported and participated in global scientific tracing, and resolutely opposed any form of political manipulation,” Mao said, quoting WHO experts as saying that they were satisfied with the access granted during their February 2021 visit.
Early days of COVID-19 pandemic
When reports first began to emerge of a “mystery virus” causing pneumonia in patients in Wuhan, China said it definitely wasn’t SARS, but later said it was a SARS-like virus.
Ho Pak-leung, head of the University of Hong Kong’s Centre for Infection, warned in early January 2020 that that it was highly possible that the disease was spreading from human to human, given the sheer number of cases that appeared in a short period of time.
Human-to-human transmission was confirmed by the WHO on Jan. 19, 2020.
The WHO also continued to advise that the disease was spread through “respiratory droplets and contact” rather than traveling through the air like smoke. This led governments and health services around the world to emphasize hand-washing and social distancing over other preventive measures.
But a WHO team sent to Wuhan to investigate the origins of the coronavirus pandemic in February 2021 sent out mixed signals regarding the transparency of the probe. Investigators said China refused to hand over raw patient data on early COVID-19 cases, making it harder to figure out how the outbreak began.
Whistleblowing doctors like Li Wenliang died of COVID-19 in the early phase of the pandemic, while those who survived were later silenced by intense political pressure.
Citizen journalists who went to Wuhan to document the early weeks of the outbreak and the citywide lockdown that followed were eventually caught, detained and sentenced to lengthy jail terms. Even after their release, some continue to face restriction and harassment.
Medical workers attend to COVID-19 patients in the intensive care unit of a hospital in Wuhan, China, Feb. 6, 2020.(China Daily via Reuters)
Rights groups said many Chinese people who spoke out against the government’s handling of the initial outbreak that eventually spread around the world had been prevented from getting anywhere near the team.
Competing theories of origin
Experts hired by the global health body to carry out a politically sensitive investigation of the origins of the pandemic had initially said that a leak from the lab was “extremely unlikely.” But WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus later said the lab leak theory warranted further investigation, as experts from 13 countries criticized a lack of transparency from China.
The U.S. intelligence community remains divided over whether COVID-19 originated from a lab in Wuhan or from natural exposure to an infected animal, and is only sure it wasn’t a deliberate bioweapon, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told the Senate in March 2023.
China has continued to insist that the virus originated from outside its borders, a claim reiterated by Mao on Tuesday.
“The international scientific community has more and more clues pointing to the global origin of the virus,” she said. “Origin tracing should also be based on a global perspective and carried out in multiple countries and regions.”
Better public health response still needed
Nearly five years since the first SARS-CoV-2 infections were reported, most countries have lifted public health and social measures and have moved to end their national COVID-19 emergencies, the WHO said on its official website.
The bio-containment level 4 laboratory, called P4 (left), is seen on the campus of the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China, Dec. 21, 2024.(Hector Retamal/AFP)
“COVID-19 continues to circulate widely, however, presenting significant challenges to health systems worldwide,” it said, adding that “tens of thousands” of people are infected or re-infected with SARS-CoV-2 each week around the world.
It called on governments to “sustain the public health response to COVID-19 amid ongoing illness and death and the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants.”
According to the National Institutes of Health’s LitCovid website, which compiles COVID-19 research from around the world, Long COVID and sequelae — new health problems like neurological and cardiovascular disease that are caused by the virus — are among the most heavily researched and trending topics among scientists.
Papers on the virus’ links to neurodegeneration, chronic fatigue and mitochondrial damage topped the list of trending topics out of more than 440,000 articles from 8,000 scientific journals on the website on Dec. 31, 2024.
Edited by Roseanne Gerin.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Luisetta Mudie.
China reiterated its concerns about the Philippines’ plan to acquire the US Typhon missile defense system. In the foreign ministry press briefing on Thursday, December 26, the spokesperson of the ministry, Mao Ning, claimed it is a “strategic and offensive” weapon which may fuel arms race in the region. China also restated its long-standing demand for the withdrawal of the system already deployed near its borders.
Ning reminded the leadership in the Philippines of their promise of never taking sides among the major powers.
Police in Manchester were called to the Chinese consulate over the weekend after staff started an altercation with a Radio Free Asia journalist who filmed them cleaning up Hong Kong protest graffiti on the street outside.
Four members of staff surrounded RFA Cantonese Service reporter Matthew Leung on Saturday afternoon after he started taking photos of them scrubbing away slogans in white paint daubed on the sidewalk outside the Chinese consulate on Manchester’s Denison Road.
The slogans read “F— PRC!” [People’s Republic of China] “Independence for Hong Kong!” and “Long Live the Republic of China!” the official name for democratic Taiwan, according to photos shared on the messaging app Telegram on the afternoon of Dec. 28. There was also an epithet referring to China by a highly offensive historical slur, which has been used by Hong Kongers in protest slogans before.
A staff member from the Chinese consulate in Manchester, center, tells an RFA reporter they can’t take photos on the street outside the building, Dec. 28, 2024.(Matthew Leung/RFA)
A Telegram user said they had painted the slogans, “because they are communists.”
Staff moved quickly to scrub the graffiti away, but threatened RFA reporters who arrived and started taking photos at the scene.
“We know your name, we know your address,” one warned RFA’s reporter. “I know our rights — if you take photos of us, we have image rights.”
“We don’t want any photos or videos to appear on the Internet. If you publish them, we will notify the police,” one staff member said.
The Chinese Consulate in the northern British city made headlines in 2022 after Consul General Zheng Xiyuan assaulted a Hong Kong protester inside the Chinese consulate in Manchester.
Anti-Communist Party slogans outside the Chinese Consulate in Manchester, Dec. 28, 2024.(Social Media)
There are also growing concerns over Chinese Communist Party infiltration of all aspects of British life, and warnings from Hong Kongers in exile over growing acts of violence by Beijing’s supporters and officials alike.
Another staff member, who spoke accented Cantonese, said: “Stop shooting; we’re calling the police now,” while another staff member repeated the demand in English.
One staff member tried to gain access to the digital touchscreen of the camera, despite a verbal complaint from the RFA journalist, but was eventually pulled away by colleagues.
Staff also demanded that the RFA journalist identify themselves, which the reporter did, showing an official National Union of Journalists press accreditation.
Workers clean the boundary walls of the Chinese consulate in Manchester after they were daubed with Hong Kong protest graffiti, Dec. 28, 2024.(Matthew Leung/RFA)
“This is the Consulate General,” said one of the men, to which the reporter replied that he was standing on a public footpath.
“If you want to shoot, you have to get our permission,” the man retorted, citing “diplomatic privileges under the Vienna Convention.”
When the police arrived after being called both by the RFA reporter and consulate staff, they took away a bag of evidence, and reminded consular staff that journalists have a right to film in public places.
They questioned everyone at the scene, including asking the RFA reporter if they saw who painted the slogans, then left.
They initially told RFA Cantonese they would investigate the graffiti as a “hate crime,” but later said that they wouldn’t be pursuing an investigation because consular staff at “refused to cooperate.”
Greater Manchester Police officers at the Chinese consulate, Dec. 28, 2024.(Matthew Leung/RFA)
Simon Cheng, founder and chairperson of the advocacy group Hongkongers in Britain, said the move appeared to be a bid to control media activities on British soil.
“At the very least, it can be said that the consular staff have no sense of their own legal rights or boundaries,” Cheng said. “More importantly, if they start applying China’s method of restricting media freedom and blocking filming in the UK, that’s definitely a form of transnational repression.”
Hong Kong exile groups in the United Kingdom have hit out at alleged transnational repression by the Chinese Communist Party on British soil after a church in the southern British town of Guildford canceled a children’s workshop on justice, civil liberties and human rights in 2023.
Cheng said the staff appeared to have toned down their approach following an incident in 2022, which saw six Chinese diplomats including the Consul General withdrawn after an attack on Hong Kong protester Bob Chan.
“There are slight differences in the way they handled it … they appeared to be de-escalating and threatening to call the police, but that doesn’t mean they had any legal grounds or justification for doing so,” Cheng said.
He said the graffiti expressed simmering anger among Hongkongers in the U.K. at China’s ongoing crackdown on public dissent and political opposition in Hong Kong, but called on protesters to “express their demands in a legal manner.”
Translated by Luisetta Mudie.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Matthew Leung and Jasmine Man for RFA Cantonese.
MANILA – The Chinese military’s Southern Theater Command has staged a large-scale combat readiness exercise around the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, the ministry of defense in Beijing said.
Personnel from China’s navy and air force, as well as the coast guard, took part in Sunday’s drills at the group of reefs that China refers to as Huangyan Dao, with a U.S. Navy ocean surveillance ship spotted in the area.
The ministry said that since the beginning of the month, the Southern Theater Command “has organized its naval and air force troops to continuously strengthen maritime and airspace patrols” around the shoal.
Scarborough Shoal is known in the Philippines as Bajo de Masinloc, and is well inside its exclusive economic zone, just 125 nautical miles (232 kilometers) from the main Philippine island of Luzon.
In a video clip released by the Chinese Command, several military aircraft including two Su-30 fighter jets, an H-6K bomber and a Shaanxi Y-8 transport plane, were seen flying over the reefs while at least three naval ships led by the 11,000-ton Type 055 large destroyer Xianyang were also present.
Naval ships from China’s Southern Theater Command taking part in combat readiness drills at Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea on Dec. 29, 2024.(Southern Theater Command)
“This is China flexing its muscle and making a statement about its claim of territorial sovereignty over Scarborough Shoal,” said Ray Powell, a U.S. maritime analyst and director of the SeaLight project at Stanford University.
“Looking at 2024 as a whole, we’ve seen China pass new policy enabling its coast guard to detain border violators for up to 60 days and establish straight baselines around Scarborough Shoal to bolster its case that it is Chinese territory,” Powell told Radio Free Asia, adding that Beijing has also increased its regular coast guard and maritime militia presence to push Philippine coast guard and fisheries patrols further away, and increased its military presence.
“Beijing is putting real teeth behind its ‘indisputable sovereignty’ claim over the shoal,” he said.
No more ‘gray zone’
Powell spotted the USNS Victorious, a U.S. Military Sealift Command ocean surveillance vessel, patrolling nearby, apparently to monitor the Chinese exercise.
“I don’t think we can be sure, but it seems very timely. I can’t think of another reason it would have tarried there at that time unless it was to surveil China’s patrol,” he told RFA.
The United States is the Philippines’ treaty ally and has repeatedly condemned China’s aggression in the waters over which China claims the lion’s share. China’s claims were rejected by an international tribunal in 2016 and are being disputed by other littoral states.
Manila has yet to respond to Beijing’s latest activities but the Philippine army chief said this month that China had “upscaled its presence” in the West Philippine Sea, referring to the area of South China Sea under Philippine jurisdiction.
Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., chief of the armed forces, told an RFA reporter in Manila that his office had adopted an acronym for Chinese activities in the region – ICAD, or illegal, coercive, aggressive and disruptive, actions – instead of gray zone activities.
Gray zone tactics are aggressive actions that jeopardize a nation’s security but are under the threshold of war and therefore difficult to respond to.
A Su-30 fighter jet from China’s Southern Theater Command is seen flying over Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea on Dec. 29, 2024.(Southern Theater Command)
The Philippine military’s new strategy is to set up an effective presence in the West Philippine Sea with a “whole nation approach,” with all sectors of society taking part in the maritime strategy, according to Brawner.
“The Philippines lacks the maritime capability to directly challenge China’s effective control of Scarborough Shoal,” said Stanford’s Powell.
“It will have to press its case on the international stage that China’s actions have violated international law by denying Philippine fishermen access to the shoal and by permitting environmental destruction of the shoal by its own fishermen through their illegal giant clam harvesting,” the analyst added.
In 2016 Manila brought Beijing to a U.N. arbitral tribunal which ruled that almost all China’s claims in the South China Sea were illegal and therefore invalid. China refused to take part and rejected the ruling.
The Philippine government, however, is considering a new legal case against China for its violations of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea and is seeking support from other nations, sources told RFA.
Edited by Mike Firn.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Staff.
TAIPEI, Taiwan – Chinese state media has launched a campaign to highlight friendly cooperation with the United States in an attempt to improve turbulent ties as a new administration under Donald Trump prepares to take office, an analyst said.
The state-run People’s Daily and Global Times, which often carry searing criticism of the U.S., called on Dec. 25 for written work, photos and videos from people and organizations around the world with the aim of “bridging cultural differences and fostering friendship and trust” with the U.S.
“What they are doing now is part of the latest efforts by the Chinese government to foster a more collaborative relationship with the Trump administration,” Li Wei-Ping, a researcher with Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, told Radio Free Asia.
President-elect Donald Trump has made no secret of his plans to hit China with massive tariffs and experts say his second presidency looks set to become dominated by a grand rebalancing of trade ties.
Li said that China has been working to steer its relations with the U.S. in a more positive direction since Trump’s election win, with remarks by top officials such as Foreign Minister Wang Yi and the tone of state media editorials.
Wang, in a Dec. 27 commentary in the state-run Study Times, urged the new U.S. administration to “make the right choices” by working with China and “striving for stable, healthy, and sustainable development in Sino-U.S. relations.”
Xinhua News Agency, in a Dec. 28 editorial, also extolled people-to-people exchanges such as tourism in fostering relations.
“The talk, the articles, and the campaign … could be deemed as a whole as an indication that the Chinese government is preparing for the Trump administration 2.0.,” said Li.
Trump had also made friendly gestures to China such as his invitation to Chinese leader Xi Jinping to his inauguration in January, said Li, while noting that many factors could impact what had been a “turbulent” relationship in recent years.
Trump has, for instance, nominated outspoken China critics to top jobs: Marco Rubio for secretary of state; Rep. Mike Waltz of Florida for national security adviser, and Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York as ambassador to the United Nations.
Trump then announced on Dec. 9 he had picked three China trade hawks for top roles at the State Department, including Michael Anton, who has previously argued it is not in U.S. interests to defend Taiwan from an invasion by China.
In early December, the Chinese Foreign Ministry called on the U.S. not to do anything to undermine Beijing’s territorial claim on Taiwan, enshrined in its “one-China” principle.
“I am hesitant to say the narrative has totally shifted and believe we need more time to see if this current amicability will last,” Li said.
Editing by Taejun Kang.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Alan Lu.
In recent months, even across the collective West’s media, growing admissions are being made about both Russia and China’s superior military industrial capacity. With Russia’s first use of the intermediate-range ballistic missile, the Oreshnik, it is admitted that Russia (and likely China) possess formidable military capabilities the collective West currently lacks.
Despite the collective efforts of NATO in arming, training, and backing Ukraine, Ukrainian forces continue to give ground at an accelerated rate across the entire line of contact amid the ongoing Russian Special Military Operation (SMO).
On Friday evening, President-elect Donald Trump filed a brief with the Supreme Court that took no position on whether a ban on TikTok would violate First Amendment rights. Instead, he wrote that he has “consummate deal-making expertise,” and as president would be able to “negotiate a resolution to save the platform while addressing the national security concerns expressed by the government.”…
In a three-part series, Radio Free Asia examines the reach of the Chinese Communist Party far beyond its borders, on U.S. college campuses and through technology.
RFA speaks with victims of intimidation, policy experts, and lawmakers on what’s at stake.
Episode 1: Across US College Campuses
Episode 1 delves into incidents like a Harvard University protester being forcibly removed by a Chinese Communist Party-linked student, a violent attack at a Columbia University vigil and the harassment of Georgetown students for advocating democratic values.
The documentary uncovers how these students and their families face surveillance, intimidation, and retaliation, both abroad and in China, raising urgent calls for stronger protections and accountability to safeguard freedom on American campuses.
Episode 2: TikTok — National Security Threat?
Episode 2 of China Beyond Borders—”TikTok: Silent Invasion”—investigates the national security risks posed by TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance.
Episode 2 investigates the potential national security risks posed by TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, amidst allegations of connections to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Explained are the platform’s data collection practices, its potential to manipulate users through algorithms, and the broader implications for American privacy and democracy.
As the deadline for ByteDance’s divestment of TikTok is approaching, the episode raises critical questions about balancing national security with the principles of an open society.
Episode 3: China-linked hackers spark global concern
Episode 3 of the “China Beyond Borders” series explores a recent cyberattack uncovered by Proofpoint, a leading American cybersecurity firm specializing in email security and threat defense. In May 2024, Proofpoint identified a China-linked hacker group, “UNK_SweetSpecter,” targeting technical personnel connected to a top AI company. Using phishing emails with malware, the group sought to steal intellectual property, coinciding with U.S. export restrictions on AI models. Despite China’s improved intellectual property laws, enforcement remains inconsistent, fueling international concerns about technology theft. Experts urge stricter research oversight to address China’s aggressive strategies in global tech acquisition.
Episode 3 reveals a recent cyberattack uncovered by Proofpoint, a leading American cybersecurity firm specializing in email security and threat defense.
Proofpoint identified a China-linked hacker group, “UNK_SweetSpecter,” targeting technical personnel connected to a top AI company.
Using phishing emails with malware, the group sought to steal intellectual property, coinciding with U.S. export restrictions on AI models. Despite improved international intellectual property laws, enforcement remains inconsistent.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Staff.
China is moving ahead with plans to build the world’s largest hydropower dam on Tibet’s longest river despite environmental, water security and displacement concerns raised by India, Bangladesh and Tibetan rights groups.
The Chinese government granted approval to build the Medog Hydropower Station on the lower reaches of the Yarlung Tsangpo river, where it is expected to generate 300 billion kilowatt-hours of power annually, three times the power of China’s massive Three Gorges Dam, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.
The river originates in the glaciers of western Tibet and flows into India and Bangladesh, where it is known as the Brahmaputra and the Jamuna rivers, respectively.
China did not disclose details about when construction was likely to start and end, or the likely impact of the new dam project, including the number of people displaced or the ecological, environmental and cultural consequences of what Tibetans consider as one of their most sacred and biodiverse regions.
(Paul Nelson/RFA)
But experts and activists say the impact will be significant Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon in Nyingchi city and that China could use the dam to promote its interests. It will almost certainly affect water flow patterns and native flora and fauna, and it also raises concerns about water security as China may use the dam to control the flow of water downstream.
“Any dam on a river has huge ecological consequences downstream,” India-based water conservation expert Vishwanath Srikantaiah told Radio Free Asia. “China may use it as a tool by withholding and not being transparent with data on dam operations.”
“Lessons that India can take are from the dams on the Mekong River that China has built [in Laos] and which have impacted downstream nations particularly in years of drought, and how China has operated them broadly on principles of self-interest,” Srikantaiah said.
Research has shown that China’s 11 mega-dams on the upper reaches of the Mekong River have resulted in an increase in the frequency and severity of downstream drought over the past two decades. The dams have restricted or blocked water from reaching downstream countries like Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia, as well as disrupted biodiversity and eroded river banks.
Tibetan protests
China’s dam projects have generated protests in the past.
The Yarlung Tsangpo River flows past Medog town in Tibet, Dec. 24, 2024.(Planet Labs)
Beijing’s investment to build the dam is expected to exceed 1 trillion yuan (US$137 billion) Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon in Nyingchi city more than four times the total investment of 250 billion yuan (US$34.5 billion) for the Three Gorges Dam project.
The hydropower station will be built in Medog county (Motuo in Chinese) in Nyingtri (Nyingchi) prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region, bordering the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.
“As far as hydropower projects in the Himalaya are concerned, there is already substantial evidence of their negative impacts,” Manshi Asher, a climate activist and researcher based in North India, told Radio Free Asia.
“This project will undoubtedly alter the environmental flows of the river,” Asher said. “The larger the dam, the greater the impact on the river flows.”
It isn’t clear how many people will have to move to make way for the dam and reservoir it will create.
The Yarlung Zangbo River is shown on the Tibetan Plateau in a Feb. 25, 2004, satellite image.(NASA)
The Three Gorges dam resulted in the displacement of around 1.4 million people, but the area around the Yarlung Tsangpo River where the Medog Hydropower Station is expected to be built is less populated than the area around the Yangtze River, where the Three Gorges dam was built.
Earthquake concerns
Another major concern is the Medog hydropower dam’s location in a geologically unstable area prone to earthquakes and landslides, that could be exacerbated by the huge volume of water it would hold, said Srikantaiah.
According to a study by the advocacy group International Campaign for Tibet, China has built or plans to build at least 193 hydropower dams in Tibet since 2000, of which, almost 80% are large or mega-sized.
Of the 193 dams, over 60% are reportedly still in the proposal or preparation stages. But if completed, they could displace over 1.2 million people and destroy religious sites, the rights group said.
Dechen Palmo, climate researcher at the Dharamsala, India-based Tibet Policy Institute, noted that while the specific details of the dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo river have not been disclosed, the project would likely result in the displacement of Tibetans and the destruction of ancient monasteries.
The new mega-dam also would pose environmental risks with significant impact on neighboring countries, including India, as has been the case with multiple dams that China has built on Tibet’s rivers, he said.
Additional reporting by Tenzin Norzom and Dickey Kundol. Edited by Tenzin Pema for RFA Tibetan, and by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Tibetan.
A movie that has been dubbed “China’s Barbie” has turned out to be a huge box-office hit, grossing more than 680 million yuan (US$93 million) since it opened on Nov. 22 and sparking heated social media debate about gender roles and feminism.
The romantic comedy “Herstory” follows the life and loves of Shanghai single mother Wang Tiemei as she starts a new life after losing her job.
Directed by Shao Yihui, the fast-paced drama focuses on Wang’s friendship with a troubled new neighbor, taking in challenges that include dating setbacks, stalking and an abusive ex.
Described by China’s New Weekly outlet as “a healing work dedicated to urban drifters,” the movie includes a scene where two men compete for a woman’s affection by listing all of the books they’ve read by Japanese feminist writer Chizuko Ueno.
A scene from the Chinese movie ‘Herstory’(Maxtimes Pictures)
The movie comes at a time of plummeting marriage rates in China, flagging births and a rapidly aging population.
President Xi Jinping wants the country’s women to step up and embody “the traditional virtues” of marriage and raising children in a bid to “rejuvenate” the nation.
When Xi took power in 2012, China ranked 69th in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report, which measures policies and suggests measures to address gender inequality. By 2023, the country had fallen to 107th place.
Chinese women face major barriers to finding work in the college graduate labor market and fear getting pregnant if they do land a job out of concern their employer will fire them, a common concern despite protection on paper offered by China’s labor laws.
While “Herstory” has been largely welcomed by Chinese women on social media as a refreshing take on women’s lives, and hailed as the Chinese equivalent of Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” about the iconic Mattel doll, there has been some political backlash against the film’s rather moderate message of female empowerment.
When some social media comments complained that one of the publicity posters for the movie only showed the male characters, others jumped in to warn against “gender confrontation,” a buzzword often used by pro-government “little pink” commentators to suggest that support for women’s rights has crossed lines laid down by the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s “public opinion management” operations.
“Congratulations on 600 million,” wrote Weibo user “A_Guide_To_Not_Growing_Up commented from the eastern province of Jiangsu on Dec. 14. “I want to see the female characters on the poster next time.”
“Don’t do this again,” @Look_up_at_the_sky_and_don’t_think added from Guangxi, while @RachelCe added: “I seem to remember that the main characters in your movie were three women,” adding a “shocked” emoji.
A scene from the Chinese movie ‘Herstory’(Maxtimes Pictures)
But @Cabbage from Jiangsu wrote: “Some people in the comment area started to create gender antagonism. Anyone in this movie can be on the poster, even the building security guard.”
@iamloooopy wrote: “Most of the laughs in this movie were provided by the male actors,” while @Elaineeeee countered: “The jokes were provided by the screenwriter, thanks.”
But others were too busy celebrating the film’s success.
“It’s important for women to be subjects, not just objects,” read one social media comment, while another said: “I laughed and cried at the same time.”
Another wrote: “May we all have the courage to pursue true freedom.”
Translated with additional reporting by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Kitty Wang for RFA Mandarin.
TAIPEI, Taiwan – Ko Wen-je, a former Taipei mayor and one-time presidential candidate, has been charged with bribery, profiteering, embezzlement and breach of trust and could face more than 28 years months in prison if convicted
Ko, who won support among younger voters in a presidential election this year with promises to upend Taiwan’s political establishment, was indicted on Thursday and released on NT$30 million (US$1 million) bail on Friday after spending 113 days in detention.
Ko, chairman of the Taiwan People’s Party, or TPP, has denied the charges.
“I still believe in myself. I’m not the type of person who would seek personal gain, engage in corruption, or break the law,” he told reporters outside his home on Friday.
“That said, facing challenges like this makes me realize there are areas in my life I need to reflect on.”
His party called the indictment a “politically motivated crackdown and judicial injustice.”
Prosecutors allege Ko orchestrated financial benefits worth billions of New Taiwan dollars for private developers during his mayoral tenure, embezzled political donations, and accepted bribes totaling tens of millions.
“After committing these crimes, investigators found shredded notes in his office containing instructions for accomplices to leave the country and inquiries about internal financial records,” the prosecutor’s office said in a news release.
“This behavior demonstrates his attempts to evade responsibility and his poor attitude following the offenses, leading to the specific charges requested,” it added.
Rise and fall
Ko, a physician, rose to fame in Taiwanese politics by winning two elections for the mayor of Taipei in 2014 and again in 2022.
In 2019, he founded the TPP, positioning it as an alternative to Taiwan’s dominant political parties, the Democratic Progressive Party, or DPP, and the Kuomintang, or KMT.
In the 2024 presidential election, Ko and the TPP gained significant support among younger voters, presenting a fresh alternative to the establishment and posing a challenge to the dominance of the major parties.
Ko has, however, stirred controversy with what critics see as an ambiguous stance on cross-straight relations. The TPP had maintained a nuanced approach, emphasizing the importance of peace and stability while advocating for Taiwan’s sovereignty.
Ko criticized the DPP and KMT over their China-related policies, calling the approach of the former overly confrontational and of the latter too conciliatory.
In 2015, Ko promoted a concept he called “one family on both sides of the Strait”, speaking in favour of exchanges between Taiwan and China and fostering goodwill.
The ruling DPP, which takes a pro-sovereignty stance, accused Ko of “echoing” the Chinese Communist Party’s unification rhetoric and “undermining” Taiwan’s sovereignty.
China regards Taiwan as a renegade province that must be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary. The democratic island has been self-governing since it effectively separated from mainland China in 1949 after the Chinese Civil War.
Edited by Taejun Kang.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Alan Lu for RFA.
TAIPEI, Taiwan – Ko Wen-je, a former Taipei mayor and one-time presidential candidate, has been charged with bribery, profiteering, embezzlement and breach of trust and could face more than 28 years months in prison if convicted
Ko, who won support among younger voters in a presidential election this year with promises to upend Taiwan’s political establishment, was indicted on Thursday and released on NT$30 million (US$1 million) bail on Friday after spending 113 days in detention.
Ko, chairman of the Taiwan People’s Party, or TPP, has denied the charges.
“I still believe in myself. I’m not the type of person who would seek personal gain, engage in corruption, or break the law,” he told reporters outside his home on Friday.
“That said, facing challenges like this makes me realize there are areas in my life I need to reflect on.”
His party called the indictment a “politically motivated crackdown and judicial injustice.”
Prosecutors allege Ko orchestrated financial benefits worth billions of New Taiwan dollars for private developers during his mayoral tenure, embezzled political donations, and accepted bribes totaling tens of millions.
“After committing these crimes, investigators found shredded notes in his office containing instructions for accomplices to leave the country and inquiries about internal financial records,” the prosecutor’s office said in a news release.
“This behavior demonstrates his attempts to evade responsibility and his poor attitude following the offenses, leading to the specific charges requested,” it added.
Rise and fall
Ko, a physician, rose to fame in Taiwanese politics by winning two elections for the mayor of Taipei in 2014 and again in 2022.
In 2019, he founded the TPP, positioning it as an alternative to Taiwan’s dominant political parties, the Democratic Progressive Party, or DPP, and the Kuomintang, or KMT.
In the 2024 presidential election, Ko and the TPP gained significant support among younger voters, presenting a fresh alternative to the establishment and posing a challenge to the dominance of the major parties.
Ko has, however, stirred controversy with what critics see as an ambiguous stance on cross-straight relations. The TPP had maintained a nuanced approach, emphasizing the importance of peace and stability while advocating for Taiwan’s sovereignty.
Ko criticized the DPP and KMT over their China-related policies, calling the approach of the former overly confrontational and of the latter too conciliatory.
In 2015, Ko promoted a concept he called “one family on both sides of the Strait”, speaking in favour of exchanges between Taiwan and China and fostering goodwill.
The ruling DPP, which takes a pro-sovereignty stance, accused Ko of “echoing” the Chinese Communist Party’s unification rhetoric and “undermining” Taiwan’s sovereignty.
China regards Taiwan as a renegade province that must be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary. The democratic island has been self-governing since it effectively separated from mainland China in 1949 after the Chinese Civil War.
Edited by Taejun Kang.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Alan Lu for RFA.
China launched on Friday the first Type 076 new-generation amphibious assault ship that can carry and launch drones and multiple aircraft including fighter jets, Xinhua News Agency reported.
The ship, named after the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan, is equipped with electromagnetic catapult and arresting technology similar to that of an aircraft carrier.
The Sichuan, hull number 51, is believed to be the largest amphibious assault ship in the world and has a full-load displacement of more than 40,000 tons.
It features a full-length 260-meter flight deck, from which helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles, and light fixed-wing aircraft will be launched using the catapult in the same manner as an aircraft carrier.
The vessel can carry more weapons and equipment, has longer range and stronger capabilities compared to the previous model Type 075, Zhang Junshe, a Chinese military expert, told the Global Times newspaper.
Xinhua quoted unidentified Chinese navy officials as saying that the Type 076 would play “a key role in advancing the navy’s transformation and enhancing its combat capabilities in the far seas.”
The manufacturer has yet to do mooring and navigation tests, as well as equipment commissioning.
The Type 076, also known by the NATO reporting name Yulan-class landing helicopter assault ship, “represents a substantial step forward in the ability of the People’s Liberation Army to project power farther from China’s shores,” said authors of a report carried out in the summer by the U.S. Center for Strategic and International Studies, or CSIS.
With a flight deck of 13,500 square meters – nearly the area of three U.S. football fields – the vessel is considerably larger than U.S. America-class amphibious assault vessels and Japan’s Izumo-class helicopter carriers.
The CSIS researchers also noted that the electromagnetic catapult, similar to that of the U.S. Ford-class aircraft carriers, makes it “unique among all other amphibious assault ships.” That means it is capable of carrying more aircraft, both manned and unmanned, and of launching larger aircraft with heavier payloads.
Besides combat and reconnaissance drones, the Type 076 could carry helicopters and fighter aircraft like the multirole fighter Shenyang J-15.
According to the researchers, once operational, the Type 076 will serve as a multifunctional combat platform, capable of conducting air operations, launching amphibious landings, and providing joint command and control for broader amphibious forces.
“While it will not fundamentally tip the military balance in the Indo-Pacific, the introduction of the Type 076 will give the PLA even greater options in bringing combat power to bear, whether in the Western Pacific, the South China Sea, or beyond,” they said.
China has the world’s largest navy by number, with 234 vessels to the U.S. Navy’s 219, according to the CSIS. Chinese ships are also newer and its shipyards are more productive.
However, the U.S. “continues to hold an advantage in guided missile cruisers and destroyers,” and remains dominant in submarine capabilities, it said.
Edited by RFA Staff.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Staff.
Christmas trees and other decorations have made a cautious comeback in shopping malls in Shanghai and other major Chinese cities this week, but authorities continued to put Christians under political pressure and discourage anyone under 18 from marking a festival seen as “Western” and potentially disruptive.
Santa Claus decorations, Christmas trees and other decorations were clearly on display in Shanghai malls on Dec. 24, with some shoppers soaking up the festive atmosphere, local residents said.
“This year’s atmosphere is one of the best in recent years,” a Shanghai resident who gave only the surname Sun for fear of reprisals told RFA Mandarin in a recent interview. “Xintiandi and other places have a lot of Christmas decorations, so we went to see them.”
“Some social media accounts are also publicizing which places have better Christmas trees or decorations, or where there are Christmas markets,” he said, speculating that the government has relaxed regulations in commercial centers for fear of alienating foreign investors.
The apparent relaxation comes after several years of a nationwide crackdown by ruling Communist Party on Christian worship, as well as public Christmas decorations and events.
A woman wearing Manchu-style clothing poses in front of a Christmas tree at a church in Beijing, Dec. 20, 2024.(Josh Arslan, Tingshu Wang, Tingshu Wang/Reuters)
However, monasteries, temples, mosques, churches and other religious activity venues in China are still required to support the leadership of the Communist Party and leader Xi Jinping’s “sinicization” program for all kinds of religious activity.
That’s included the hanging of portraits of Xi Jinping in churches, a ban on Christmas celebrations and enforced demolition work at major mosques and churches to remove domes and crosses.
A brief online search found a holiday shopping promotional event titled “Celebrating Christmas and New Year’s Day Together,” on Sina.com, while the WeChat social media platform saw advertisements for Christmas-themed events.
State-run English-language newspaper the China Daily even ran a cartoon featuring Santa Claus on Dec. 23.
“We used to see a lot of posts about boycotting foreign festivals around this time of year, … but suddenly nobody cares about this any more,” a resident of Guangzhou who gave only the surname Wu for fear of reprisals told RFA Mandarin.
“The government probably hasn’t given them any direction on the matter, so the pro-government 50-cent army and little pinks may not be interested any more,” he said.
Pledge to ‘resist Western holidays’
The authorities are still cracking down on Christmas among children and young people, however.
Authorities at a secondary school in the central province of Hubei sent out a pledge to students warning them off the practice.
“Please don’t send me greetings on Western holidays,” the pledge said. “I’m not Christian; I’m Chinese. I’m not a citizen of the West, so why should I celebrate Western holidays?”
A woman poses for pictures with a Santa Claus decoration at Xishiku Church on Christmas Eve in Beijing, China ,Dec. 24, 2024.(Josh Arslan/Reuters)
The statement called on students to “consciously resist Western holidays,” and banned them from exchanging Christmas gifts.
In the eastern province of Anhui, the Lingbi County No. 4 High School also issued a statement to students and teachers, banning Christmas decorations in public.
“It is strictly forbidden to display any Christmas-related content in public places such as classrooms,” the notice said. “Do not imitate or flatter foreigners, do not organize or participate in Christmas-related gatherings, and do not forward foreign holiday content.”
It said teachers and students should “understand and identify with the spiritual connotation of Chinese traditional virtues and culture, and practice the core values of socialism.”
And Hanzhong City No. 4 High School in the northern province of Shaanxi said students are banned from any Christmas-related activities, including bringing wrapping paper, snow spray or other Christmas-related items into school, on pain of “severe punishment.”
“This is to guide students to cherish their own culture, and to enhance national confidence and cultural identity,” the directive said.
Limited services
Meanwhile, a Christian who gave only the surname Zhao for fear of reprisals said he was permitted to go to a Christmas service on Wednesday, but only for an hour.
“I’m in Jiangsu [province] right now, and you have to give your name to get into the church, and the services are limited to not much more than one hour,” he said.
“This year is a little more relaxed, but in Anhui, you also have to give your name to get into the church,” Zhao said.
People attend mass at Beijing’s Xishiku Catholic Church, Dec. 24, 2024. (Josh Arslan(Tingshu Wang, Josh Arslan/Reuters)
Under President Xi Jinping’s “sinicization” policy, the government is particularly strict about banning religious activities for young people under the age of 18, he said.
“Education starts from an early age,” he said. “They think it’s harder to change people’s minds if they have been Christians since they were young.”
In the southwestern province of Yunnan, the National Primary School in Luquan county called on students to “take a rational look at Western festivals and culture, and don’t worship foreign things blindly or follow trends.”
Student are banned from “celebrating Christmas, buying gifts and forwarding related content” on social media, it said.
Similar warnings were issued in some companies, who banned employees from forwarding Christmas-related content on social media.
“Employee behavior should be consistent with company culture, and support their Chinese cultural heritage through their actions,” a decoration company in Dongying city told employees.
A Protestant pastor of a church in the port city of Qingdao who gave only the surname Qin for fear of reprisals confirmed that some shopping malls where he lives are displaying Christmas decorations.
“But you couldn’t hear any Christmas carols in the mall,” Qin said. “The malls used to play Christmas carols, including songs in English praising Jesus and the coming of Christ, but I didn’t hear any this year.”
Meanwhile, security guards and local religious affairs bureau officials are sitting in at the local church over the holiday period, Qin said.
U.S.-based current affairs commentator Tang Jingyuan said the ruling Chinese Communist Party uses “cultural confidence” as a way to reject what it sees as “Western” values, particularly when connected to human rights.
“The real meaning of this so-called self-confidence is the defense of the Chinese Communist Party’s own totalitarian and distorted red ideology,” he said.
Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Qian Lang and Kitty Wang for RFA Mandarin.
Taiwan’s ministry of national defense is warning a potential cut in the island’s defense budget for 2025 would have grave consequences.
Recently passed amendments to a fiscal planning law could reduce the defense budget by 28%, or NT$80 billion (US$2.44 billion), which would “have a serious impact on the national military’s buildup and preparedness,” the ministry said in a statement issued late Wednesday.
Last week, Taiwan’s opposition parties, which hold a majority in parliament, passed the amended Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures that if implemented would see a NT$375.3 billion (US$11.47 billion) reduction in the central government’s overall budget.
The current defense budget is approximately 2.4% of Taiwan’s gross domestic product, or GDP, but it would shrink to less than 2% after the cut, “at a time when every country in the region is increasing its defense spending,” said the ministry.
Previously, the Taiwanese government proposed a record high military budget that accounted for approximately 2.5% of the GDP for 2025 but that increase now seems unlikely.
“It may create a negative image in the international community that we … lack the determination to defend ourselves,” the ministry said.
The national defense budget should be decided in accordance with “the threats posed by the enemy and the need to build up the military and prepare for war,” it said.
China has been ramping up military activities around Taiwan, which it considers a Chinese province that should be “reunified” with the mainland, by force if necessary.
An analyst said that in the face of constant cross-Strait threats, Taiwan needs to increase its defense budget, as well as social and economic resilience.
“We need to demonstrate that we’re willing to fight,” said Kuan-chen Lee, associate research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a government think tank.
“Taiwan must improve military capabilities and make war more costly for China,” Lee told Radio Free Asia.
The budget cut would “make it impossible to continuously upgrade major weapons and equipment, and it would be difficult to make payments for contracted purchases,” warned the defense ministry.
C-130 fleet upgrade
On Wednesday, the Taiwanese Defense Mission to the United States issued a public notice to invite tenders to upgrade its existing C-130 military transport aircraft for an estimated NT$126 million (US$3.85 million).
The money will be allocated to purchase new propellers, according to the procurement notice.
A Taiwan C-130 military transport aircraft at Songshan airport, Taipei, Sept. 28, 2023.(RFA)
The acquisition is part of a six-year overhaul project, called Taiwu Mountain III, to be carried out between 2025-2030 and expected to cost NT$10 billion (US$ 305.86 million).
Taiwan’s air force has a fleet of 20 U.S.-made C-130s bought in the 1980s that serve as the main transport aircraft for the armed forces.
The upgrade would ensure that the aircraft have integrated cockpits and improved sea rescue capabilities.
Edited by Mike Firn.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Staff.
The Chinese Communist Party’s United Front Work Department is counting on a new ally in the fight to persuade Taiwan’s 23 million people to give up their democratic way of life to be ruled by Beijing — Cheng Huang, the god of cities.
Officials in the southeastern province of Fujian, just across the Taiwan Strait from self-ruled Taiwan, invited hundreds of Taoists, temple representatives, scholars and experts to a lavish cultural exchange event last month, according to the provincial government’s official website.
The event included seminars on Cheng Huang temples across Fujian as well as beliefs around the god in Taiwan, particularly in smaller towns on the island, the Nov. 14 report said.
Cheng Huang isn’t the first supernatural being to be enlisted by the Chinese Communist Party in pursuit of its political goals, in this case, to control Taiwan, whether by soft power and propaganda or by military force if necessary.
China has already tried to co-opt the sea goddess Matsu, widely revered in Taiwan, as part of a United Front operation targeting millions of voters.
And it has also encouraged the worship of the controversial Tibetan dharma protector Shugden, a move at loggerheads with the Tibetan Buddhist Gelugpa sect of the exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
A man places incense sticks at the Taishan Up Temple, a Taoist temple built in 1754, New Taipei City, Taiwan, March 2, 2023.(Sam Yeh/AFP)
The United Front is a shadowy government agency in charge of seeking Chinese influence outside the country through individuals and often innocuous-sounding organizations.
The Chinese Communist Party embraces atheism and exercises tight controls over any form of religious practice among its citizens, requiring them to join government-backed governing bodies and to display the Chinese flag, along with other demonstrations of loyalty to Beijing.
But apparently it isn’t opposed to using religion to further its political objectives.
Religious cross-straits links
Cheng Huang emerged in Chinese folk belief as a spirit protector of city walls and moats, and later diversified into a more complex deity with his own following and underworld bureaucracy mirroring structures found in the land of the living.
“Cheng Huang culture is one of the important links connecting compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait,” the report quoted Cheng Ming-hui of Taiwan’s Wuji Sanching Temple as saying.
“I hope we can to hold more such activities in the future to further enhance the understanding and friendship between believers on both sides of the Taiwan Strait,” Cheng said.
Worshippers carry the Matsu statue, center, during the annual pilgrimage in honor of sea goddess Matsu in Dajia, Taiwan, April 17, 2010.(Pichi Chuang/Reuters)
Taiwan has never been ruled by Beijing and is formally governed by the Republic of China government, formed after the 1911 fall of the Qing Dynasty under Sun Yat-sen, that later fled to Taipei after losing the civil war in 1949 to Mao Zedong’s communists on the mainland.
While China insists on eventual “unification” with Taiwan, by armed invasion if necessary, the majority of Taiwan’s 23 million people have no wish to give up their democratic way of life to submit to Chinese rule.
Ho Cheng-Hui, who heads Taiwanese civil defense organization the Kuma Academy, said China likes to cash in politically on religious devotion of any kind, citing its involvement in the cult of Matsu as an example.
“They are catering to the customs of the Taiwanese people, but with other motives behind it,” Ho said. “They call it religious exchange, but actually it’s a United Front operation — scholars have defined it as the warfare of influence in recent years.”
“Some Taiwanese take part in these so-called exchanges because of their religious feeling, or sense of the historical origins [of their beliefs],” he said. “But that’s not what’s happening here.”
He called on religious believers in Taiwan to become more aware of China’s motives, “so as not to be used” by Beijing.
‘Living chess pieces’
Wu Se-Chih, a researcher at Taiwan’s Cross-Straits Policy Association, agreed.
“There is also a certain degree of United Front motivation,” he said. “China will always try to leverage any United Front gains from the people of Taiwan.”
Wu said the “deep connection between folk beliefs and local politics” in Taiwan also offers a channel for funds to flow into — and influence — the island’s messily democratic political life.
The Chinese government has acquired a number of local temples in Taiwan in recent years, which he described as “living chess pieces” in Beijing’s hands, to boost its influence in Taiwanese politics at a local level.
“These interest groups haven’t been subjected to enough supervision,” Wu said. “That’s the main reason the Chinese Communist Party targets local temples.”
And there are also personal risks involved for any religious believers traveling to China, according to Wu, who cited the recent detention of three elderly Taiwanese members of the I-Kuan Tao religion in Zhongshan city.
“Sometimes the red lines aren’t very clear … so people need to think twice and be vigilant, which is the best way to protect themselves,” Wu said.
Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Huang Chun-mei for RFA Mandarin.
Increasingly, understanding the inter-imperialist competition between the United States and China is becoming essential to understanding the dynamics of the modern capitalist system. With the goal of broadening our understanding of the dynamics at play, Ashley Smith, along with co-authors Eli Friedman, Kevin Lin, and Rosa Liu, have published China in Global Capitalism: Building International…
(Paul Nelson/RFA)
