Senator JD Vance Explains How Ukraine Aid Package is a ‘Future Impeachment Trap’ for Trump

Ohio U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) joined Monday’s edition of Steve Bannon’s War Room to discuss the supplemental funding package currently being debated in the Senate and how it could be used as a tool to impeach former President Donald Trump if he were to be elected in November.

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Congress Reaches Deal to Increase Child Tax Credit, Negotiate Tax Treaty with Taiwan

Family Learning

Congressional negotiators from the Senate and House of Representatives announced a deal on Tuesday to increase the child tax credit and negotiate a new bilateral tax treaty with Taiwan, among other matters.

The child tax credit was first enacted in 1997 to provide parents with greater funds to care for children under the age of 17 and was expanded in 2021 under the American Rescue Plan Act, though that expansion expired in 2022 and has not been reauthorized. The new deal — known as the “The Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024” — reached between Democrats and Republicans in Congress will change the way the tax credit is calculated, increase the credit every year until 2025 and index it to inflation, according to a technical summary of the plan published by the House Ways and Means Committee.

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Foreign Policy Problems Promise to Plague Biden Admin in 2024

The Biden administration faced several major problems on the international stage throughout 2023, some of which will bleed into the new year.

President Joe Biden and his administration have tried to manage major threats and circumvent obstacles from several foreign nations in 2023, including from those in East Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and South America. Many international problems the Biden administration dealt with in 2023 have not been solved and have continued to metastasize going into 2024.

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Experts Warn China’s Foray into the Middle East Could Isolate Taiwan from U.S. Forces

China is expanding its military presence in the Middle East, which could obstruct American forces in the region from mobilizing if Beijing decides to invade Taiwan, leaving the island with reduced defenses, according to foreign policy experts.

President Joe Biden was briefed Tuesday by his advisors on a Chinese plan to build a new military facility in Oman bordering the Arabian Sea, which would advance Beijing’s goal of increasing its Middle East and overseas presence, according to Bloomberg. By establishing military strong points in the Middle East, China can hinder and disrupt American forces in the region from mobilizing effectively and redirecting toward Taiwan if Beijing invades, which could leave the island with lesser defense capabilities, according to foreign policy experts.

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Republican Presidential Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy Lays Out Peace Deal to End War In Ukraine, Sever Russia’s Partnership with China

Speaking at a campaign event Friday in New Hampshire, Ohio businessman and GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy laid out his plan for peace in Ukraine by opening up Russia. The 37-year-old political outsider, who has often said political leaders need to “think on the timescales of history, not on two-year election cycles,” believes a Nixon approach to Russia would curtail the looming threat of communist China.

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U.S. to Bulk Up Pacific Military Presence as China Eyes Taiwan

The U.S. and Japan are set to agree on restructuring the U.S. Marine force stationed in Okinawa, Japan, to give them more firepower and the ability to quickly respond if China attacks Taiwan, according to media reports.

A new strategy will arm the roughly 18,000 Marines deployed to Okinawa with missiles that can reach the Chinese mainland and increase their maneuverability if they are called upon to defend Taiwan from a Chinese invasion, The Washington Post reported, citing two officials familiar with the matter. Japan and the U.S. agreed to the restructuring as China readies for a potential offensive, officials said.

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Commentary: America Needs Help for Its China Addiction

With China’s decision to close negotiations with the U.S. following House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Taiwan visit, it’s fair to ask how the U.S.’s rapport with the People’s Republic got to this tense point in the first place.

The actor Dennis Quaid said his involvement with cocaine had three stages: “the fun, the fun with problems, and then just the problems.”

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American Businesses Plan Their Escape from Taiwan Should China Invade

American businesses, ranging from Fortune 500 companies to small firms, are preparing to evacuate staff and assets from Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion, Politico reported Thursday.

The Chinese military has been ramping up intimidation tactics against the island following House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s two-day visit, most recently firing “precision missile strikes” into the Taiwan Strait as a show of targeted force, according to Fox News Thursday. The country’s ramped up drills have left some companies spooked after the Russian invasion of Ukraine led to dozens of major corporations escaping or having their assets seized, according to Politico.

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Report: U.S. Military to Prep for War If Pelosi Goes to Taiwan

The U.S. military is readying for possible conflict in the Pacific ahead of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s possible trip to Taiwan in August, according to The Associated Press.

The Pentagon will escalate troop movements and security measures in the Pacific if Pelosi follows through with her planned Taiwan visit. China likely would not attack Pelosi’s plane directly, officials familiar with the matter told the AP, but senior officials worry that her presence could inflame existing tensions between the U.S. and China over Taiwan.

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Commentary: Onshoring Semiconductor Capacity Is Crucial to National Security

semiconductor

When you think about national security, you probably don’t immediately think about semiconductors. These tiny chips are the “brains” enabling all the computational capabilities and data storage that we take for granted today. Chips power virtually every sector of the economy – including data centers, automotive, healthcare, banking, and agriculture. As a consequence of their widespread use, semiconductors have grown to become a $555 billion global industry, and are the world’s fourth most traded product. Semiconductor manufacturing and advanced packaging have been cited frequently as one of the main critical supply chain priorities for the nation.

A steady source of uninterrupted, trusted chips is necessary for the security of the nation – supporting the readiness of the U.S. military and protecting critical infrastructure like the electric grid. The problem is that most chips are fabricated outside of the U.S., in the vulnerable region of Southeast Asia – hence the security issues. Around three quarters of global chip production capacity comes from Southeast Asia.

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Time to Scrap One-China Policy, Recognize Independent Taiwan, Trump Security Adviser Says

Keith Kellogg

The United States should abandon its policy that China is one country and instead acknowledge Taiwan as an independent nation, according to Army Lt. Gen. (Ret) Keith Kellogg, a former Trump administration national security adviser.

“Taiwan is an independent country, and we need to support them,” said Kellogg, national security advisor to Vice President Mike Pence and chief of staff of the National Security Council in the Trump administration. “The rest of the world should support them as well, their democratically elected leadership.”

Kellogg made his remarks this week on the John Solomon Reports Podcast, hosted by Just the News.

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FBI Director Says China Is Bigger Threat to U.S. Than Any Other Nation

On Monday, FBI Director Christopher Wray declared that the greatest foreign threat to the United States is the country of China, adding that the nation’s recent escalation of tensions regarding the country of Taiwan are “more brazen” and “more damaging” than anything seen in recent history.

The New York Post reports that Wray made his remarks at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, California. Just days before the start of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, Wray said that China poses a threat “to our economic security and to our freedoms: Our freedom of speech, of conscience, our freedom to elect and be served by our representatives without foreign meddling, our freedom to prosper when we toil and invent.”

“I’ve spoken a lot about this threat since I became FBI director,” Wray continued. “But I want to focus on it here tonight because in many ways it’s reached a new level — more brazen, more damaging than ever before, and it’s vital, vital, that all of us focus on that threat together.”

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Commentary: The World May See a Red Revolution Before a Green One

Chinese flag

In the current day and age, energy security is a prerequisite for national security. When America became energy independent in 2019, it freed us from the political whims of unstable countries. But dogmatic leftists across the world have made it clear that they will sacrifice energy security for their idea of necessary climate policy, seemingly undisturbed by the transfer of that security to communist and authoritarian regimes in China and Russia. As a result, the world might see a Red Revolution before it ever sees a Green one.

While in recent years the US has embraced its liquified natural gas (LNG) boom, European countries steered the other way, ramping down fossil fuel production and increasing their dependence on fossil fuel imports. They have justified this as a “necessary” sacrifice until solar and wind deployment catches up. They are seemingly unconcerned that Russia has become the EU’s largest supplier of fossil fuels, supplying around 40% of the EU’s LNG and coal. 

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China Threatens to Fire Upon Any American Troops Defending Taiwan

The Chinese military has issued a direct threat against any possible American military forces that attempt to defend the country of Taiwan, according to the Washington Free Beacon.

The threat was made on Thursday in the Chinese state-controlled newspaper Global Times, in which it was written that “it is credible that the [People’s Liberation Army] will heavily attack U.S. troops who come to Taiwan’s rescue.”

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China Conducted ‘Combat Readiness Patrol’ During U.S. Lawmakers’ Trip to Taiwan

China’s military conducted an exercise over Taiwan Friday during a surprise visit by U.S. lawmakers.

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theatre Command said it “organised naval and air forces to continue combat readiness police patrols in direction of the Taiwan Strait,” according to Reuters.

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Biden Admin Invites Taiwan to ‘Summit for Democracy,’ China Calls It a ‘Mistake’

The Biden administration extended an invitation for its “Summit for Democracy” to Taiwan, upsetting China, which views the island as its own.

The list of invitees for the summit, which will be held in December, was released Tuesday by the State Department. The gathering was originally announced in February, with three main themes, “defending against authoritarianism, fighting corruption, and promoting respect for human rights,” according to the White House.

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Texas Education Agency Opens Backdoor to ChiCom Surveillance of Students Through Virtual Tutorial Firm

  The Texas Education Agency contracted with a virtual-tutorial marketing company through the end of the 2022-2023 school year that relies on tutorial services from VIPKids, the Beijing-based company backed by the Chinese technology conglomerate Tencent tied to surveillance and censorship. “We believe all students deserve equal access to rigorous…

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Commentary: America Needs to Decide How It Will Stand Up to China in Taiwan

USS Alabama at deck in Mobile, AL

According to Russia’s Interfax news agency, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recently announced, “Just like the overwhelming majority of other countries, Russia views Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China. This is the premise we proceed from and will continue to proceed from in our policy.” At the time of this statement, Russian forces were conducting joint naval exercises with Chinese forces in the Pacific—culminating in a 10-ship joint formation sailing through Japan’s Tsugaru Strait on October 18. 

This, following a series of unprecedented Chinese military aircraft incursions into Taiwan’s airspace, has rattled Taiwan and America’s other allies in the region, namely Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia. During the first week of October, over 150 aircraft, including advanced SU-30 fighters and H-6 heavy bombers, flew into Taiwanese airspace. An unprecedented 56 tactical aircraft penetrated Taiwan’s airspace in a single 24-hour period on October 4, the highest single day total to date. 

China has already taken control of multiple islands claimed by these allies in an effort to access vast oil and natural gas resources, as well as project its military power in the contested territorial waters of the South China Sea. China’s ongoing trade dispute with Australia has also ratcheted up tensions in the region. 

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Commentary: Biden’s Possible Abandonment of Taiwan

Joe Biden

“Goodbye, great power competition and hello, strategic competition,” this is what the Biden Administration’s Pentagon spokesperson recently told Daniel Lipmann of Politico. According to analysts, these comments signal a shift toward a more cooperative, even conciliatory, American posture toward the Chinese Communist Party. Further, President Joe Biden told the media on October 6 that he had “spoken with [Chinese President Xi Jinping] about Taiwan. We agree that we will abide by the Taiwan Agreement.” 

The agreement that Mr. Biden was referring to was the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, an ambiguous agreement forged between China and the United States in which Taiwan would be treated by the United States as a foreign country without being formally recognized as such. While the 1979 agreement does allow for the provision of American military aid to Taiwan such that Taiwan can “maintain a sufficient self-defense capability,” the terms of this agreement allow for the Americans to shirk away from Taiwan whenever it is convenient for Washington do so.  

The Biden-Xi call came on the heels of China’s brazen violation of Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) during the week of October 1. At that time, China deployed more than 50 warplanes to violate Taiwan’s ADIZ, testing Taiwan’s overworked air defense network and pushing the island’s military to the point of exasperation. At some point, a grave miscalculation will occur between China and Taiwan—a mistake that could spark another world war that Washington is not prepared or willing to fight.

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Commentary: The Left Destroys Everything It Touches

What was the purpose for the insane opposition of the Left between 2017 and 2021? To usher in a planned nihilism, an incompetent chaos, a honed anarchy to wreck the country in less than a year?

No sooner had Donald Trump entered office than scores of House Democrats filed motions for impeachment, apparently for thought crimes that he might, some day, in theory, could possibly commit.

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Taiwan Defense Minister Says Tensions with China Have Hit 40-Year High

Chiu Kuo-cheng, the defense minister of Taiwan, said Wednesday that tensions between his country and China are at their worst point in four decades.

The minister was speaking to lawmakers as he promoted a new $8.6 billion military spending package, telling them that the current situation with China was “the most serious” he has seen throughout his more than 40-year military career.

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Trump Says January 6 Probe No Big Deal, Lawmakers Should Investigate the November 3 ‘Insurrection’

Former President Donald Trump says he’s not concerned by the prospect of his former advisers testifying before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.

Lawmakers, Trump argued, should instead investigate the “insurrection” that changed last year’s election rules and committee chairman Bennie Thompson’s ties to a black separatist group whose members killed cops decades ago.

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Taiwan ‘on Alert’ After Record Number of Chinese Planes Enter Airspace, Warns of ‘Catastrophic’ Consequences If It’s Democracy Falls

Taiwan needs to be “on alert” after a record number of Chinese aircraft flew into the country’s defense zone on Monday, Premier Su Tseng-chang told reporter, Reuters reported.

“Taiwan must be on alert. China is more and more over the top,” Su said Tuesday, Reuters reported. “The world has also seen China’s repeated violations of regional peace and pressure on Taiwan.”

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Taiwan is Trying to Replace China’s Closed Confucius Institutes with Focus on ‘Freedom and Democracy’

Tea Making Cultural Activity for the Taiwan Mandarin Institute

As dozens of Confucius Institutes close on college campuses, some may be replaced with Taiwan Centers for Mandarin Learning (TCML).

The initiative, known as the TCML Establishment Program, is a part of the U.S.-Taiwan Education Initiative, a memorandum of understanding signed by the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in December of 2020.

Campus Reform previously reported on the threats posed by Confucius Institutes, including ties to the Chinese Community Party (CCP) and intellectual theft.

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Wisconsin Representative Tiffany Demands ‘Full Membership’ to United Nations for Taiwan

Wisconsin Representative Thomas Tiffany (R-07-WI) wrote a letter to the Biden Administration demanding full membership to the United Nations for Taiwan. In a tweet about the letter, Tiffany said, “America doesn’t need a permission slip from Communist China to support our allies.”

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Commentary: Open Letter to Anti-Nuclear Activists

Biohazard sign

Anti-nuclear activist groups like the so-called Physicians for Social Responsibility, Ploughshares, Union of Concerned Scientists, Federation of American Scientists, and others criticize the U.S. and national security professionals for supposedly wrongly “demonizing” Russia, China, North Korea and Iran.  Hypocritically, these same anti-nuclear activists routinely “demonize” the U.S. national security community and any President and Congress that wants to modernize the U.S. nuclear deterrent to prevent World War III.  More than one anti-nuclear activist has called me and my colleagues the “root of all evil” because we will not “give peace a chance” by engaging recklessly in yet another dangerously irresponsible act of unilateral disarmament—like banning U.S. ICBMs. 

Maybe you have no idea how many times the U.S. has “given peace a chance” with consequences that make nuclear war more likely? 

Under the Presidential Nuclear Initiative (PNI), the U.S. unilaterally reduced tactical nuclear weapons from 15,000 to 180.  But Russia cheated on the PNI and now has at least a 10-to-1 advantage.  (See Dr. Mark Schneider, “Russian Nuclear Force Expansion and the Failure of Arms Control” RealClearDefense October 24, 2019.) 

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Commentary: Recognizing the Sovereignty of Taiwan Could be a Real October Surprise

President Trump has an opportunity to make his boldest moral, strategic, and catalyzing move yet, entirely in the interest of the American people and the free world: to recognize the Republic of China (i.e. Taiwan) as a sovereign nation. His administration has already taken significant steps to “bolster” Taiwan’s status. This move wouldn’t be so subtle. More than a Tweet; Trump could recognize the island nation, constantly harassed and illegitimately claimed by the CCP, before the United Nations. He could challenge democratic, freedom-loving allies and acquaintances to do the same, and in so doing, ascertain who exactly has the intestinal fortitude to call out the evil empire, and who is willing to subordinate their people to it in the decades to come. President Trump should remind our nuclear adversary why it is that the United States Navy’s Seventh Fleet routinely transits the Taiwan Strait and for whom, and that the United States of America remains a force for good in the world.

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Commentary: Is China Threatening Taiwan, Hong Kong While the U.S. Is Weighed Down by Pandemic, Recession and Riots?

Is China on the precipice of an aggressive expansion into Taiwan and Hong Kong while the U.S. is bogged down with the Covid-19 pandemic, the worst recession in a generation with more than 23 million jobs lost and riots over the police killing of George Floyd?

Amid the global response to the China-originated coronavirus, in January, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen was reelected in a landslide, saying she supports the current political status of the island nation, which in her eyes is that Taiwan is so independent it doesn’t need to declare independence.

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US-China Trade Dispute Triggering Production Exodus

by Joyce Huang   U.S. tech giant Apple has reportedly asked its major suppliers, mainly China-based manufacturers from Taiwan, to consider moving 15 to 30% of their production outside of China to avoid higher tariffs imposed on U.S.-bound exports. The production migration, which analysts say is already ongoing,will hurt the…

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