Day: August 19, 2026

Washington is racing to cut its reliance on rare earths from China. We take a look at the pressure—and opportunities—facing a U.S. company at the center of that push. Boosting efforts to reduce America's reliance on China: $162 million is going toward new technologies to recover rare earth elements from industrial waste and byproducts. Japan is feeling the squeeze from Beijing’s rare earth restrictions. Here’s what Tokyo is doing to tackle the problem. More light has been shed on the controversy surrounding the origins of COVID-19 and the lab-leak theory. A former top adviser to Dr. Anthony Fauci has pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge and is now facing possible prison time. China is blocking a European Union probe into e-commerce giant JD.com. The investigation is looking into whether Chinese state-backed subsidies are distorting competition in European markets. Barred from leaving South Korea, a former U.S. ambassador speaks out. Morse Tan joins us to discuss his experience, South Korea’s political shift, and the Chinese Communist Party’s influence. 00:00 Intro 01:00 U.S. Lab Competes W/ China Over Minerals Needed for Jets 03:40 U.S. Invests $162M in Critical Minerals Projects 04:27 Korea Zinc to Boost U.S. Critical Mineral Supply 05:46 Japan's Imports of Two Rare Earth Elements Plunge 70% 06:39 NSA Blocked Intel of CCP Election Influence From Trump 08:58 Former Fauci Adviser Pleads Guilty 11:36 Dr. Fauci Under Fire Over COVID-19 Answers 11:56 China Orders Entities Not to Aid EU's JD.com Probe 13:32 Japan Reaffirms Military Ties With U.S., S. Korea 14:48 Fmr. U.S. Ambassador Barred From Leaving South Korea 17:47 U.S. Citizen Arrested for U.S.-Based Speech 18:50 Fmr. U.S. Ambassador on CCP Influence in South Korea

Source: How a US Firm Is Breaking China’s Dominance in Rare Earths | China in Focus

China’s middle class faces a growing threat to its primary source of wealth: expiring land leases. Under China’s system, citizens buy homes but only lease the underlying land—typically for 70 years for residential properties and 40 years for commercial ones. A quiet directive from Shanghai recently revealed how local governments plan to handle expiring commercial leases: requiring owners to extend their rights by paying at least 70% of current benchmark land prices. Driven by severe local government debt and a collapsed market for new land sales, this policy creates a precedent for extracting revenue from existing property. While residential leases officially renew "automatically," the law omits whether renewals are free. As 70-year residential leases begin to approach their expiration dates in the coming decades, millions of families risk being forced to pay exorbitant fees simply to retain the value of their homes.

Source: From Homeowners to Permanent Tenants: The End of China’s Housing Miracle | Digging into China

In June 2026, the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning deployed to the western Pacific, drawing analysis from defense observers regarding its air wing composition. Footage released by CCTV shows folded-wing carrier-based aircraft parked along the angled flight deck. A launch bar on the front landing gear indicates these aircraft are the updated J-15T variant, designed for catapult-assisted takeoff. Based on visual examination of the deck, all visible fighters appear to be J-15Ts.

Source: China’s Carrier Fighter Nightmare: A “Joke” With Less Than 12 Years Of Life

CCP leaders seem all powerful in China right now, but they know their days are numbers, and that makes them very insecure. In this episode we discuss what Chinese leaders fear most, why China is desperately seeking sanctions relief from the US, and how the CCP is shooting itself in the foot.

Source: The CCP's Days Are Numbered…

The United States is cracking down on a Chinese strategy for avoiding U.S. tariffs. A new White House report zeroes in on what it calls the “transshipment scam”—moving Chinese-made goods through another country before they reach America. A separate big win for President Donald Trump—and bad news for some Chinese online retailers. A U.S. court is backing his decision to impose duties on goods worth $800 or less entering the country. Microsoft has shut 15 offices and joint ventures in China as the country’s economy slows. Plus, U.S. tariffs are driving Ford to move some SUV production from China back to the United States. Taiwan’s biggest annual war games are entering their final two days. We take a look at how civilians in the island’s capital are preparing. A new flashpoint in Northeast Asia. Vladimir Putin is making his first visit as Russia’s president to a disputed island claimed by Japan, triggering strong protests from Tokyo. 00:00 Intro 01:16 $60B Lost to Transshipment Scams Annually: WH Report 01:55 China Builds Transshipment Network to Evade Tariffs 02:56 White House Announces AI System to Detect Transshipment 03:48 Court Backs Trump’s End to ‘De Minimis’ Loophole 06:29 Microsoft Shuts 15 Offices, Joint Ventures in China 07:50 Ford to Move Some SUV Production Back to U.S. 08:24 On the Ground During Taiwan’s Air Raid Drill 09:11 What Is Taiwan Preparing for in Air Raid Drill? 10:32 Xi Orders China Military: Be Ready for Taiwan by 2027 10:44 Putin Visits Disputed Kuril Islands; Japan Protests 13:14 Taiwan Thwarts AI Cyberattacks 13:58 U.S. Must Rebuild Hard Power to Counter China: Col. Newsham 14:16 Philippines Wakes Up to China’s Political Warfare 18:50 “Don’t Help Them”: A Reagan Strategy for Today

Source: U.S. Cracks Down on China’s Tariff Scam | China in Focus

Newly released documents reveal how evidence of Chinese penetration of voter registration files and plots to interfere in the election were withheld or downplayed. The new files reveal one of the intelligence officers said they “deliberately massaged” the presidential daily briefing in 2020 to downplay election-related information, with another stating, “I’m basically running a shadow government across the FBI at this point.” John Solomon is chair of the White House Government Transparency Task Force, an award-winning journalist, and founder of Just the News. He breaks down key documents his task force has released—and what more we can expect to see in the coming days and months. Newly declassified documents also upend the prevailing narrative on the Biden–Ukraine story, revealing how the FBI allegedly ran a secret operation known as Round River. According to the documents, it labelled whistleblowers as Russian “conduits” and dismissed the evidence they provided on the Biden family as “Russian disinformation.” John Solomon places Round River within a broader sequence of FBI operations targeting Trump that included Crossfire Hurricane, Plasmic Echo, and Arctic Frost. This is “a wash, rinse, repeat cycle," he said, going all the way back to the 2016 election and the debunked “Trump–Russia collusion” narrative. In this episode, we examine questions of accountability, the extent of the cover-up, and whether FBI Director Kash Patel will be successful in building a “grand conspiracy” case. Note: This interview was filmed before the latest document drop related to former Rep. Eric Swalwell and alleged Chinese operative Fang Fang. 00:00 FBI’s Secret Election Operations 03:30 "Round River" Revelations 07:40 Mirror Image of "Crossfire Hurricane" 10:32 New Book: Killed To Order 11:34 The Intelligence Community’s Election Secrets 15:13 Election Machine Vulnerabilities 16:43 China’s Access to US Voter Data 19:38 Fake Registrations and Noncitizen Voting 23:00 The Maricopa County Breach 26:14 Politics Over National Security 39:33 The Grand Conspiracy Case 34:03 Operation "Oxferd C0mma"

Source: How Our Spy Agencies Hid Chinese Election Interference Operations | John Solomon

Zhu Rongji’s death comes at a highly sensitive moment for Xi Jinping—just after the Beidaihe meetings, during Jiang Zemin’s centennial, and ahead of the Fifth Plenum. But the bigger problem may be what Zhu’s passing forces China to remember: the reform era, rapid growth, greater openness, and a very different direction from Xi’s China.

Source: Why Zhu Rongji’s Death Is Bad News for Xi Jinping