The U.S. Department of Justice indicted a Russian man residing in Hong Kong, accusing him of smuggling many U.S.-made military-grade microelectronics to Russia. The man faces multiple charges, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government, smuggling, telecommunications fraud, money laundering, and four counts of conspiracy. He is currently in custody in the United States. The arrested Russian man, Maxim Marchenko, 51, reportedly operated several shell companies in Hong Kong, including Alice Components Co. Ltd. (Alice Components), Neway Technologies Limited (Neway), and RG Solutions Limited (RG Solutions). He collaborated with two other Russian men to run an illegal procurement network in Russia, Hong Kong, and other locations. They paid U.S. distributors to conceal the source of funds and purchased many OLED micro-displays. From May 2022 to August 2023, the involved shell companies funneled over $1.6 million into the United States for illegal procurement activities....Read more https://www.theepochtimes.com/china/russian-man-residing-in-hong-kong-indicted-for-smuggling-us-military-grade-microelectronics-to-russia-5496503
A doctor working for the U.S. government visited in 2017 the China-based virus research facility where the pathogen that causes COVID-19 may have leaked from and sounded the alarm on safety issues at the lab earlier than previously reported, according to documents obtained by The Epoch Times. Dr. Ping Chen, who worked for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), visited the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in October 2017 and prepared a report for her superiors after her visit. A version of her report obtained by a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request was fully redacted, but Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and his team were granted an opportunity to carry out an in-camera review of the report that had some of the redactions removed....
The Philippines is considering legal actions against China for its alleged destruction of coral reefs within Manila’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the South China Sea, the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. The ministry said it would be guided by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) on the matter, pending assessments from relevant government agencies of the extent of environmental damage in Iroquois Reef. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza said the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), to which China is a signatory, “obliges states to protect and preserve the marine environment” in the disputed sea....
A leaked U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) slide is garnering concern over the Chinese regime’s continued capability to produce naval vessels at an alarmingly faster rate than the United States. The leaked graphic depicts shipyards in China being able to build new naval vessels at a rate 232 times greater than the United States. The ONI confirmed its authenticity to The Drive, which first published the slide. This outsized capacity to support the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy has caused some analysts to raise the alarm that the United States won’t be able to close the gap for many years to come....