Free Republic

Since the United States and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) established diplomatic relations in 1979, United States policy toward the PRC was largely premised on a hope that deepening engagement would spur fundamental economic and political opening in the PRC and lead to its emergence as a constructive and responsible global stakeholder, with a more open society. More than 40 years later, it has become evident that this approach underestimated the will of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to constrain the scope of economic and political reform in China. Over the past two decades, reforms have slowed, stalled, or...

“Come not between the dragon and his wrath,” King Lear enjoined, but this we must do to upend the wrath that has emanated from the most powerful foe America has faced. As terrible as the coronavirus crisis is, we must imagine a world ten or 20 years from now, in which the People’s Republic of China’s nominal gross domestic product is 50 percent larger than that of the United States.What power would an unconstrained China wield? What force of arms would they muster to intimidate and to control?If China’s actions in the coronavirus catastrophe offer any window into this...

The F.B.I. and the Department of Homeland Security are preparing to issue a warning that China’s most skilled hackers and spies are working to steal American research in the crash effort to develop vaccines and treatments for the coronavirus. The efforts are part of a surge in cybertheft and attacks by nations seeking advantage in the pandemic. A draft of the forthcoming public warning, which officials say is likely to be issued in the days to come, says China is seeking “valuable intellectual property and public health data through illicit means related to vaccines, treatments and testing.” It focuses on...

Mexico's president asked the United States for answers and an apology for the Obama-era gun-running operation known as "Fast and Furious." On Friday, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called for an investigation into Operation Fast and Furious to prevent it from happening again. "What seems serious to me is that a violation of our sovereignty was carried out, a secret operation, and that Mexicans were killed with these weapons," Lopez Obrador said during a press conference in Mexico City on Friday. "How could this be? A government that invades in this way, that flagrantly violates sovereignty, international laws," Lopez...

It seems a number of major US media outlets have financial ties to the Chinese Communist Party, and it shows in their coverage. Despite the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) record of oppression, corporate media outlets are parroting the authoritarian government’s propaganda, even in the midst of an outbreak the CCP worsened through a cover-up. Many of those media outlets have financial ties to Chinese companies with intense oversight from the CCP.“You often see representatives from American companies with financial ties to China naturally become defenders of the CCP’s policies and spreading the CCP’s propaganda,� said Helen Raleigh, an author and...

... The acting director of national intelligence (Richard Grenell) has decided that it's time for America to stop sharing information with countries who aren't as pro-LGBT as he is -- a view that's eerily similar to Hillary Clinton's State Department, where ideological blackmail was the order of every day. Instead, reverting to the cultural imperialism of the Obama years, he'd rather strong-arm countries -- putting national security on the line in the process... ..."I am not a seat warmer," Grenell warned. "The president asked me to do a job, and I am going to do the job to the best...

Foreign powers test US defenses amid coronavirus pandemic BY ELLEN MITCHELL - 04/19/20 08:00 AM EDT U.S. adversaries are probing America's defenses as the world is preoccupied with the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. In the past two weeks, Russia, China, Iran and North Korea have all moved to test Washington in the sea, in the air and on land as U.S. forces have become more restricted in movement amid concerns over the spread of COVID-19. “Exactly how distracted is the U.S. military? They want to know,” said Susanna Blume, the director of the defense program at the Center for...

Western democracies, especially the United States, just heaved a huge sigh of relief after getting word that United Kingdom PM Boris Johnson is dropping the controversial Chinese tech company, Huawei, as the nation's provider of 5G infrastructure. Although Johnson was in support of the Chinese tech giant laying the non-sensitive portions of 5G infrastructure, he said China's lack of transparency about coronavirus made the communist-run country untrustworthy. President Trump, Attorney General William Barr, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and members of the so-called "Five-Eyes" countries that share intelligence information, brought huge pressure on the Brits to dump Huawei. The U.S....

President Trump said Monday he is “going to get involved� in settling a heated dispute between Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly and former USS Theodore Roosevelt Capt. Brett Crozier, who was fired last week after writing a letter about a worsening coronavirus outbreak aboard his ship that was later published by the San Francisco Chronicle.During a press conference at the White House, the president praised both men and said he doesn’t want Capt. Crozier’s career to be ruined because of a “bad day.�“I’ve heard very good things about the gentleman, both gentlemen,� Mr. Trump said. “I may just get involved … you have two good people and they’re arguing. And...

The Trump administration is set to pare desk jobs at the top of the intelligence community, invoking the argument that its staffs are too large and duplicative, knowledgeable sources say. One of the first targets is the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), where Richard Grenell, the U.S. ambassador to Germany and a favorite of President Trump, arrived as acting director in February. Mr. Grenell has brought in Kash Patel, once a close aide to Rep. Devin Nunes, California Republican. Mr. Patel principally wrote the 2018 Nunes memo that exposed the FBI’s reliance on the discredited Christopher Steele...

Dear Madam Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:)Section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)) provides for the automatic termination of a national emergency unless, within 90 days before the anniversary date of its declaration, the President publishes in the Federal Register and transmits to the Congress a notice stating that the emergency is to continue in effect beyond the anniversary date.  In accordance with this provision, I have sent to the Federal Register for publication the enclosed notice stating that the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13694 of April 1, 2015, is to continue in effect beyond April...

Six terrorists who carried out attacks were on the FBI's radar previously. The Justice Department's internal government watchdog released a report Wednesday identifying what it described as significant issues with how the FBI handled investigations of extremists based in the U.S. who either sought or successfully carried out attacks against Americans. The report from DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz scrutinized how agents investigated so-called 'homegrown violent extremists,' or HVE, and found several instances where individuals who went on to carry out attacks had been previously identified by the FBI but had their cases closed with no further action. "Since September...

Lawmakers from both parties told Pentagon leaders on Wednesday that the Defense Department is undermining its own efforts to get military money by diverting billions of dollars for the construction of President Donald Trump’s U.S.-Mexico border wall The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and the committee’s top Republican warned Defense Secretary Mark Esper that overturning congressional funding decisions to shift money for the wall is an enormous problem that will have consequences. The plan to shift money has triggered rare Republican opposition to one of Trump’s priorities. Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, said the result may be that Congress...

On Saturday, February 22, I received near simultaneous text messages from an old federal agent buddy and my boss that a dear friend had been found dead from a gunshot wound to the chest. I could not believe it. I went to the Internet to search for any public reports to confirm this information, which I hoped would turn out to be some kind of horrible joke or “fake news.� I could find nothing.Yet it was not a joke or fake news. As the weekend wore on, reports from legitimate news outlets, seemingly all conservative, began to trickle out that...

15 Minutes of Fame How is the President supposed to get anything done while surrounded with people like John Bolton, who can't wait for their 15 minutes of fame? Gotta see more of Mark? https://t.co/ICZsTSuMg1 pic.twitter.com/eSvOo2idBL— LevinTV (@LevinTV) February 19, 2020

The White House is weighing a plan to dismiss Alexander Vindman from the National Security Council after he testified in President Donald Trump’s impeachment inquiry, preparing to position the move as part of a broader effort to shrink the foreign policy bureaucracy, two people familiar with the matter said. The White House intends to portray any house-cleaning as part of a downsizing of the NSC staff, not retaliation, according to the people. Some of the officials being targeted for removal from the NSC would be reassigned because they’re perceived as being disloyal to the president, three people familiar with the...

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who made waves as a witness during the Trump impeachment proceedings, was fired Friday by the National Security Council and escorted off of the White House grounds, Fox News has confirmed. Vindman was on detail to the National Security Council from the Department of Defense, and it is expected he will return there. It comes just two days after President Trump was acquitted in the Senate on the impeachment charges brought by the House last year over his dealings with Ukraine. VINDMAN DRAWS APPLAUSE DURING IMPEACHMENT HEARING: 'THIS IS AMERICA' In a lengthy statement, Vindman’s attorney,...

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials tried to hack Indiana’s state electoral system with at least 14,800 “scans” or hits between Nov. 1, 2016, to Dec. 16, 2016, The Daily Caller News Foundation Investigative Group has learned. The attacks are the second confirmed IT scanning assault by DHS officials against states that resisted then-President Barack Obama’s attempt to increase federal involvement in state and local election systems by designating them as “critical infrastructure” for national security. Members of the National Association of Secretaries of State voted Saturday at their winter meeting to oppose the designation. They are asking President Donald...

The Department of Justice announced today that the Chair of Harvard University’s Chemistry and Chemical Biology Department and two Chinese nationals have been charged in connection with aiding the People’s Republic of China.  Dr. Charles Lieber, 60, Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University, was arrested this morning and charged by criminal complaint with one count of making a materially false, fictitious and fraudulent statement.  Lieber will appear this afternoon before Magistrate Judge Marianne B. Bowler in federal court in Boston, Massachusetts.Yanqing Ye, 29, a Chinese national, was charged in an indictment today with...

President Trump on Tuesday confirmed he plans to expand his controversial travel ban that bars citizens of certain countries from entering the United States. Trump told The Wall Street Journal in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that he is looking to add more countries, though he would not say which ones. The president's comments confirm an Associated Press report from earlier this month. Multiple media outlets reported that seven countries are being considered to be covered by the travel ban, including Belarus, Burma, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania. Any additions or...