Why do young Chinese join the Communist Party? For many, it's practical.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio in May said that Chinese students with 'connections to the Chinese Communist Party' would have their visas to study in the U.S. revoked.
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New York Post
28 minutes ago
- New York Post
Extension of US-China tariff pause ‘likely' – South Korea eager to get trade pact signed, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick says
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick signaled Monday that the Trump administration appears 'likely' to extend a pause on tariffs with China as trade negotiations continue, while the South Koreans 'really, really want to get a deal done.' 'They're talking right now, but the decision-maker, of course, is President Trump,' Lutnick said of the state of negotiations with China, during an interview with Fox News 'Special Report' host Bret Baier. 3 Lutnick suggested Monday that another 90-day pause on China tariffs seems likely. Ron Sachs/CNP / Washington and Beijing struck a deal in May to pause their raging trade war for 90 days, with the US agreeing to drop its 145% tariff rate on most Chinese goods to 30%, while China lowered its rate to 10% from 125%. The truce is set to expire on Aug. 12. Asked about reports that both sides were seeking to extend the pause, Lutnick indicated that while it appears 'likely,' the decision ultimately rests on Trump. 'I'm sure the people who are speaking with China are going to go discuss with President Trump how he wants to play it,' the commerce secretary said. 'He's got an excellent relationship with [Chinese President Xi Jinping], and I think we'll leave that to Donald Trump to decide.' 'Is that a likely outcome? Sure, it seems that way, but let's leave it to President Trump to decide,' Lutnick said of the potential for another 90-day pause. Lutnick noted that negotiations over the social media app TikTok are 'separate but adjacent' to a potential China deal. TikTok's China-based parent company, ByteDance, has a Sept. 17 deadline to divest the platform's American assets or face a US ban. 3 Lutnick touted Trump's 'excellent relationship' with Xi. REUTERS 3 Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariffs go into effect on Aug. 1. REUTERS Meanwhile, South Korea is eager to reach an agreement on a trade deal before Trump's so-called 'Liberation Day' tariffs go into effect on Aug. 1. 'The South Koreans flew to Scotland to meet with me and [US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer] after dinner,' Lutnick said of his late-night, weekend discussions with South Korea. 'I mean, think about how much they really, really want to get a deal done,' Lutnick added. The Trump Cabinet official argued that the president 'is in the driver's seat now' when it comes to trade deals, and that he expects the commander in chief to 'consider a few deals' before Aug. 1, but that he's focused on deciding what the tariff rates will be for countries that haven't reached agreements with the US. So far, Trump has cut preliminary tariff deals with the UK, Vietnam, Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines and the European Union. The president told reporters on Sunday that he has no intention of delaying the Aug. 1 deadline.
CBS News
29 minutes ago
- CBS News
Trump administration says federal employees can encourage co-workers to "re-think" their religious beliefs
The Trump administration on Monday told federal workers they can talk about religion at work, including by trying to "persuade others of the correctness of their own religious views." In a memo to the heads of federal agencies, the Office of Personnel Management — the government's human resources arm — said public employees have the right to religious expression in the workplace, citing civil rights law and the First Amendment. That includes the right to discuss religion, engage in "communal religious expressions" and display items such as bibles, crucifixes and mezuzahs on their desks, the memo states. "During a break, an employee may engage another in polite discussion of why his faith is correct and why the non-adherent should re-think his religious beliefs," it states. "However, if the non-adherent requests such attempts to stop, the employee should honor the request." The five-page memo listed out other examples of religious expression that federal workers shouldn't be punished for. OPM said in its memo that employees can invite co-workers who belong to other religions to their church or put up invitations to Easter services on communal bulletin boards; staff can display religious posters, Veterans Affairs doctors can pray over their patients, and park rangers for the National Park Service can join their tour groups in prayer. According to the memo, agencies can still broadly limit staffers' speech — for example, they can "require that employees perform official work while on duty," and they can ban employees from putting up posters of any kind, both religious and non-religious. It also said attempts to persuade co-workers about religion can't be "harassing in nature." Still, staff "must be allowed to engage in private religious expression in work areas to the same extent that they may engage in nonreligious private expression," the office said. The policy isn't entirely new. In 1997, the Clinton administration said federal employees can "discuss their religious views with one another" and "may even attempt to persuade fellow employees of the correctness of their religious views" — but they "must refrain from such expression when a fellow employee asks that it stop." For years, the Department of Labor's online religious discrimination guidelines have said staffers "who seek to proselytize in the workplace should cease doing so with respect to any individual who indicates that the communications are unwelcome." "Federal employees should never have to choose between their faith and their career," OPM Director Scott Kupor said Monday in a statement. "This guidance ensures the federal workplace is not just compliant with the law but welcoming to Americans of all faiths." Monday's memo comes amid a broader push by the Trump administration to let federal workers express religious beliefs. Earlier this month, OPM said federal agencies should "adopt a generous approach" when staffers ask for permission to work from home or change their schedules for religious reasons, citing a 2023 Supreme Court case in which a mail carrier requested Sundays off for religious reasons. In early February, shortly after returning to office, President Trump signed an executive order accusing the Biden administration of pervasive "anti-Christian weaponization of government." The order set up a task force to look into alleged anti-Christian bias. Months later, the State Department encouraged staff to report any allegations of bias. The moves have drawn pushback. The Freedom From Religion Foundation called Monday's memo "outrageous and unconstitutional," arguing the guidance "purports to protect religious expression in the federal workplace but encourages outright proselytizing." "These shocking changes essentially permit workplace evangelizing, but worse still, allow supervisors to evangelize underlings and federal workers to proselytize the public they serve," the group's co-president, Annie Laurie Gaylor, said in a statement.
Epoch Times
29 minutes ago
- Epoch Times
Bipartisan Bills Target China's Human Rights Violations Amid US–China Trade Talks
A group of bipartisan lawmakers are introducing legislation this week targeting the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) human rights violations at home as well as its transnational repression campaigns, as Washington and Beijing resumed trade talks in Stockholm. The bills are sponsored in the Senate by Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) of the Congressional Executive Commission on China (CECC). One of the bills seeks to tackle 'transnational repression'—acts by foreign governments and their proxies to target overseas dissidents, journalists, and other persecuted groups. The bill is sponsored in the House by Reps. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and James McGovern (D-Mass.). In a CECC hearing in September 2023, Merkley said that transnational repression was 'central to the Chinese Communist Party's strategy of silencing critics of Chinese policy around the world.' The commission's report for 2024 said the Chinese regime 'continued a multifaceted campaign of transnational repression to intimidate and enhance control over critics, Uyghurs, Hong Kongers, and others.' The report stated that the CCP 'continued to monitor, detain, and imprison Falun Gong adherents.' Earlier this month, at an event marking the regime's 26-year-long persecution of Falun Gong, Smith called the CCP's targeting the spiritual discipline's adherents in the United States 'transnational terrorism.' Another bill, sponsored in the House by Smith and Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.), seeks to expand sanctioning powers over the Chinese regime's human rights violations against Uyghur Muslims, to cover more acts of human rights violations and those responsible for the transnational repression of Uyghurs. According to human rights experts, Uyghurs in China's Xinjiang region have been subjected to mass detention, with an estimated 1 million placed in a sprawling network of internment camps and other detention facilities in Xinjiang. Survivors of the camps have described experiencing forced labor, forced sterilizations, political indoctrination, and other abuses during their time in detention. A third bill Merkley is introducing, co-sponsored by Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah), aims to help Taiwan as the self-ruled island faces increasing pressure from mainland China. It would support countries in Latin America and the Caribbean that maintain official diplomatic relations with Taiwan and would take other steps to deepen coordination with Taipei. The CCP has never ruled Taiwan, but it views the island democracy as its territory and has repeatedly threatened to annex it by force. The regime has sabotaged Taiwan's diplomatic relations and blocked its participation in international organizations. It insists the world should follow its 'One China' policy, which claims that the communist regime is the only legitimate government on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. In a statement, Merkley said the United States 'cannot afford to be weak in the face of the People's Republic of China and its aggression around the world.' 'No matter who is in the White House, America's values of freedom and human rights must remain at the heart of a clear and principled vision that guides our leadership on the global stage,' he added. On Monday, U.S. officials led by U.S. Treasury Chief Scott Bessent met Beijing's delegation in Stockholm to renew trade talks, paving the way for U.S. President Donald Trump's potential visit to China. China is facing an Aug. 12 deadline to reach a durable tariff agreement with the Trump administration, after Beijing and Washington reached preliminary deals in May and June to end weeks of escalating tit-for-tat tariffs and a cut-off of rare earth minerals. Bessent said last week that the deadline will likely be extended. Officials are expected to resume talks on Tuesday.
