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The White House confirmed that Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping discussed Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou with President Joe Biden days before she was released on Friday.“It should not come at no surprise that President Xi raised the Huawei official,” Psaki said. “But again there was no negation on this call.”The call between Biden and Xi took place September 9 and lasted an hour and a half, according to Biden.The Biden Justice Department dropped charges against Wanzhou, setting her free from house arrest in Vancouver. Wanzhou was arrested in Canada in 2018 during the Trump administration on charges she violated...

The federal government (Trump Administration) will not appeal a judge's ruling that revoked a grazing permit for Oregon ranchers Dwight and Steven Hammond..... The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Geoffrey Berman, resigning. Berman to be replaced by Jay Clayton, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The US Attorney for New Jersey, Craig Carpentio, to take over as Acting US Attorney for Southern New York July 3rd..... Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said today that one of hte police officers involved in the March 13th killing of Breonna Taylor will be fired.... The Air Force Inspector General...

Some of our European allies aren’t acting very much like allies these days. The latest example of this phenomenon comes to us from Germany, where Chancellor Angela Merkel has basically put aside all pretenses of diplomacy and is now insulting us to our faces. In remarks to the German press this week, she spoke of the “adversaries” Europe must contend with, both militarily and in terms of trade agreements, and listed three examples. China, Russia and… the United States. (Newsweek) German Chancellor Angela Merkel lumped in the United States with Europe’s other global adversaries on Wednesday, arguing that the countries...

The leaders of Germany, France and the Netherlands said Thursday that their governments do not plan to follow the lead of the US and ban Chinese telecommunications company Huawei from building up their national 5G high-speed mobile networks. President Donald Trump declared a national emergency for the telecommunications sector on Wednesday, citing “unacceptable risks” from “foreign adversaries” — including from cyberespionage and sabotage. The executive order empowers Washington to ban technology and services, including Huawei, which US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said would be blacklisted as of Friday. The US has urged allied governments to exclude Chinese companies such as...

Yesterday, Donald Trump signed an executive order that bars the government from doing business from telecom companies considered national security threats. To no one’s great surprise, the Commerce Department quickly added Chinese telecom giant Huawei to its new “entity list” of banned companies. That move left European allies and trading partners in a tough position, CNN reported last night: The US claims Huawei, one of China’s most important companies, poses a spying risk to Western technology infrastructure. The latest move against the firm comes amid a worsening trade war between Beijing and Washington, after talks expected to bring a...

The U.S. State Department on Thursday renewed its warning for U.S. citizens traveling in China to exercise increased caution due to “arbitrary enforcement of local laws” amid heightened diplomatic tensions over the arrest in Canada of a Chinese technology company executive. The updated travel advisory maintains the warning at “Level 2” but also warns about extra security checks and increased police presence in the Xinjiang Uighur and Tibet Autonomous Regions. The advisory follows the detentions by Chinese authorities in December of Canadians Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat and an adviser with the International Crisis Group (ICG) think-tank, and businessman Michael...

China appeared to intensify its punitive campaign against Canada over the arrest of a top Chinese technology executive as a second Canadian working here was detained by security officials and dropped out of contact with his government. The second case involves Michael Spavor, a writer and entrepreneur who operates a cultural organization that promotes trips into North Korea. A newspaper linked to the provincial government in Liaoning, along the border with North Korea, reported that he had been detained by security officials there on charges of “engaging in activities jeopardizing China’s national security.” Mr. Spavor gained prominence for helping arrange...