US Ramps Up Visa Scrutiny For All Chinese Nationals
Here are the stories shaping the day:
The U.S. State Department
is ramping up its scrutiny of
currently in the United States on a visa, the latest in a series of major shifts on visa policies this week.
President Donald Trump
issued pardons to a former governor and
.
Tactics used by the Chinese Communist Party
(CCP) to influence public perception in the United States
.
A Greenlandic official
has raised the stakes in the contest for its minerals, suggesting that the Danish territory could
if the United States and Europe do not move fast enough.
🍵Health:
These overlooked chemicals in food may
.
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Epoch Times
25 minutes ago
- Epoch Times
Panel at Capitol Spotlights CCP's ‘Silent War' Against US
WASHINGTON—Experts and advocates on June 6 spotlighted the Chinese regime's invisible war to manipulate the West and suppress dissidents outside China's borders. The panel, hosted by The Epoch Times at the U.S. Capitol, focused on Beijing's escalating suppression of dissent in the United States, particularly targeting faith group Falun Gong. The spiritual practice, which includes meditative exercises and teaches the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance, has been a major target of the Chinese communist regime since Beijing launched an extensive persecution 26 years ago. Millions have been put in Chinese jails, where they went through Even outside of China, Falun Gong practitioners have experienced 'Strike on All Fronts' The communist regime is deploying information and legal warfare to attack Falun Gong and entities affiliated with the group in the United States, said panelists. The goal, they said, is to disrupt Falun Gong's influence in the international community and its calls to end the 26-year-long persecution in China. Yuan Hongbing, a legal scholar who has high-level contacts in the Chinese state apparatus, first disclosed the Chinese regime's campaign to The Epoch Times in December 2024. Related Stories 6/5/2025 5/29/2025 Speaking virtually at the panel, Yuan broke the regime's efforts down to 'one central focus and two directives.' According to Yuan, the campaign is focused on character assassination of Falun Gong's founder, Li Hongzhi, in a bid to shake the foundation of the spiritual group. Then the party uses information and legal warfare by mobilizing Western mainstream media, deploying disinformation, and other tactics to diminish Falun Gong's influence. The regime will 'strike on all fronts,' Yuan said. The Epoch Times' CEO Janice Trey described the campaign as a 'silent war.' By co-opting the Western legal system, regulatory agencies, and legacy media outlets in the West to reshape global opinion, she said, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is directly challenging the foundation of a democratic society. 'This tactic threatens free speech, religious liberty, and national security,' Trey said. Epoch Times CEO Janice Trey speaks during an event about escalating transnational repression by the Chinese Communist Party, on Capitol Hill on June 6, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times Varied Tactics A fire alarm cut short the event just as panelist Mark Yang, advocacy officer for the nonprofit Falun Dafa Information Center, expounded on how the regime's campaign on U.S. soil was playing out. The U.S. Capitol Police later told The Epoch Times there was 'an electrical issue that has been fixed.' Over the past year, the New York-based center has documented more than 100 instances of Some threats targeted Shen Yun's hosting venues. A fake bomb threat at the Kennedy Center in February forced the venue to hold an 'This escalation that we are seeing right now is a result of a top-down decision,' said Yang. 'Unfortunately, we are really witnessing these tactics unfold right now.' He cited two Chinese agents who tried to use More than 1,500 Shen Yun performers and family members signed a petition to denounce the articles' portrayal of the organization, describing it as ' Eric Patterson, Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation President and CEO, speaks during an event about escalating transnational repression by the Chinese Communist Party, on Capitol Hill on June 6, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times Such manipulation of legacy institutions in the West struck Eric Patterson, a panelist and president of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. 'What was amazing is how many stories there were with this negative bent when against this one group, when there was no similar reporting, to my knowledge, against any other international performing group or any performing group in the United States,' Patterson told The Epoch Times. 'What that suggests is that a place like the New York Times and other U.S. media outlets have to be extremely careful, and perhaps they have just been gullible in being manipulated by the CCP.' The regime, in leaked internal documents, has used 'The Chinese people are not our enemy, but the leadership of the Communist Party and its many, many organs and institutions, they are saying that they are our enemy.' Mark Yang, researcher and advocacy officer at the Falun Dafa Information Center, speaks during an event about escalating transnational repression by the Chinese Communist Party, on Capitol Hill on June 6, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times 'Consider the Implications' Yang said that in the case of Shen Yun, the CCP has 'demonstrated the ability to weaponize the American media, bait our government agencies, and take advantage of our judicial system.' 'Consider the implications,' he wrote in his prepared remarks that were cut short, 'if the CCP can target one group effectively, what prevents it from targeting other individuals or institutions it doesn't like?' The Epoch Times's commitment to exposing the communist regime's abuses has made it one of Beijing's key targets since the publication's founding in the United States in 2000. Not long after, Chinese authorities arrested dozens of people in China who were involved in the publication, sentencing several to as long as 10 years in prison. In March, the Justice Department Be it Falun Gong or other groups that the regime has sought to stifle, 'the reason that they are targeted first and foremost is because they stand for something that cannot be controlled by the CCP,' Patterson said. 'They stand for an authority structure, for beliefs, for values that are outside of the control of the communist party, and that is a threat.' Sherry Dong contributed to this report.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Trump administration orders US embassies to stop student visa interviews
The Trump administration has ordered US embassies worldwide to immediately stop scheduling visa interviews for foreign students as it prepares to implement comprehensive social media screening for all international applicants. A Tuesday state department cable obtained by the Guardian instructs consular sections to pause adding 'any additional student or exchange visitor (F, M, and J) visa appointment capacity until further guidance is issued' within days. The directive, first reported by Politico , could severely delay visa processing and hurt universities – many of which Donald Trump accuses of having far-left ideologies – that rely heavily on foreign students for revenue. 'The department is conducting a review of existing operations and processes for screening and vetting of student and exchange visitor visa applicants,' the cable reads. Officials plan to issue guidance on 'expanded social media vetting for all such applicants'. The freeze is a further escalation from current screening measures, which have primarily targeted students who participated in pro-Palestinian campus protests. Since March, consular officers have been required to conduct mandatory social media reviews looking for evidence of support for 'terrorist activity or a terrorist organization' which could be as broad as showing support for the Palestinian cause, according to a cable obtained by the Guardian at the time. That directive required officers to take screenshots of 'potentially derogatory' content for permanent records, even if posts were later deleted. The new expansion would apply social media vetting to all student visa applicants, not just those flagged for activism. Under the screening process, consular officers would examine applicants' posts, shares, and comments across platforms such as Instagram, X and TikTok for content they deem to be threatening to national security, which has since been tied in to the Trump administration's stance on combating antisemitism. Rubio told senators last week that his department has revoked visas numbering 'probably in the thousands at this point', up from more than 300 reported in March. 'I don't know the latest count, but we probably have more to do,' he said. There are more than one million foreign students in the US, contributing nearly $43.8bn to the economy and supporting more than 378,000 jobs in 2023 to 2024, according to NAFSA. The visa freeze threatens to compound existing challenges facing higher education institutions already experiencing declining international enrollment. When reached for comment, a state department spokesperson said that 'every visa adjudication is a national security decision', noting that visitors applying for visas were required to provide social media identifiers since 2019. 'The Trump administration is focused on protecting our nation and our citizens by upholding the highest standards of national security and public safety through our visa process,' the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
US jobs market slows down as businesses cope with Trump trade war uncertainty
The US economy added 139,000 jobs in May, a slowdown compared with recent months as American businesses cope with uncertainty around Donald Trump's continuing trade war. After signs of a strong labor market in April – which was largely seen as resiliency against teetering trade policy from the White House – May saw a drop in new jobs added to the labor market, according to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate remained steady at 4.2%, unchanged from last month. May's jobs report was dragged down by the loss of 22,000 federal workers' jobs as the Trump administration used the so-called 'department of government efficiency' (Doge) to cut government positions. Since January, 59,000 Federal jobs have been cut. The Bureau of Labor Statistics also cut the numbers of jobs created in March and April. In an update, the bureau said a total of 95,000 fewer jobs had been created over the two months. After the report was released, Trump once again called on the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell (whom he has nicknamed 'Too Late'), to cut interest rates. Related: Donald Trump to meet Xi Jinping in China after 'very good' call on trade ''Too Late' at the Fed is a disaster! Europe has had 10 rate cuts, we have had none. Despite him, our Country is doing great. Go for a full point, Rocket Fuel!' the president wrote on Truth Social. Economists expected a downward slump after data earlier in the week suggested a cooling job market. Payroll firm ADP reported that private-sector payrolls increased by just 37,000 in May, the lowest gain in more than two years. 'After a strong start to the year, hiring is losing momentum,' said Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP, in a statement. The Institute for Supply Management also released its latest purchasing mangers' index figure, which measures the general landscape for manufacturers and showed a reading of 49.9 in April – the lowest since June 2024. In the most recent results of the University of Michigan's survey of consumers, released at the end of May, consumer sentiment had stayed relatively stable from April to May, with the caveat that April's reading was the lowest drop in consumer sentiment since 1990. The impact of Trump's trade war has yet to be seen in inflation readings. In April, the annual inflation rate was at 2.3%, a slight decrease from March, though economists said that the impact of Trump's tariffs will be gradual and probably will not impact data until the summer.
