Free Republic

Two convicted Chinese spies helped Arcadia’s former mayor become a successful SoCal politician — who secretly took orders from Beijing. Yaoning “Mike” Sun and John Chen helped Eileen Wang win office and secretly reported back to their masters in the People’s Republic of China, according to court documents. Sun took orders from Chen as he served as the campaign manager and business partner of Wang in her successful 2022 run for Arcadia City Council. When Wang won her seat, Chen told Sun to send a report to their PRC masters calling Wang a “new political star.” Wang would “go against...

Trump heads to Beijing hoping personal ties with Xi can ease tensions but Iran, tariffs, Taiwan and China’s expanding global influence have complicated prospects for meaningful breakthroughs at the summit… Beijing’s deep economic relationship with Tehran, especially its dependence on Iranian oil — has placed China in a delicate position as Washington seeks broader regional support… Trump’s first presidency was dominated by tariff battles with China, many of which reshaped global trade flows even after some measures were later struck down in US courts… While a temporary trade truce last year reduced some pressure, the underlying disputes remain unresolved... The...

The Legislature was jubilant as it passed SB2471 on Friday, seeking to overturn the effects of the Citizens United decision in Hawai‘i and get big money and outside influences out of our elections. The irony is, Mainland power players were pulling our strings the whole time. The rhetoric on Friday when the Legislature passed SB2471, was triumphant. All but one of the legislators voted for this attempt to nullify the Citizen’s United decision for Hawai‘i, and did so with bold claims. We’re standing up for Hawai‘i! We’re standing against dark money! We’re making history! We’re protecting democracy! These people are...

Days before Donald Trump is scheduled to visit mainland China, a group of mostly Democrat senators reportedly is urging the president to move ahead with a long-delayed $14 billion weapons package for Taiwan.The bipartisan group pressed Trump in a Friday letter to formally notify Congress of the major arms sale ahead of his summit this week with Chinese President Xi Jinping, warning that U.S. support for Taiwan "is not up for negotiation," The New York Times reported. The senators argued Taiwan has already demonstrated its commitment to self-defense after lawmakers in Taipei approved a massive $25 billion special defense budget...

2007—Year of the Lapita? Volume 61 Number 1, January/February 2008 by Mark Rose Polynesian Breakthroughs A Polynesian chicken (Anita Gould) and a Chilean chicken bone (Courtesy Alice Storey) There was no doubt about including in our 2007 Top Ten the discovery that chicken bones from ancient Polynesian sites in Tonga and Samoa and El Arenal, a Chilean site occupied between A.D. 700 and 1390, had identical DNA. The chicken was domesticated in Southeast Asia, but how it arrived in the New World before Europeans arrived was a mystery. Now it seems that Polynesian seafarers brought them, adding to the evidence...

"The move to besiege the Strait of Hormuz and the Iranian coasts is expected to paralyze China energetically and economically within a short time, and it is possible that this is the central logic behind the move." (From the study by Adam Kraft and international researchers). The American blockade of Iranian coasts and the Strait of Hormuz has placed the Chinese economy in a precarious position. A new study by a former U.S. national security official warns that without regular supplies, China's oil reserves could run dry as early as June. The Depth of Chinese Dependency China is currently the...

As the United States turns its focus away from Asia and dials in on the Middle East, China is reportedly ramping up its deployment of naval power on the high seas. The Chinese navy and coast guard have deployed 100 vessels in the East and South China Seas, according to information that two Taiwanese security officials told Reuters. China’s presence is highly heightened when compared with the usual strength in the theater of about 50-60 ships, according to a statement that one official provided to Reuters. However, these ships are nowhere to be seen on the map. They are all...

Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated his opposition to Taiwanese independence during a meeting with Cheng Li-wun, leader of Taiwan's pro-Beijing opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party. Her official trip to Beijing, the first such visit in a decade, sparked controversy in the self-ruled island that China claims as its territory. Cheng's trip comes a month before US President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit Beijing for a summit with Xi. The United States has been piling pressure on Taiwanese opposition lawmakers to back a proposal for defence purchases, including US weapons, to deter a potential Chinese attack. Cheng has railed against the...

Operation Epic Fury marks a turning point in the art of war. The key to 20th-century battles was air power. In the past, space and cyber activities have traditionally played supporting roles as so-called force multipliers. But this is no longer the case. In this conflict they have become mainstream, carving out new fronts for the wars of the future. The use of space is no longer something that is just nice to have, because everything from comms to intel to navigation uses space and cyber assets. Along with the National Reconnaissance Office, which manages US spy satellites, the US...

Multiple sources have claimed that the Chinese government is suspiciously repositioning its military assets, signaling possible future activity around Taiwan. The reports come from the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, which tracks Chinese military might and defense systems. The China Airpower Tracker reportedly showed lines of typically retired Chinese fighter jets, which have drawn suspicion from experts. The J-6 fighter (also known as the Shenyang J-6) was first developed in the late 1950s. China retired the line of jets in the late 1990s, but now, experts say, China is retrofitting the old fighters to serve as unmanned craft and staging...

The U.S. intelligence community has eased its assessment of a near-term Chinese invasion of Taiwan, saying Beijing is more likely to pursue control of the island without military force and has no fixed timeline for unification. The updated view marks a shift from earlier warnings that pointed to 2027 as a potential deadline, a scenario that had driven urgency in Washington and Taipei. In its latest threat assessment, officials said Chinese leaders are not planning an invasion within that timeframe. Still, the report underscores China’s broad strategic challenge to the U.S. It describes Beijing as a leading cyber threat, a...

According to unconfirmed reports, General Zhang Youxia, China’s vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), sent a company of troops (over a hundred or more) to the government’s Yingxi Hotel in western Beijing on 18 January. Their mission was to arrest Xi Jinping. A few hours before, the Chinese president – alerted by an informant – set in motion countermeasures. Troops under the command of Cao Qi, head of Xi’s Central Guards Bureau, ambushed Zhang’s soldiers. In the ensuing gunfight at Yangxi Hotel, nine guards were reportedly killed along with dozens of Zhang Youxia’s soldiers. Throughout China, military movements have...

The United States began a large military exercise with South Korea involving thousands of troops on Monday (Mar 9) while also waging an escalating war in the Middle East. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff has said about 18,000 Korean troops will take part in Freedom Shield, which runs through Mar 19. US Forces Korea hasn’t confirmed the number of American troops participating in the training in South Korea. The allies’ combined exercise comes amid South Korean media speculation that Washington is relocating some assets from South Korea to support fighting against Iran.

With brilliant intelligence and close U.S. and Israeli cooperation and coordination, Operation Epic fury is systematically dismantling the terrorist regime of Iran’s ayatollahs. And as if in a game of chess, the war has reshaped the Middle East, (a consistent source of hostilities), into a more peaceful and orderly part of the world. It has also demolished fears of Russian and Chinese intervention on behalf of the regime. (Russia’s too broke and China’s grasp is less than its reach.) Indeed China, which depended on Iran and Venezuelan oil, is unlikely to make good for a while if ever on its...

If China invades Taiwan and cuts off its chip exports to American companies, the tech industry and the U.S. economy would be crippled.Federal officials have for years tried to wean Silicon Valley from its dependence on Taiwan, an island democracy roughly the size of Maryland that makes 90 percent of the world’s high-end computer chips. In secret briefings held in Washington and Silicon Valley, national security officials warned executives from companies like Apple, Advanced Micro Devices and Qualcomm that China was making plans to retake Taiwan, which Beijing has long considered a breakaway territory. A Chinese blockade of Taiwan, the...

Apple is beginning to bring its semiconductor manufacturing supply chain back to the United States. Nearly all of the most advanced chips are made in Taiwan, which China has threatened to annex. Concentrating chip supplies on an island that could be invaded, or face steep U.S. tariffs from Trump, is a big risk to Apple's business. To find out how far the company still has to go, WSJ reporter Rolfe Winkler visited several of the company's suppliers including TSMC, ASML and Foxconn in the Southwest. Inside Apple's Multibillion-Dollar Push to Make Chips in the U.S. | WSJ | 10:37 The...

A Lunar New Year celebration in Taiwan took a revolting turn when an elderly temple chief vomited over the country's president in full view of disgusted onlookers. Shocking footage captures the moment Taiwanese leader Lai Ching-te is caught in the unfortunate blast as Lin Pei-huo, head of the Sacrificial Rites Martial Temple, falls visibly unwell during the public appearance. The pair had been standing side-by-side among local dignitaries when Lin began to show signs of distress. Wearing a red hoodie, President Lai appears oblivious at first as the temple chairman blinks repeatedly, clenches his fists and slowly turns his head,...

Taiwan has told Washington that its proposal to move 40% of the island’s semiconductor supply chain to the U.S. was “impossible,” Taipei’s top tariff trade negotiator said in an interview. Speaking on a local television broadcast Sunday, Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun said she had made it clear to Washington that the island’s semiconductor ecosystem, built over decades, could not simply be relocated. Taiwan’s international expansion, including its investments in the U.S., is predicated on the notion that the industry remains’ rooted in Taiwan and continues to expand domestic investments, she said in Mandarin, translated by CNBC.

Tariffs Fall and Investment SurgesTrade shapes power structures, and when two economies tighten bonds, the ripple spreads far beyond shipping lanes and customs desks. On Feb. 12, 2026, the Trump administration finalized a sweeping trade agreement with Taiwan that cuts tariffs, boosts American exports, and pours hundreds of billions into U.S. industry.Taiwan agreed to eliminate or sharply reduce tariffs on nearly all American goods, as duties on U.S. beef, dairy, and corn were reduced immediately to 0%. Pork belly tariffs fell from 40% to 10%, and ham fell from 32% to 10%. Taiwan also removed non-tariff barriers on motor vehicles,...

Taiwan will use a range of joint intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance methods, as well as intelligence-sharing, to "grasp" China's possible intentions, says its defence minister.Taiwan is monitoring what it called "abnormal" changes to China's military leadership after its most senior general was put under investigation, and will not lower its guard as the threat level remains high, the defence minister said on Monday (Jan 26). China announced on Saturday that Zhang Youxia, second-in-command under President Xi Jinping as vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, and another senior officer, Liu Zhenli, were under investigation ⁠for suspected serious violations of discipline and...