Free Republic

Two nationals of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) made their initial appearances in federal court in Portland, Oregon, and Houston, Texas, yesterday to face charges issued out of the Northern District of California for acting as agents of the Government of the PRC without prior notification to the Attorney General. The defendants, Yuance Chen, 38, a PRC national and legal permanent resident who resides in Happy Valley, Oregon, and Liren “Ryan” Lai, 39, a PRC national who traveled from the PRC to Houston, Texas, on a tourist visa in April 2025, were arrested Friday on a criminal complaint charging...

TAIPEI—Taiwan will hold a presidential election this weekend that will have global and regional ramifications. The frontrunner, current Vice President Lai Ching-te, has vowed to protect Taiwan’s autonomy from Chinese aggression and strengthen ties with the United States. Beijing has intimidated Taiwan by buzzing its airspace with fighter jets and sending spy balloons and satellites over the island. But there’s another enemy vying to take Lai down, and it’s on TikTok. The popular social platform, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, has been flooded with false or sensationalized videos by accounts exhibiting behavior consistent with organized Chinese disinformation operations, experts say....