A hastily arranged all-expenses-paid trip to China for students from the Iowa town of Muscatine is the start of Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s effort to welcome as many as 50,000 U.S. students to his country. VOA’s Kane Farabaugh explores Muscatine’s historic connection to China’s leader. Voice of America
washington — China-linked hackers targeting key sectors of the U.S. economy appear to have been hiding in key computer systems and networks for at least five years, according to a new warning from the United States and key allies, who urge companies to take urgent action to mitigate the risk. The cybersecurity advisory issued Wednesday by multiple U.S. agencies, including the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), states that a cyberthreat group known as Volt Typhoon has been “positioning itself to launch destructive cyberattacks that would jeopardize…
WASHINGTON — A Chinese-born U.S. researcher has been arrested on charges of stealing trade secrets, including technology used to detect nuclear missile launches, the Justice Department said Wednesday. Chenguang Gong, 57, of San Jose, California, was arrested on Tuesday, the department said in a statement. Gong, who became a US citizen in 2011, is accused of transferring more than 3,600 files from the research and development company where he briefly worked to personal storage devices. The company was not identified. According to court documents, the files included blueprints for infrared…
WASHINGTON — For the first time in more than two decades, Mexico last year surpassed China as the leading source of goods imported to the United States. The shift reflects the growing tensions between Washington and Beijing as well as U.S. efforts to import from countries that are friendlier and closer to home. Figures released Wednesday by the U.S. Commerce Department show that the value of goods imported to the United States from Mexico rose nearly 5% from 2022 to 2023, to more than $475 billion. At the same time,…
The Economic Working Group of the U.S. and China met Monday and Tuesday in Beijing to discuss trade concerns and broader economic issues. The meeting was the third since last September and involved senior officials from the U.S. Department of Treasury and China’s Ministry of Finance, among other agencies. According to a statement released Tuesday by Treasury, the U.S. and Chinese officials discussed “views on domestic macroeconomic outlooks,” as well as other shared concerns such as debt in low-income and emerging economies. U.S. officials also voiced their concerns about China’s…
Hong Kong — Lionel Messi and Inter-Miami co-owner David Beckham were booed Sunday and angry fans demanded refunds after the Argentina superstar sat out the team’s pre-season friendly match in Hong Kong. The city government said organizers owed fans an explanation after the match, in which the visitors beat a Hong Kong select XI by four goals to one. The World Cup-winning captain, Messi, who has a hamstring strain, stayed rooted to the bench throughout. That brought a show of anger from the near-capacity crowd of 38,323, who had paid…
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washington — With Russia and China increasingly aligned, Western policymakers and analysts are sounding the alarm over their influence in the Western Balkans. With so much focus on the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, they warn that the Western Balkans should not be ignored. U.S. Representative Pete Sessions told VOA on Wednesday that Russia has been a part “of destabilizing the Balkans for a number of years,” and that it has demonstrated it uses misinformation and military force to fulfill its objectives. “Destabilizing the Balkans is something that…
Chinese government hackers are targeting critical infrastructure inside the U.S., FBI Director Christopher Wray told House lawmakers on Wednesday. The warning comes as the Biden administration credits its outreach to China as key in reducing tension between the countries. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara reports; Jeff Seldin and Anita Powell contributed to this report. Voice of America
The Biden administration is touting its outreach to China, pointing to cooperation on counternarcotics, discussions on artificial intelligence, and the resumption of military-to-military contacts as evidence of cooperation that has reduced tension between the two rivals. “This intensive diplomacy was about managing tough issues rather than patching up the relationship,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said at a Council on Foreign Relations event Tuesday evening. He pointed to Taiwan holding “historic elections” earlier this month “without any major cross-strait incident” and said that was in part due to…