Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said his department will further refine its strategy to address China’s threat to the United States, potentially further tightening U.S. visa restrictions on members of the Chinese Communist Party and tens of thousands of Chinese leaving the country months after a ban on entry for Chinese students and scholars involved in “civil-military integration” programs was implemented.
Restrictions on entry of Communist Party members and Chinese involved in military programs
The U.S. Department of State announced Dec. 3 that it is restricting travel to the United States for members of the Chinese Communist Party and their immediate families, reducing the validity of B1/B2 visas issued to Communist Party members and their families to one month from the previous 10 years.
In a video presentation released by the Department of Homeland Security on Monday (Dec. 21), Wolf said the Department, in conjunction with the State Department’s initiative, is working to limit the period of entry into the United States for members of the Communist Party to one month, even though some of them may have been granted visas valid for 10 years in the past.
We are also working with the State Department to consider further limiting the visa validity of CCP members,” he said. We are also using all possible tools to prevent Chinese citizens from concealing their CCP membership status, or evading related disclosure requirements.”
Wolf noted the deterrent effect of President Trump‘s message in May this year announcing a ban on Chinese nationals with ties to the Communist Party’s military from entering the United States on student and scholar visas.
We banned Chinese students and researchers involved in China’s civil-military integration strategy from entering the country,” he said. China read the message and tens of thousands of Chinese students have left to avoid detection and avoid further action.
“As these individuals left our country, we (DHS) conducted additional screening and vetting of them to identify critical counterintelligence threats and to prevent the theft of important information.” Wolff said.
Hong Kong Residents Welcome Refugee Applications Welcome Taipei Airport to U.S. Preclearance
Wolfe also said the Department of Homeland Security will be particularly welcoming to refugee claims from Hong Kong residents in fiscal year 2021. The U.S. State Department announced its Refugee Acceptance Program on Sept. 30, which for the first time includes Hong Kong on the list of countries and territories that receive refugees for special distribution, making Hong Kong residents different from the many asylum-seeking applicants who can receive additional assistance in the United States.
Wolfe also revealed that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is also communicating with Taiwan to process Taipei Taoyuan Airport’s application to join the U.S. Border Preclearance Program (US Border Preclearance).
If the U.S. and Taiwan reach an agreement on the pre-clearance program, the U.S. will set up the first overseas entry screening point in Taiwan in the Asia-Pacific region, and travelers to the U.S. will complete their entry screening at Taoyuan Airport. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said last year that she was willing to join the program, but the arrangement would spark discontent on the part of China.
Wolfe: Investigating TCL TV ‘backdoor’ issue
Wolfe said the Department of Homeland Security is also coordinating with U.S. partners to protect sensitive information about Americans and prevent the Chinese Communist Party from trying to use the 5G Internet infrastructure for intelligence infiltration. “We will be issuing a commercial advisory warning against the use of data services and equipment from companies associated with the People’s Republic of China,” he said.
He said the advisory will focus on numerous examples of how the Chinese government is using companies, organizations and citizens to secretly access sensitive corporate data to advance the Communist Party’s economic interests and national security goals.
The Department of Homeland Security has published cases where Chinese companies have illegally collected data from U.S. consumers or stolen intellectual property. In particular, Wolfe highlighted that DHS is conducting a review of Chinese manufacturers such as TCL Corp.
U.S. researchers revealed in November that China’s TCL Corp. had included a “backdoor” program in its smart TVs, exposing those smart TV file systems connected to WiFi wireless networks to remote control by third parties. TCL Smart TV users can access their TVs’ browsing directory program files without their knowledge, even if they are in a foreign country.
Wolf said TCL competed in the global electronics market with the support of China’s Communist Party to become the third largest TV maker in the world.
Wolf said China’s system allows for a high degree of centralization of politics, technology and the economy, and the government’s monopoly on resources and industry, disregard for human rights and dignity, and its own people’s fear of government retribution make the Chinese regime a serious threat to the United States and the world at large.
Based on President Trump’s 2017 National Security Strategy and the 2020 U.S. Strategic Approach to the People’s Republic of China, the Department of Homeland Security will soon issue a strategic action plan on countering China, he said.
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