Latest news with #Chinese-flagged
Epoch Times
3 days ago
- Epoch Times
CBP Blocks Seafood Linked to Suspected Forced Labor on Chinese Fishing Vessel
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said it is detaining at all ports any seafood linked to a Chinese fishing vessel suspected to use forced labor. 'Combatting forced labor is central to CBP's mission to protect the economic security of the United States,' CBP acting Commissioner Pete Flores CBP issued the May 28 withhold release order on vessel Zhen Fa 7, ordering its officers at all U.S. ports to block entry of seafood harvested from the Chinese-flagged vessel. The CBP said it had reasonable suspicion of forced labor, identifying abusive working and living conditions, physical and sexual violence, debt bondage, the retention of laborers' identity documents, and other issues. These afforded the Zhen Fa 7 labor costs below market value and 'unjustly earned profits' in a way that undercut American businesses, according to the press release. CBP currently has 52 active withhold release orders, and 36 of them are related to China-linked entities. The Tariff Act of 1930 prohibits the import of goods made by convict or forced labor, and a key expansion was made in 2022 with the enactment of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), which blocks the importation of goods manufactured with forced labor in Xinjiang. Related Stories 1/14/2025 11/22/2024 The United States has determined that the Chinese communist regime systemically uses forced labor in Xinjiang, where the majority of China's cotton is produced. Xinjiang is also home to many of China's mining operations. In 2022, the United Nations also issued a U.S. agencies have According to CBP The shipments fall under a wide range of categories, including automotive and aerospace, electronics, apparel, consumer products, agriculture, base metals, pharmaceuticals, and machinery. The items do not all originate directly from China but often from Southeast Asia. Many of the shipments had a country of origin of Malaysia, Vietnam, or Thailand. These countries manufacture many goods sold to the United States with materials originating from China. CBP
New York Post
07-05-2025
- Business
- New York Post
US has surrendered the seas to China — here's how to win them back
A nation's safety and prosperity depends on the strength of its ships. Just ask Xi Jinping. In addition to its powerful navy, China now possesses the world's largest commercial fleet — 5,500 vessels strong, with a thousand more built annually. And the United States? Our fleet currently numbers 80 with, at most, five ships added a year. This convergence — the rise of China's commercial shipping sector and the decline of ours — endangers our economy and weakens our Navy. As President Theodore Roosevelt said in 1905, 'To the spread of our trade in peace and the defense of our flag in war, a great and prosperous merchant marine is indispensable.' The nation's 26th president would be furious at the current state of America's merchant fleet. Our shipbuilding sector has eroded, our shipyards are few and far between, and the vessels they do build are often ill-equipped to cross oceans. The result is Chinese dominance of the world's sea lanes. America's rusted maritime sector is a pending national disaster. But we now have another president who understands the importance of shipbuilding. Last month President Donald Trump signaled his intent to end America's shipbuilding decline when he signed an executive order encouraging private investment to raise new shipyards and ordering federal agencies to levy added fees on China's vessels at US ports. Trump wants to launch an American shipbuilding revival, and his urgent call to reinvigorate the US maritime sector was heard clearly in the halls of Congress at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue. Last week I joined a bipartisan group of colleagues to re-introduce the SHIPS for America Act, comprehensive legislation meant to revitalize US shipbuilding. Our bill, which shares many of the same goals as Trump's executive order, will provide the necessary congressional authorizations to build and man a new fleet of commercial ships — and bring back the American maritime industry. This is long overdue. In the decades after World War II, the United States was home to the world's largest commercial fleet. The shipping container, the revolutionary innovation that's now essential to transporting goods across oceans and to distant markets, was invented by an American, Malcolm McLean. But today only a fraction of the tankers and cargo ships carrying goods to and from our country fly the American flag — by some estimates less than 0.4%. Depending on Chinese-flagged ships to carry the vast majority of our imports and exports places our entire supply chain at the mercy of the Chinese Communist Party. In a coming trade or military standoff, Xi Jinping could bring the American economy to a complete standstill — simply by prohibiting Chinese ships from calling in at American ports. In the event of a military conflict in the Pacific, we would struggle to get troops and supplies to the front lines, and would have to rely on other nations to transport vital goods to our shores. Without a robust commercial-shipyard industrial base, we lack the facilities and work force to build and repair warships at scale in a crisis. The SHIPS for America Act aims to close this gap by establishing national oversight and consistent funding for US maritime policy. It would make US-flagged vessels commercially competitive in international commerce by cutting red tape, rebuilding the shipyard industrial base, and expanding and strengthening mariner and shipyard worker recruitment. Our proposal will train a pipeline of new workers, encourage domestic and foreign investment in maritime infrastructure and provide the permitting reform and deregulation that's essential for timely construction of new shipyards. One of its provisions will establish a trust fund to support an expansion of the US-flagged international fleet to 250 ships by 2035. The act will also create an investment tax credit to build up the US shipyard industry for both military and commercial oceangoing vessels. And a new US Center for Maritime Innovation would create hubs across the country where our citizens will research and design next-generation ships. Reviving American shipbuilding will take time and come at a cost — but the cost of failing to act is even greater. With his executive order, President Trump channeled Teddy Roosevelt and laid out an ambitious maritime agenda. Now it's up to Congress to make his vision a reality and christen a new commercial fleet that will reclaim American maritime supremacy. It's time to make American ships again. Todd Young represents Indiana in the US Senate.
Local Sweden
15-04-2025
- Local Sweden
Swedish probe finds no conclusive evidence Chinese ship cut cables deliberately
Swedish authorities have not managed to find any evidence that a Chinese-flagged bulk carrier was intentionally dragging its anchor when it severed two subsea cables in the Baltic Sea last year. Advertisement Tensions have mounted around the Baltic Sea since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and after Finland and Sweden joined Nato, with a string of incidents involving damage to undersea cables and other infrastructure. In a report on April 15th the Swedish Accident Investigation Authority (SHK) found that the Yi Peng 3 cut the two telecommunications cables after dragging its anchor off Sweden's southeastern coast for one and a half days and 180 nautical miles. But it said it was unable to conclude definitively that the vessel, built in 2001 and owned by Chinese company Ningbo Yipeng Shipping Co, cut the cables on purpose. "There are two alternative scenarios for the incident, one of which is that the ship deliberately dropped anchor to cause damage to seabed infrastructure," the authority said. "Arguing against this alternative is the deliberate risk to the ship entailed in releasing the anchor at speed, with high risk that the ship and crew operating the anchor would be seriously harmed during the release," it said. "The other alternative is that the anchor came loose because it was poorly or not at all secured," the SHK said. However the lack of damage to the ship and the length of time the anchor spent on the sea floor "speak to some extent against this scenario", it added. Advertisement On November 17th, the Arelion telecommunications cable running from the Swedish island of Gotland to Lithuania was damaged. The next day, the C-Lion 1 communications cable linking Finland to Germany was cut south of Sweden's Oland island. The SHK noted that it was only allowed on board to examine the Yi Peng 3's anchor and question crew members more than a month after the incident, and was not granted access to any electronic data. Many experts and political leaders have attributed a spate of incidents in the Baltic since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine to a "hybrid war" carried out by Russia. Sweden, Finland and Germany all launched investigations over the November 17th-18th incidents and Swedish police said they suspected "sabotage". The SHK said its assessment "does not prevent the Swedish Prosecution Authority from conducting a preliminary investigation into a suspected crime".
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Yahoo
Swedish report finds no evidence a Chinese-flagged ship intentionally damaged Baltic Sea cables
STOCKHOLM (AP) — Authorities did not find any evidence that a Chinese-flagged ship in the Baltic Sea intentionally damaged two undersea cables last year, according to a Swedish report released Tuesday. The Swedish Accident Investigation Board's report says investigators only had access to limited information and therefore were not able to figure out with certainty whether the data cables were damaged in Swedish waters intentionally or not. Chinese authorities led the investigation, with Sweden taking part as an observer. Swedish prosecutors can continue their own investigation separately. The Yi Peng 3, a bulk carrier, had dragged its port anchor for a day and a half over 180 nautical miles (over 330 kilometers) in November 2024, the Swedish report said.
Washington Post
15-04-2025
- Washington Post
Swedish report finds no evidence a Chinese-flagged ship intentionally damaged Baltic Sea cables
STOCKHOLM — Authorities did not find any evidence that a Chinese-flagged ship in the Baltic Sea intentionally damaged two undersea cables last year, according to a Swedish report released Tuesday. The Swedish Accident Investigation Board's report says investigators only had access to limited information and therefore were not able to figure out with certainty whether the data cables were damaged in Swedish waters intentionally or not.
