Day: December 17, 2025

00:00 Introduction00:23 Chinese Economy: Crashing To 25 Year Low05:05 Chinese Economy II: Consumption Wishes & Woes 07:38 Demographic Decline: Free Childbirth Policy 10:15 China vs Panama Canal Ports Deal

An international tea competition in France was disrupted when unidentified hecklers in the audience objected to Taiwan’s flag being shown on a screen.

China’s latest and most advanced aircraft carrier, the Fujian, made a transit through the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, Taiwan’s defense ministry says, adding it believes the carrier was returning to port in Shanghai.

As Southeast Asian countries target scam centers, Beijing’s role is coming into focus. Is China helping in terms of cracking down on scammers or secretly siding with them?A South Korean company is unveiling a $6 billion plan to build a factory in Tennessee. The move could help the United States reduce its reliance on critical minerals from China, but the plan is already facing a major roadblock.The Texas attorney general is suing five TV makers, including two from China, over allegations that smart TVs are spying on Americans in their own living rooms.As oil prices fall this week, China is quietly stockpiling. It’s a move that could impact global markets.00:00 Intro00:59 Asian Scam Centers: Are Police, Kingpins Allies of CCP?04:07 Korea Zinc to Build Minerals Refinery in Tennessee05:03 Texas AG Sues Five Major TV Firms for Alleged Spying05:55 China Ramps Up Crude Stockpile as Oil Prices Fall07:20 Pres. Trump: I Spoke With Xi About Releasing Jimmy Lai10:31 500K Sign Petition Against Forced Organ Harvesting11:54 Forum: Indo-Pacific Instability Threatens World Order14:59 Former U.S. Army Pacific Chief on U.S.-Taiwan Strategy

According to the Kyiv Independent, leaked Russian documents suggest the Russian military may be assisting China in preparing for a potential Taiwan invasion in 2027. It comes four years after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi described Beijing-Moscow relations as having “no limits.” and nearly four years since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It comes as Russian and Chinese planes have conducted a joint patrol through Japanese and South Korean’s air defense identification zones (ADIZs). Meanwhile, the US’ annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) has identified China’s as the Washington’s primary strategic competitor across military, economic and technological domains. Just how far does Moscow and Beijing’s security cooperation go? And what is the Trump Administration doing to counter it? In this episode, we discuss these latest developments and what they could mean for a potential conflict in the Taiwan Strait. *Recorded on December 17, 2025 at 11am Taiwan Standard Time Our guests: Tony Hu Former US Department of Defense Senior Director for China, Taiwan and Mongolia Charles Wu National Chengchi University Department of Diplomacy Professor and Chair Host: Wen-Ti Sung Producer: Chinyeh Chiang Chapters: 00:00:00 – Moscow, Beijing Boost Security Ties 00:02:33 – Russia, China Resume Joint Air Patrols 00:11:52 – US NDAA Names China Top Rival 00:22:57 – Is Russia Helping China Train for Invasion? #ChinaRussiaRelations #XiJinping #VladimirPutin #DonaldTrump #ChinaMilitary #PeoplesLiberationArmy #PLA #RussianMilitary #RussianUkraineWar #RussianInvasion #DefenseCooperation #SecurityPact #MutualDefense #MilitaryAlliance #RussianAirForce #RussianArmy #PLAAirForce #PLAArmy #PLANavy #TaiwanInvasion #TaiwanConflict #TaiwanStrait #TaiwanContingency #TaiwanStrait #IndoPacific #WeaponSales #ArmsDeal #RussianExports #RussianWeapons #AmphibiousAssualtVehicles #BMD4M #SprutSDM1 #BTRMDM #Rakushka #AmphibiousAttack #AmphibiousWarfare #KSHME #KyivIndependent #RUSI #USMilitary #NDAA #USDefensePolicy #TaiwanUSRelations #TaiwanTalks #TaiwanPlus

Chinese billionaires are using surrogates around the world to build massive family dynasties—and the results are disturbing. From U.S.-born surrogate babies to trafficking scandals in Eastern Europe, this episode exposes how China’s elites are exploiting women, loopholes in the law, and global fertility markets to get what they want.

Pentagon war games show the U.S. would lose a conflict over Taiwan. But what if that’s not the story everyone thinks it is? Former U.S. Air Force strategist Guermantes Lailari explains what those simulations really mean.

We now find ourselves amid a new space race of sorts, with China’s military-led space program quickly developing the means to send its own taikonauts, or Chinese astronauts, to the moon’s strategically valuable southern pole, with a target date of 2030. But does that really matter? Is this new 21st-century space race a strategic competition, or is it little more than nationalism wrapped in media hyperbole? If America reached the moon 56 years ago, is there really any reason to invest billions of dollars into racing to prove it can do it again? The answer just might be yes.

0:00 Intro0:55 Crime Stat On Illegal Aliens Shows Concerning Trend9:47 Over Half NY Commercial Truck Drivers Are Illegals11:30 More Border Land Transferred to US Military18:00 CCP Puts Bounties On Heads of Overseas Influencers28:47 US Intercepts CCP Weapon Supplies to Iran34:01 Q&ACrime statistics are showing a concerning trend with illegal immigrants. It turns out that at least in New York, illegal immigrants commit crimes at about four times the rate of the overall population. And this could bring trouble for them, given that the Trump administration is now saying it will focus deportation efforts on people who commit additional crimes after illegally entering the country.

China can calculate the threat from 50,000 American troops in Japan, but what keeps Xi Jinping awake at night is Japan’s decision to double its defense spending and build hypersonic missiles. For 75 years, Japan’s pacifist constitution was China’s greatest strategic asset in Asia, and now Beijing is watching that advantage disappear in real time.As a military historian studying East Asian security, I see China facing a nightmare scenario they never planned for: Japanese rearmament. Xi Jinping’s aggressive behavior has triggered exactly the response Beijing most feared – awakening a military-industrial giant with the technology, geography, and historical motivation to challenge Chinese hegemony.