China Watch

Beijing waited until 48 hours before takeoff to confirm Xi Jinping's trip to Washington. Why so late?China expert June G. Liao has a theory. She thinks Xi used the visit as leverage to "seal the deal" on Zhang Youxia, the Chinese general who was once Xi’s second-in-command. The same day that Beijing confirmed the trip, the Politburo expelled Zhang from the Party and the military.Xi also brought his own welcoming crowd to Washington. Protesters showed up too, and so did people Terri believes were CCP informants. At a rally at the Navy Memorial, she chased off wave after wave of them.What she saw in action was the CCP's "thousand grains of sand" approach to gathering intelligence. An FBI analyst first described the pattern in the 1980s.Views expressed in this episode are opinions of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.—Terri Wu is a Washington-based freelance reporter for The Epoch Times covering education and China-related issues. Send tips to [email protected] your support for Epoch Times and independent journalism by leaving a 5-star review of this show on your podcast platform or visit www.RateThisPodcast.com/chinawatch

Gift cards are a great thing to receive, until you realize the card has no money on it! Did your friend make a mistake, or is something more sinister going on?Unfortunately, it’s often the latter. That’s this week’s topic, and Terri dives into how organized crime in China is stealing money from gift cards before they can be used.We’re not talking just hundreds of dollars—we’re talking more than $1 billion in reported losses, and counting.Join Terri this week as she opens up how gift cards are vulnerable to theft, and how the Chinese regime is selectively solving the problem, not in favor of the West.Views expressed in this episode are opinions of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.—Terri Wu is a Washington-based freelance reporter for The Epoch Times covering education and China-related issues. Send tips to [email protected] your support for The Epoch Times and independent journalism by leaving a 5-star review of this show on your podcast platform or visit www.RateThisPodcast.com/chinawatch

China has updated its laws, in what looks like a move to gear up for war. The threshold for a “national threat” is lower than ever.And one of the major targets is private ownership. This time, American businesses are on the front line.The same thing happened in the 1950s, when U.S. claims of assets lost in China totaled $197 million—smaller than today’s business footprint.Listen to this week’s episode to find out what’s now considered a national threat to the Chinese regime.Host Terri Wu analyzes the latest change in China’s National Defense Mobilization Law and previous law updates, and why Mao’s playbook for seizing private property is shaping up in China in plain sight.Views expressed in this episode are opinions of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.—Terri Wu is a Washington-based freelance reporter for The Epoch Times covering education and China-related issues. Send tips to [email protected] your support for Epoch Times and independent journalism by leaving a 5-star review of this show on your podcast platform or visit www.RateThisPodcast.com/chinawatch

Newly declassified FBI files reveal how alleged Chinese intelligence asset Christine Fang—also known as "Fang Fang"—used a years-long sexual relationship, illegal straw donations, and planted congressional interns to work her way into the office of a sitting member of Congress.The files also expose "Rusty Thumbs," an FBI operation that tried to quietly turn Fang into a double agent before realizing she was actively running her own influence campaign against the U.S. political system.Epoch Times White House reporter Travis Gillmore joins host Terri Wu to walk through what's genuinely new in the documents, why the case went unprosecuted for a decade, and what it reveals about the scale of the CCP's efforts to compromise American election integrity, from Capitol Hill to the ballot box.Read Travis’s article here.Views expressed in this episode are opinions of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.—Terri Wu is a Washington-based freelance reporter for The Epoch Times covering education and China-related issues. Send tips to [email protected] your support for Epoch Times and independent journalism by leaving a 5-star review of this show on your podcast platform or visit www.RateThisPodcast.com/chinawatch

Neither the Canadian prime minister nor the U.S. trade chief, in their own public accounts, has named China as a reason the U.S.–Canada trade talks collapsed.However, the China factor is very much present.What’s in it for China?If the North American manufacturing alliance breaks down, China will be better placed to maintain its economic leverage over the global supply chain. Exports are its lifeline to keep the economy going.Meanwhile, Washington sees Canada as a potential backdoor for made-in-China products to flood the U.S. market.Canada has sent mixed signals to the United States on trade. It signed an EV deal with China and then talked about a “Fortress North America” to bolster the region against overseas competitors such as China.In this episode, Terri unpacks the core issues facing the U.S.–Canada trade talks and how Ottawa’s approach to Washington may not be its own.Read more: China Factor Looms Over Collapse of US–Canada Trade TalksViews expressed in this episode are opinions of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.—Terri Wu is a Washington-based freelance reporter for The Epoch Times covering education and China-related issues. Send tips to [email protected] your support for Epoch Times and independent journalism by leaving a 5-star review of this show on your podcast platform or visit www.RateThisPodcast.com/chinawatch