5 Chinese Nationals Face Charges Over Covering Up Visit To Michigan Military Site

 by Frank Fang via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Federal prosecutors have charged five Chinese nationals with allegedly lying and trying to conceal their actions, more than a year after authorities spotted them near a remote Michigan military site where thousands of troops had gathered for summer drills.

The five defendants, who were undergraduate students at the University of Michigan at the time of the incident in August 2023, left the United States after graduating in May, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court on Oct. 1. Arrest warrants have been issued for the five individuals.

The defendants are not in custody. Should they come into contact with U.S. authorities, they will be arrested and face these charges,” Gina Balaya, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Detroit, said on Oct. 2.

The incident happened at Camp Grayling, the largest Army National Guard training facility in the United States, during last summer’s annual Northern Strike training event.

According to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, more than 7,000 participants from 25 states, one territory, and four countries took part in the military exercises.

The five defendants are not charged for what happened at Camp Grayling. Instead, they are accused of misleading investigators about their trip to the location and conspiring to delete photos from their cellphones.

The case highlights concerns in Congress about the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) espionage efforts, either through buying land near U.S. military sites or breaching military bases.

In 2020, three Chinese nationals were sentenced to prison terms for trespassing and taking photos of the Naval Air Station Key West in Florida.

In July, a Chinese student pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors under the Espionage Act for using a drone to take photos of naval shipyards in Virginia.

Encounter

The five defendants are Xu Zhekai, Guan Renxiang, Zhu Haoming, Tao Jingzhe, and Liang Yi, according to the complaint.

On Aug. 13, 2023, the five were confronted after midnight at a boat launch on Bear Lake at Camp Grayling by a sergeant major with the Utah National Guard. According to the FBI, one of the defendants said, “We are media,” before they gathered their belongings and agreed to leave the area.

The Utah National Guard had a tactical operations center near Bear Lake. The center had tents, antennae, satellite dishes, vehicles, and generators, all of which were “visible from the location” where the sergeant major encountered the five defendants, according to the complaint.

The five had reserved a room at a nearby hotel a week before they were spotted.

On Dec. 18, 2023, Guan arrived at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport to board a flight to South Korea en route to China. He told U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials that he and his classmates had taken a trip to northern Michigan four months earlier “to see shooting stars,” the FBI said.

In Guan’s possession was an external hard drive containing two images of “military vehicles” taken on the same night as the encounter with the National Guard officer, according to the complaint.

On March 3, FBI agents interviewed Xu, Tao, Zhu, and Liang separately at Chicago O’Hare International Airport after they arrived on a flight from Iceland. According to the FBI, the four said they were in Michigan in August 2023 to “see a meteor shower.”

Investigators said the five defendants discussed deleting photos from their phones and cameras on the Chinese social media app WeChat.

The five “appear to have coordinated their statements regarding the incident and discussed the deletion of photos from their electronic devices to prevent them being seen by law enforcement,” according to the complaint.

Concerns About Espionage

Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Select Committee on the CCP, said in a post on social media platform X on Oct. 2 that the case “shows once again that CCP espionage can happen anywhere in America and we must be vigilant.”

“The CCP obviously has an interest in Camp Grayling and this is further evidence it would be a mistake for Michigan leaders to allow Gotion to build in our state,” he wrote, referring to Chinese battery maker Gotion’s plans to build a manufacturing plant in the state.

“State funding for Gotion’s plan to bring Chinese nationals to Mecosta County is an open invitation for more spying. For national security reasons, Governor Whitmer and the legislature must revoke state funding for Gotion immediately.”

Whitmer has said that Gotion’s plant, which is set to be built about 100 miles from Camp Grayling, would make Michigan the “global hub of mobility and electrification.”

Moolenaar also referenced his recent report, saying that American universities “must shut down their joint institutes with Chinese universities, and enact stricter guardrails on emerging technology research.”

“American universities must realize they are a target for espionage and protect the critical taxpayer-funded research they do,” he said.

According to the report, China has gained “back-door access” to U.S. technologies through partnerships with academic research institutions over the past decade, with millions of dollars in U.S. funding indirectly going toward advancing Chinese military technology.

The FBI said the five defendants studied at the University of Michigan as part of the school’s joint program with Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) in China. They began their studies for the two-year program in August 2022.

The University of Michigan states on its website that more than 150 SJTU students attend the school through dual degree or joint graduate programs every year. The two universities have also established a joint institute in China.

Canberra-based think tank Australian Strategic Policy Institute, in a 2019 report highlighting the risks of research partnerships with Chinese universities, said SJTU had several links to the Chinese military and was home to three of China’s major defense laboratories.

In a speech in March 2020, Yang Zhenbin, SJTU’s party secretary, said that he would “fully support and resolutely obey the central government’s decisions” and “uphold the party’s overall leadership of the school,” according to the school’s website.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/5-chinese-nationals-face-charges-over-covering-visit-michigan-military-site

Saudis Declare Neutrality On Iran-Israel Conflict, Not Wishing Repeat Of 2019 Aramco Attacks

 The world's largest oil exporter Saudi Arabia says that it is staying neutral and on the sidelines when it comes to the ratcheting wars in Lebanon, Gaza, and Yemen - and the Iran vs. Israel showdown.

Other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) - which includes Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, and Kuwait - have also this week "sought to reassure Iran of their neutrality" in the Iran-Israel conflict, Reuters has reported.

Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud (R) and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian (L) meet at Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) in Doha, Qatar on October 3, 2024. Iranian Presidency/Anadolu Agency

Prior to the Gaza war, Saudi Arabia was widely seen as on the cusp of signing a full normalization and diplomatic relations deal with Israel, as part of the Abraham Accords - but that was derailed in the wake of Oct.7.

At the same time, Riyadh and Tehran have recently made peace. The kingdom is now seeking to assure Iran it will not join Israel's side. 

The Saudis and other GGC states wish to avoid the kind of attacks which could impact its oil production and exports, such as the 2019 Abqaiq–Khurais Saudi Aramco drones strikes. The US blamed Iran for those historic attacks, but Tehran leaders never owned up to it.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has been in Doha this week. He told Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan on Thursday, "We consider Islamic countries, including Saudi Arabia, as our brothers, and we emphasize the importance of setting aside differences to enhance cooperation."

Bin Farhan also expressed the desire to set aside all rifts. "We aim to permanently close the chapter on our differences and focus on resolving issues, developing relations as two friendly and brotherly countries," he said, as cited in Iranian state media.

Regional tensions are soaring, and global oil markets have been reacting with each big headline and statement related to reports that Israel could be preparing major strikes on Iran's oil and gas fields. 

As for the latest Friday afternoon, which sent oil sliding...

More broadly, things between the Gulf states and Iran began cooling in the wake of the decade-long proxy war in Syria to oust Assad. The GCC countries were active in funding jihadist rebels seeking to conquer Damascus (and to counter the Iranian/Shia axis), but once it became clear that the Syrian government emerged victorious, GCC diplomats began racing back to Damascus.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/saudis-declare-neutrality-iran-israel-conflict-not-wishing-repeat-2019-aramco-attacks

Axelrod: Helene Victims in NC Mainly Trump Voters Who Will Find it Hard to Vote

 Obama-Harris whisperer David Axelrod, host of the “Axe Files” podcast, said the quiet part out loud as the Biden Regime blocks ongoing rescue operations in North Carolina.

Axelrod said Hurricane Helene victims in North Carolina are mainly Trump voters who will find it hard to vote in the 2024 election.

David Axelrod said affected Democrats from Asheville are “upscale liberal voters, and they’re probably going to figure out a way to vote. I’m not sure a bunch of these folks who had their homes and lives destroyed elsewhere, in western North Carolina, in the mountains, there are going to be as easy to wrangle for the Trump campaign.”

Hundreds of people are still missing after Helene. Search and recovery efforts were delayed because Joe Biden was lounging at the beach last weekend and Kamala Harris was busy fundraising in California.

The Biden-Harris Regime is purposely slow-rolling recovery efforts in the battleground state of North Carolina with just weeks to go until Election Day.

Fox News host Jesse Watters blasted Joe Biden for blocking ongoing rescue operations in North Carolina.

“Over 200 Americans are dead after Hurricane Helene and the thousands of victims impacted have been disgracefully left behind. The Biden administration has blocked ongoing rescue operations and North Carolina is living in the dark ages because Joe Biden and Kamala Harris hate Elon Musk. FEMA is now out of money, because Joe Biden and Kamala spent over a billion dollars of FEMA cash on migrants. Illegals got luxury hotel rooms, but Kamala’s just tossing Helene victims $750 and heading back on the campaign trail. This must not meet her standard for giving extra resources- she only wants to do that based on equity,” Jesse Watters said.

WATCH:

North Carolina’s Democrat Governor Roy Cooper also delayed deploying the 1,000 troops authorized to respond in the state’s FEMA region 4.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/10/david-axelrod-says-hurricane-helene-victims-north-carolina/

Dozens Of Meat Processing Plants Expected To Shut Down Under New EPA Rules

  by Darlene McCormick Sanchez via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Food prices—especially meat and poultry—have skyrocketed in the past four years and could be exacerbated further next year when new EPA rules for meat processors go into effect.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Price Outlook for September reported that beef and veal prices had increased for six straight months, and predicted they will rise 5.2 percent overall in 2024. Poultry prices also rose, although by a smaller percentage, and are expected to rise more before year’s end.

The report traced the rise to factors including pandemic-related supply chain disruptions and the worst inflation since the 1980s.

Next year could see still higher meat and poultry prices at the grocery store, analysts say. That’s because an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposal is expected to put some meat processors out of business, resulting in potential job losses and supply chain disruptions.

The EPA announced a proposed rule change governing effluent, or wastewater, limits for meat and poultry processors in January of this year, followed by public comment in the spring.

The agency’s final rule will go into effect in August 2025.

The proposal has met with opposition from dozens of  states, industry stakeholders, and policy experts, who fear it will harm the industry, the food supply, and consumers.

The proposed changes are spurred by lawsuits filed by a coalition of 13 environmental organizations. In 2019, the groups challenged the Trump administration under the Clean Water Act for not updating aging water pollution control standards for slaughterhouses and meat processing plants.

In response, the EPA pledged to strengthen its regulations, without implementing changes. In December 2022, a second lawsuit was filed, resulting in the current proposal.

The proposed rule contains three possible options for reducing wastewater discharges from slaughterhouses and poultry processors through water filtration technology.

Benefits and Drawbacks

The EPA estimates that the new rules would reduce pollutants discharged through wastewater from processing facilities by about 100 million pounds per year.

The proposed rules would establish tighter limitations for nitrogen released into the environment by large processors and, for the first time, would limit phosphorus.

The rules would apply to processors directly discharging wastewater into bodies of water, and, for the first time, would also apply to those indirectly discharging wastewater via water treatment plants.

In another first, the new rules would establish pretreatment standards for oil and grease, total suspended solids, and biochemical oxygen demand.

The EPA solicited comments on its preferred option and on two other proposals, which would apply pollutant limitations to smaller processors and tighten restrictions on wastewater pollutants.

About 850 of some 5,000 facilities would be impacted by the preferred rule changes, the agency said. Those include large facilities processing more than 50 million pounds of meat per year and more than 100 million pounds of poultry per year.

The EPA estimates that under its preferred option, at least 16 facilities will be forced to close, impacting at least 17,000 jobs. At the top end, the EPA estimates up to 53 plants could close.

Prices for beef, chicken, turkey, and pork products are expected to increase slightly while availability of meat and poultry is expected to decrease slightly, according to the agency.

In an email to The Epoch Times, EPA scientist Michael Nye called the proposed regulations “economically achievable” and flexible enough to allow processors to find “even lower-cost compliance options.”

The agency’s literature said cutting down on wastewater pollution from processors would reduce exposure to pathogens and toxins, improve aquatic habitats, and enhance recreational and tourism use of lakes and rivers.

Less pollution would combat climate issues and work to address pollution in poor and minority communities, according to the EPA.

The agency estimated the “total monetized benefits” of tightening the wastewater standards to be between about $90 million and $180 million annually.

States Push Back

A coalition of attorneys general from 27 states—led by Kansas and Arkansas—have argued that the rule change amounts to federal overreach.

Part of the rule change would regulate processors that release wastewater into treatment plants, which is unnecessary, they stated in a March letter to the EPA.

The states say that the EPA currently regulates only 171 of the meat and poultry product facilities in the United States. Those are facilities that directly discharge wastewater into bodies of water—not facilities that release it indirectly by discharging it to sewers or municipal sewage treatment plants.

Workers process chickens at a poultry plant in Fremont, Neb., on Dec. 12, 2019. Nati Harnik/AP Photo

By also including facilities that indirectly discharge wastewater, the regulation would expand to encompass some 3,879 facilities, according to the states. The EPA “has never before claimed such sweeping authority to regulate indirect discharges,” they stated, calling the proposed rule “not only costly but also unlawful.”

Federal statistics show that inflation remains high, they said, and shutting down meat and poultry processors would only aggravate the problem.

The attorneys general also questioned the data on which the EPA’s proposal is based.

“It appears that EPA is relying primarily on data put together by the groups that were suing them to come up with this rule,” they said.

The EPA cited plaintiff findings such as those from a 2018 Environmental Integrity Project report to support the proposed changes.

“Tyson Fresh Meats of Dakota City, Nevada, releases as much as 3,084 pounds of nitrogen per day into the Missouri River, a level approximately equal to the waste load of 132,000 people,” the agency said in technical documents citing the 2018 report.

https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/dozens-meat-processing-plants-expected-shut-down-under-new-epa-rules

Obama to campaign for Harris in Pennsylvania next week on swing state tour

 Former President Obama is set to hit the campaign trail for Vice President Harris this month, starting his blitz in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania next week.

Obama’s first campaign stop for Harris will be in the Pittsburgh area on Oct. 10, according to a senior campaign official. The former president is then expected to travel to other battleground states in the days leading up to the election.

The former president last month held a solo fundraiser for Harris in Los Angeles, raising $4 million. Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama endorsed Harris less than a week after she took over at the top of the Democratic ticket when President Biden dropped out of the race. Obama was widely seen as having a behind-the-scenes hand in the July pressure campaign for Biden to move aside.

Their endorsement was highly anticipated, as other Democrats rallied around Harris within a few days of her campaign. It finally came in the form of a video showing a phone call from the Obamas to Harris, during which the Democratic couple gave her their support.

Harris and Obama’s friendship goes back 20 years to when they met on the campaign trail as he was running for Senate, the senior campaign official noted. Harris was an early supporter of Obama’s successful 2008 presidential bid and knocked on doors for him in Iowa before the caucus.

The Obamas delivered some of the most memorable speeches at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August. The former president called for the nation to move beyond divisiveness while the former first lady took swings at former President Trump in her remarks.

Following Obama’s visit to Pittsburg, the Harris campaign said the former president will make appearances in other key swing states through Election Day, according to the Associated Press.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/obama-campaign-harris-key-swing-173114974.html

Hamas confirms death of commander in Israeli strike on West Bank

 Hamas' armed wing al-Qassam Brigades confirmed death of one of its commanders Zahi Yaser Oufi in an Israeli strike on the West Bank city of Tulkarm along with seven other fighters, the group said in a statement on Friday.

The Israeli military said that it killed Oufi, head of the Hamas network in Tulkarm, in an attack on Thursday.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/hamas-confirms-death-commander-israeli-201559799.html

'Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ hunted leader, remains committed to Israel's destruction'

 Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is unrepentant about the Oct. 7 attacks a year ago, people in contact with him say, despite unleashing an Israeli invasion that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, laid waste to his Gaza homeland and rained destruction on ally Hezbollah.

For Sinwar, 62, architect of the Hamas cross-border raids that became the deadliest day in Israel's history, armed struggle remains the only way to force the creation of a Palestinian nation, four Palestinian officials and two sources from governments in the Middle East said.

The Oct. 7 attacks killed 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and captured 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies, in the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.

Israel responded by launching a massive offensive, killing 41,600 people and displacing 1.9 million, according to Palestinian health authorities and U.N. figures.

Now the conflict has spread to Lebanon, with Israel heavily degrading Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah, including killing most of its leadership. Hamas patron Tehran is at risk of being pulled into open war with Israel.

Sinwar has drawn Iran and its entire "Axis of Resistance" - comprising Hezbollah, Yemen's Houthis and Iraqi militias - into conflict with Israel, said Hassan Hassan, an author and researcher on Islamic groups.

"We're seeing now the ripple effects of Oct.7. Sinwar's gamble didn't work," Hassan said, suggesting that the Axis of Resistance may never recover.

"What Israel did to Hezbollah in two weeks is almost equal to a whole year of degrading Hamas in Gaza. With Hezbollah, three layers of leadership have been eliminated, its military command has been decimated, and its important leader Hassan Nasrallah has been assassinated," added Hassan.

However, Sinwar's grip on the Hamas remains unwavering, despite some signs of dissent among Gazans.

He was chosen as the Islamist movement's overall leader after his predecessor Ismail Haniyeh was killed in July by a suspected Israeli strike during a visit to Tehran. Israel has not confirmed its involvement in the strike.

Operating from the shadows of a network of labyrinthine tunnels under Gaza, two Israeli sources said Sinwar and his brother, also a top commander, appear to have so far survived Israeli airstrikes, which have reportedly killed his deputy Mohammed Deif and other senior leaders.

Dubbed "The Face of Evil" by Israel, Sinwar operates in secrecy, moving constantly and using trusted messengers for non-digital communication, according to three Hamas officials and one regional official. He has not been seen in public since Oct. 7.

Over months of failed ceasefire talks, led by Qatar and Egypt, that focused on swapping prisoners for hostages, Sinwar was the sole decision-maker, three Hamas sources said. Negotiators would wait for days for responses filtered through a secretive chain of messengers.

Hamas and Israel did not respond to requests for comment.

Sinwar's high tolerance for suffering, both for himself and for the Palestinian people, in the name of a cause, was apparent when he helped negotiate the 2011 exchange of 1,027 prisoners, himself included, for one kidnapped Israeli soldier held in Gaza. The kidnapping by Hamas had led to an Israeli assault on the coastal enclave and thousands of Palestinian deaths.

Half a dozen people who know Sinwar told Reuters his resolve was shaped by an impoverished childhood in Gaza's refugee camps and a brutal 22 years in Israeli custody, including a period in Ashkelon, the town his parents called home before fleeing after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

The question of hostages and prisoner swaps is deeply personal for Sinwar, said all the sources, who requested anonymity to speak freely about sensitive matters. He has vowed to free all Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.

Sinwar became a member of Hamas soon after its founding in the 1980s, adopting the group's radical Islamist ideology, which seeks to establish an Islamic state in historic Palestine and opposes Israel's existence.

The ideology views Israel not only as a political rival but as an occupying force on Muslim land. Seen in this light, hardships and suffering are often interpreted by him and his followers as part of a larger Islamic belief of sacrifice, experts on Islamic movements say.

"What lies behind his resolve is tenacity of ideology, tenacity of goal. He's ascetic and satisfied with little," said one senior Hamas official who requested anonymity.

FROM SACKCLOTH TO LEADER

Before the war, Sinwar, would sometimes tell of his early life in Gaza during decades of Israeli occupation, once saying his mother made clothes from empty U.N. food-aid sacks, according to Gaza resident Wissam Ibrahim, who has met him.

In a semi-autobiographical novel written in prison, Sinwar described scenes of troops bulldozing Palestinian houses, "like a monster crushing its prey’s bones," before Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005.

A ruthless enforcer tasked with punishing Palestinians suspected of informing for Israel, Sinwar then made his name as a prison leader, emerging as a street hero from a 22-year Israeli sentence for masterminding the abduction and murder of two Israeli soldiers and four Palestinians. He then quickly rose to the top of the Hamas ranks.

His understanding of the everyday hardships and brutal realities in Gaza was well-received by Gazans and made people feel at ease, four journalists and three Hamas officials said, despite his fearsome reputation and explosive anger.

Sinwar is regarded by Arab and Palestinian officials as the architect of Hamas' strategy and military capabilities, bolstered through his strong ties with Iran, which he visited in 2012.

Before orchestrating the Oct. 7 raids Sinwar made no secret of his desire to strike his enemy hard.

In a speech the year before, he vowed to send a flood of fighters and rockets to Israel, hinting at a war that would either unite the world to establish a Palestinian state on land Israel occupied in 1967, or leave the Jewish nation isolated on the global stage.

By the time of the speech, Sinwar and Deif had already hatched secret plans for the assault. They were even running training drills in public that simulated such an attack.

His goals have not been fulfilled. While the issue is once again at the top of the global agenda, the prospect of a Palestinian nation is as distant as ever. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has categorically rejected a post-war plan for Gaza that would include a firm timeline for the establishment of a Palestinian state.

'HEAD HARDER THAN A ROCK'

Sinwar was arrested in 1988 and sentenced to four life sentences, accused of orchestrating the abduction and murder of two Israeli soldiers and four suspected Palestinian informants.

Nabih Awadah, a former Lebanese Communist militant who was imprisoned with Sinwar in Ashkelon between 1991-95, said the Hamas leader viewed the 1993 Oslo peace accords between Israel and the Palestinian Authority as "disastrous" and a ruse by Israel, which he said would only relinquish Palestinian land "by force, not by negotiations."

Calling him "willful and dogmatic", Awadah said Sinwar would light up with joy whenever he heard of attacks against Israelis by Hamas or Lebanon's Hezbollah group. For him, military confrontation was the only path "to liberating Palestine" from Israeli occupation.

Awadah said Sinwar was an "influential model to all prisoners, even those who were not Islamists or religious."

Michael Koubi, a former official with Israel's Shin Bet security agency who interrogated Sinwar for 180 hours in prison, said Sinwar clearly stood out for his ability to intimidate and command.

Koubi once asked the militant, then aged 28 or 29, why he was not already married. "He told me Hamas is my wife, Hamas is my child. Hamas for me is everything." Sinwar married after his release from prison in 2011 and has three children.

In jail, he continued to pursue Palestinian spies, Awadah said, echoing reports from Shin Bet interrogators.

His sharp instincts and caution allowed him to identify and expose Shin Bet informants infiltrated in the prison, Awadah said.

He said Sinwar's leadership was pivotal during a hunger strike in 1992, in which he led over 1,000 prisoners to survive solely on water and salt. Sinwar negotiated with prison authorities and refused to settle for partial concessions.

He also used his time in prison to learn fluent Hebrew.

Awadah said Sinwar frequently recalled that Ashkelon, where they were imprisoned together, was his family's ancestral hometown.

When playing table tennis in the courtyard of Ashkelon jail, in present day Israel, Sinwar would often play barefoot, saying he wanted his feet to touch the land of Palestine.

"Sinwar often told us: 'I'm not in prison; I'm on my land. I am free here, in my country.'"

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/hunted-yet-unrepentant-yahya-sinwar-124933031.html