Wuhan lab signs deal to expand potential bio-warfare abilities; Regime takeover shows CCP infighting

china denied knowing about a case involving a singapore spy who pleaded guilty in the u.s to working for china he had access to the f-35b fighter jet program the wuhan lab has signed an agreement with pakistan to expand potential biowarfare capabilities including several research projects related to deadly bacterias china's largest online travel company sea trip is in talks to d-list from the american stock market the university of hong kong fired a leading pro-democracy activist from his tenured position and hong kong's financial and political spheres are starting to feel the impact of the new law and in a rare case of public defiance a chinese conglomerate criticized the authorities and made an accusation of corruption why does the company dare to do so its background reveals escalated infightings between factions of the chinese communist party welcome to china in focus i'm tiffany meyer on monday china denied knowing about a case involving a singaporean spy that's after singapore's dixon yeo on friday pled guilty in the u.s to working as a chinese agent according to the u.s state department yio was charged with recruiting u.s government employees to gather intelligence for the chinese regime court documents show you used the internet and a fake consulting firm to hire unsuspecting americans who had access to sensitive information to write reports he then passed those reports off to chinese agents eu paid them thousands of dollars for each task but never told them the reports would go to the chinese regime prosecutors say you began working with china's intelligence service in 2015. he was recruited while attending a farm in beijing to give a presentation on southeast asian politics his assigned tasks were initially focused on southeast asia but gradually shifted to the united states in 2018 yo created a fake consulting firm with the same name as a prominent u.s consulting firm known for its public and government relations ninety percent of the resumes he received were from government and military employees with security clearance court records show you recruited at least three government workers including a u.s air force employee with high security clearance who was working on a military aircraft the employee had access to the f-35b fighter jet program and obtained intelligence about the geopolitical implications of an aircraft deal with japan another was a u.s army officer assigned to the pentagon and a state department employee you traveled to china a number of times to meet with chinese agents and was given special treatment during these trips you was arrested in november of last year after flying to the u.s to meet with one of his clients you will be sentenced in october and faces up to 10 years in prison assistant attorney general for the national security john demmer said the case was an example of how beijing exploits the openness of american society the chinese communist party has closed the u.s consulate in chengdu and a show of retaliation against the u.s but officials in china have their own different ties to the u.s some seem to be using china to get money and using the u.s to spend money recently yang chen ling former chairman of inner mongolia bank was prosecuted for embezzling about over 80 million dollars of public funds and bribes as the relationship between the u.s and china becomes increasingly strained one of his alleged crimes has caught public attention yang asked for seven million dollars worth of bribes to renovate his son's house in the united states he also took his family to the united states using the need to perform so-called official duties during his trip he bought a bronze horse sculpture and a mammoth ivory products worth more than 500 000 u.s dollars he then made his bank back in china reimburse him now we look at a little known tie between china and the u.s education system communist party leader xi jinping's own daughter is a graduate of harvard university according to a voice of america report a harvard professor confirmed that his daughter graduated in 2014. it's unknown if she's living in china or in the u.s right now and another similar situation the former spokesman of china's foreign ministry gunshuang became deputy permanent representative of china to the united nations earlier this month and according to overseas chinese language media he has a daughter attending school in new york during his time as spokesman of the foreign ministry he was on a daily basis denouncing the united states an edison sarcastically criticized him online remarking that chung's daughter should stay in china in order to receive an authentic communist education he ironically asked why the child came to the u.s to accept the so-called corruption of the evil and decadent capitalist education now to the epidemic in china another chinese city has been put under wartime status according to chinese state-run media an asymptomatic virus case was discovered in fujo city the capital of the southeastern fujian province the person reportedly came from the northeastern city of dalian and had contact with an estimated 1 500 people but suspicions over the extreme measures are rising some are asking why a city with only one confirmed case would be issued wartime status due to china's lack of transparency we were unable to independently verify the figures the news comes as hong kong added nearly 150 new virus cases on monday a record high for a single day from wednesday on restaurants in the city are only allowed to offer takeout fitness centers game rooms and swimming pools will be closed gatherings of two people or more in public spaces will be forbidden and face masks are a must elsewhere in the xinjiang region two more cities are under lockdown or partial lockdown doubling the number of them from two to four a staff member from the xinjiang region sixth hospital in uram she told us they're only accepting virus patients for now they also said medical staff from other areas are on their way to help now we turn to banks the ccp virus has hit china's banking industry hard more than 1600 bank outlets have closed so far this year more than twice the bank closures in the same period last year virus concerns has also made a big impact on banks face-to-face business in recent months people have become more accustomed doing business online in order to avoid contact with others long waiting lines outside banks are now a rare sight in addition many people have lost their jobs especially those in the manufacturing industry china's weakening economy is hurting the bank system too new zealand shows its disapproval of the controversial new security law imposed on hong kong it's making a number of changes in how it deals with the regime because of china's actions new zealand is the latest country to suspend its extradition treaty with hong kong the move comes after china imposed a controversial national security law in hong kong new zealand's foreign affairs minister said they can no longer trust that hong kong's criminal justice system is sufficiently independent from china he said the country will treat military and dual use goods and technology exports to hong kong in the same way as it treats such exports to china the chinese communist party or ccp imposed the new legislation at the end of last month despite the protests of hong kong residents and western nations it puts the financial hub on a more authoritarian track australia canada and britain all suspended extradition treaties with hong kong after the new law was implemented president trump ended preferential economic treatment for the region well 1997 there was a one country two systems commitment by china it's clear now that the law is no longer what it was and therefore the expedition arrangements we have don't stand up travel advice has been updated to alert new zealanders to the risks presented by the new security law after new zealand became the latest country to suspend its extradition treaty with the region china announced that hong kong's government is scrapping a number of crime and law enforcement treaties with canada the uk and australia it includes mutual assistance for criminal matters such as extradition among others a prominent hong kong activist was fired from his tenured position at a university on tuesday he was a central figure in hong kong's umbrella movement protests in 2014 which paralyzed the city for almost 80 days ntd's juliet song has more [Music] the university of hong kong fired a leading pro-democracy activist from his tenured position benny thai an associate law professor has been teaching there for almost three decades he was also a prominent figure in hong kong's umbrella protests in 2014 the movement paralyzed the city for almost 80 days as demonstrators occupied main roads demanding real elections for the city tai was charged with being a so-called public nuisance last year he was sentenced to 16 months in prison but was released on bail the university later started reviewing his position tai wrote on facebook that the university's move marks the end of academic freedom in hong kong he added that he's heartbroken to witness the demise of his beloved university but won't stop his fight for hong kong's rule of law outside of academia pressure is also intensifying in hong kong's political circle prominent activist joshua wong said he doesn't plan to continue asking the u.s or other countries for sanctions on hong kong in 2019 wong was one of the activists urging u.s politicians to pass the hong kong human rights and democracy act the change came in less than a month after beijing imposed the national security law over the weekend election officials sent letters pressing wong and other democratic candidates for their political stance on a number of issues including the national security law and their lobbying efforts in the u.s they were given less than 24 hours to respond the national security law punishes acts like colluding with foreign forces with sentences of up to life in prison concerns arising that hong kong's government will use the new law to disqualify opposition candidates during the city's elections this ahead of the next legislative election which is scheduled for september next on to finances a top hong kong politician says a u.s bank closed one of his accounts the revelation drew public attention as the u.s recently announced sanctions on hong kong officials that helped implement the new national security law banks that do business with them risk being cut off from the u.s financial system the politician bernard chan is an adviser to hong kong leader carrie lam he says his account closure has nothing to do with the law as it happened before it was announced he added that other senior officials are facing similar problems in an interview with the financial times he said quote i am so sure it's not just me i even talk to government civil servants banks don't want some of them too unquote chan said banks have long been careful in dealing with prominent public figures but that the u.s sanctions would make them even more cautious in their interactions with hong kong officials banks in hong kong are now in a tough situation as they have to both comply with the national security law and avoid u.s sanctions they've been urging authorities to clarify whether closing sanctioned officials accounts would violate the law reporting by juliette song ntd news earlier this month chinese regulators announced that they will take over nine financial institutions and seize control over a hundred billion dollars worth of assets citing violations of financial rules but this isn't your ordinary story of a government cleaning up bad actors in the market just as the umbrella company of the nine firms tomorrow holdings also isn't your ordinary private business in fact commentators say the authority's move signifies a sharp escalation of infightings between different factions within the chinese communist party showcasing how deep the crisis communist leader xi jinping is currently facing in a rare case of public defiance of official actions tomorrow holdings lashed out at regulators on social media the later removed wechat post questioned the motive of the takeover and even suggested the trading of money and power behind it a china affairs commentator says that cases of private businesses publicly accusing authorities are extremely rare in china if they exist at all the decision to take over your company is made by the party if you try to appeal the decision the institution that looks at the appeal also answers to the party that's why under the ccp system people often do not resist at all because they know any resistance is useless the fact that tomorrow group dares to do it means that there may be stronger powers behind it the founder of tomorrow group is xiao jinhua one of the richest chinese the 48 year old made international headlines in 2017 when he was kidnapped from a hong kong hotel by mainland chinese security officers xiao was sent back to china tied into a wheelchair with his head covered the incident caused some negative press at the time for the chinese regime before this year's national security law mainland officers were officially not allowed to operate in semi-autonomous region of hong kong according to a reuters report part of the reason why beijing pushed for the extradition bill in hong kong last year was to avoid the embarrassment of it happening again the law triggered the ongoing protests in the region that dragged hong kong into the political turmoil it's still in today so who is this xiao jinhua and why is he so important as to push beijing to take such a drastic move in hong kong to arrest people like him xiao's tomorrow group was mostly built on the financial industry a highly restricted extremely costly to enter and largely state dominated sector in china for example to open a private bank in china one needs to have at least 300 million dollars as registered capital and that doesn't include the fee of tens of millions of dollars to apply for a financial license despite coming from a humble background xiao was able to control in his 40s a business empire with over 17 banks 9 insurance companies and multiple securities trusts and funds the financial institutions controlled by tomorrow holdings has over 400 billion dollars of assets but the wealth does not all belong to him most is for the elite communist party families officially china's communist officials and their relatives are not allowed to do business it does not seem to matter in the 60s or 70s since the entire country does not have much money anyway but since the regime started the reform and openness in the 1980s officials started to realize that even though they have much power they cannot cash it into wealth so the official and their direct relatives will find a trustworthy person to act on their behalf to open companies and do business and take care of the business relationships tongue said that's when politics and business started to become one thing that's an official can use his power to hide his business dealings and to pave ways for him to do business vice versa he can use the huge amount of money he earns to consolidate his power to bribe and get higher positions and more power it's a vicious circle he said in the late 90s and early 2000s when the regime started its economic reform to transit state control companies to private ones many elite communist families became rich by using their white gloves or money launderer to purchase public companies at a much lower price they only need to spend very little money to purchase public assets which are worth dozens or even hundreds of times more and turn them into private businesses in their name this is essentially officials carving up national assets and xiao jiangua is one of the white gloves in 2006 he helped the son of then top communist officials in ching hong to purchase a state-owned energy giant and send on lunan the company is worth around 10 billion dollars xiao paid 500 million other deals made by xiao include one in 2009 acquiring a real estate company owned by the son-in-law of jat hingling a member of china's powerful politburo standing committee at the time and in 2013 xiaobot shares in an investment firm held by the sister and brother-in-law of communist leader xi jinping but getting involved in politics in china is a risky business in 2017 after xiao was kidnapped and taken to china his former professor yan hongbing told media that xiao got himself in trouble for being one of the hands who engineered a financial coup in 2015. china onlookers believe that the financial turbulence was designed by the janzaming faction to damage the legitimacy of xi jinping and stop him from continuing his anti-corruption campaign which hurts the interests of many other communist families in half a year more than five trillion dollars was wiped off the capitalization of the shanghai and shenzhen stock markets more than japan's gdp newspaper headlines were often occupied by stock owners committing suicide it was a major crisis for xi a famous chinese economist wrote on weibo at the time that without a seamless design it is impossible to create such a financial coup in such a short time it's not something foreign forces were able to do the background may explain why xiao's tomorrow group today dares to challenge current authorities in such a public manner the current authorities want to take over these assets it is basically seizing the wealth of certain communist elite families of course these families will fight back they are also a powerful group so they issued a warning to xi jinping don't you cross the line because if you do we will make your life difficult as well we also know a lot of your scandals tongue said party infighting in the past often followed the underlying principle of fighting without breaking but now it has reached a point where in order to control those elite families she is seizing their money so that principle may face changes china's largest online travel company c-trip in talks to d-list from nasdaq they joined the list of struggling chinese companies wanting to go private amid rising u.s china tensions valued at over 16 billion dollars chip reached out to private equity firms and chinese tech companies about joining efforts to take the company private the move comes after u.s listed chinese companies started facing scrutiny and tougher audit requirements from u.s regulators chinese companies were previously exempt from following u.s securities law or opening their books to auditing recently chinese starbucks rival lucking coffee was delisted from nasdaq after a 300 million dollar accounting scandal the chinese tech firm that owns weibo a twitter-like platform also announced plans to take its company private after 20 years refinitive data shows there have been six tick to private deals of u.s listed chinese firms worth nine billion dollars this year c-trip reported a 42 year-on-year drop in net revenue during the first quarter of 2020 a net loss of over 700 million dollars the company expects net revenue to drop almost 77 percent in the second quarter because of the ccp virus impact c-trips diverse ownership also makes it difficult to get shareholder support for its d-listing plans in its 2019 annual report its biggest shareholder was baidu with only 11.7 followed by a scottish fund manager at 7.7 percent the firm's co-owners hold a combined 5.9 c trip shares have already fallen 17 this year and facial recognition software with ties to the chinese regime has been popping up in u.s retailers but after a damaging misidentification and some in-depth investigation findings drugstore company rite aid says it's removed the tech from its stores tristan jackson stancunus was making a casual trip into his local rite aid in los angeles california one day but was shocked when a store manager told him to get out unbeknownst to him he was in a store where writing had installed facial recognition technology jackson stancunus had been matched to a photo of someone who allegedly has stolen from the drugstore chain in 2013. after the shop manager showed him the photo it turned out that the suspect thief looked nothing like jackson's tankunas write it has set up facial recognition systems in 200 stores across the united states according to reuters for more than a year shoppers images were being fed into a facial recognition system from deep cam a company with links to the chinese regime deep camp's co-founder jin feng liu is a chinese native who holds u.s citizenship he also runs a company in china that's financially backed by a communist party fund and for some u.s politicians the thais are too close for comfort republican senator marco rubio the acting chair of the senate intelligence committee told reuters the chinese communist party's buildup of its orwellian surveillance state is alarming and china's efforts to export its surveillance state to collect data in america would be an unacceptable serious threat when asked liu said he was no longer involved with the deep camp company but even if there's no china connection anymore rite aid surveillance program still had a flaw incorrect identification i have a 13 year old child my son's friends were in the store and my son's friend's parents were in the store so it makes me look like i'm a thief i mean it feels horrible after being presented with all the findings from the reuters investigation the retailer said it stopped using facial recognition technology in its stores now we turn to pakistan china and pakistan have entered a three-year agreement to expand potential buyer warfare capabilities the partnership includes several research projects related to the deadly anthrax bacteria china has been criticized for its handling of the pandemic and speculations that the disease could have emerged from the wuhan institute of virology now the same lab has signed the covert deal with pakistan to collaborate on researching emerging infectious diseases the wuhan lab has provided pakistan with reagents for a soil dwelling bacteria it has a striking resemblance to another one known as anthrax from bio warfare to energy china has also announced a series of hydropower mega projects to be built in pakistan the move fits in with china's current approach to middle east relations as it strengthens its ties with pakistan it remains in conflict with india pakistan's arctrival the hydropower projects belongs to the china-pakistan economic corridor or cpec for short the 60 billion dollar cpec is a planned network of roads railways and energy projects and as part of china's controversial one belt one road initiative it links china's xinjiang region with pakistan's strategic guidance port on the arabian sea china's banks often lend money to poorer countries for use in building critical infrastructure but if the countries can't pay back the loan the ccp will then claim the built infrastructure some have called it a modern way of colonization and that's all for today's china in focus thanks for watching and see you tomorrow

Channel: China in Focus - NTD

Views: 452,822

Rating: 4.9118824 out of 5

Keywords: China in Focus, china in focus, documentary, documentaries, china news, ntd news, wuhan, ntd, ntdtv, 武漢肺炎, 中國, 肺炎, 新冠肺炎, china, coronavirus, China in focus ntd, epoch times, china flooding, china floods, china earthquakes, three gorges dam, yangtze river, ccp virus, coronavirus updates, 三峽大壩, 長江, china in focus entd, chinese consulate, reject ccp, quit ccp, biological warfare, biological weapons, china in focus latest news, donald trump, wuhan coronavirus, Wuhan lab, infighting

Id: e9kIj_B8iLU

Length: 25min 24sec (1524 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 28 2020