12/22/2020

White House News (白宮消息) | Dec. 22, 2020

 White House News in Chinese - About (weebly.com)

Gordon Chang: How Seriously Has the CCP Infiltrated American "Elite" Circles? | Focus Talk
Dec 19, 2020

Picture

A Gwinnett county worker raises a piece of paper saying that they have a question as they begin their recount of the ballots in Lawrenceville, Ga., on Nov. 13, 2020.

Beijing ‘Substantially Involved’ in US 2020 Election, China Analyst Says


Dec. 21 - Beijing was “substantially involved” in the U.S. 2020 elections on multiple levels, according to China analyst Gordon Chang, who has described the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) infiltration of American “elite” circles as an “espionage emergency.”

“I China clearly interfered,” Chang, the author of “The Coming Collapse of China,” told NTD’s Focus News.

Chang, who has spent decades studying China and writing about the threat of the CCP, explained how leading up to the Nov. 3 presidential election, the trend of Chinese propaganda was that former Vice President Joe Biden should receive the Democratic Party nomination over Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). State propaganda later favored Biden over President Donald Trump, Chang said.

“We also know that China tried to cause chaos. Large Chinese networks like ‘Spamouflage Dragon’ relentlessly attacked the president on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter,” Chang said, referring to a pro-Beijing spam network that targeted Trump in the run-up to the election.

“We know that the social media platforms have taken down a massive number of fake Chinese accounts,” Chang said. “Twitter in June alone took down 174,000 fake accounts, so we know that they were actively involved, and we have a number of indications that it was not to help the president.”     continue to read

United States Trade Report Implications of the 2020 Election for US Trade Policy: An Early Look at the Biden Administration’s Approach

Dec. 21 - The election of Joseph R. Biden as the 46th President of the United States will have important implications for US trade policy and the World Trade Organization. In the four years since his departure as Vice President, US trade policy and the multilateral trading system have undergone dramatic shifts, driven largely by the Trump administration’s efforts to re-shore manufacturing, reduce trade deficits, and bolster trade enforcement, as well as its skepticism of the longstanding bipartisan consensus in favor of trade liberalization and multilateral institutions. Aspects of this approach have proven controversial, but the fundamental shift towards a more "economic nationalist" trade policy has enjoyed bipartisan support, and this trend has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic and growing geopolitical tensions with China. As a result, objectives such as repatriating supply chains, reducing dependence on imports, and protecting national security now figure prominently on the trade agendas of both parties, arguably in tension with the longstanding goals of economic efficiency, strengthening international alliances, and developing new export markets for US firms.


Against this backdrop, a return to the status quo ante under the Biden administration appears unlikely...     continue to read

DECEMBER 21, 2020
Surgeon General Jerome Adams Comments to Reporters on New Coronavirus Strain
Surgeon General Jerome Adams 
speak about a new strain of the coronavirus that has been discovered in the U.K. He also talks about new testing regimens and distribution of more vaccine doses in the coming weeks.
Adams: Black mistrust of vaccine comes from historical place
US Surgeon General Jerome Adams says a 1932 government study helps explain why so many people in the African American community may have Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy.
Source: CNN

12/21/2020

White House News (白宮消息) | Dec. 21, 2020

 White House News in Chinese - About (weebly.com)

DECEMBER 20, 2020 | PART OF U.S. SENATE
U.S. SenateSenate Session
The Senate convened for its third Sunday session of 2020. As members waited for a House vote on legislation to fund the government beyond the midnight deadline and a second round of coronavirus pandemic economic relief, they resumed consideration of Brian Noland’s nomination to be a member of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Board of Directors for a term expiring May 18, 2024.
Hunger for Democracy | Inside America with Ghida Fakhry
Dec 9, 2020
Congress is moving closer to an agreement on a $908 billion #stimulus plan, as the coronavirus #pandemic shows no sign of slowing down and health experts warn of a long winter ahead. 12 million people could lose their unemployment benefits on December 26th if Congress doesn't act. And as many as 40 million Americans could lose their homes after December 31st, when a federal ban on evictions ends. As hungry, jobless Americans look to the federal government for urgent relief, will lawmakers reach a deal? Meanwhile, the nation’s highest court is considering whether the Trump administration’s efforts to exclude America’s 11 million #undocumented immigrants from the 2020 census count is legal. How could the decision impact congressional representation and federal funding for states?
President-elect Joe Biden is to receive a Covid vaccination today.
Joe Biden to receive Covid vaccine today as Donald Trump still to be vaccinated


Dec. 21 - US president-elect Joe Biden will receive his Covid-19 vaccination today.
US Vice President Mike Pence, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell were vaccinated on Friday.

All have chosen to publicise their injections as part of a campaign to convince a sceptical public that the vaccines are safe and effective.     continue to read

A man looks at signs of a closed store due to Covid-19 in Niles, Ill, US, on May 21, 2020.

US Congress reaches deal on $900B Covid relief bill
US lawmakers reached a deal for a nearly $900 billion Covid-19 relief package for millions of Americans as the nation struggles against the world's largest outbreak of the virus.


Dec. 21 - Top Capitol Hill negotiators have sealed a deal on an almost $1 trillion Covid-19 economic relief package, finally delivering long-overdue help to businesses and individuals and providing money to deliver vaccines to a nation eager for them.

The agreement, announced by congressional leaders, would establish a temporary $300 per week supplemental jobless benefit and a $600 direct stimulus payment to most Americans, along with a new round of subsidies for hard-hit businesses and money for schools, health care providers and renters facing eviction.

It came after months of battling and posturing, but the negotiating dynamic changed in Republicans' favor after the election and as the end of the congressional session neared. President-elect Joe Biden was eager for a deal to deliver long-awaited help to suffering people and a boost to the economy, even though it was less than half the size that Democrats wanted this fall.
Congress was working under a deadline of midnight Sunday, needing to reach consensus both on assistance to hard-pressed American households and companies and on the 2021 federal budget in order to avoid a government shutdown.     continue to read

12/19/2020

White House News (白宮消息) | Dec. 20, 2020

 White House News in Chinese - About (weebly.com)

Biden Transition, Top Pentagon Officials at Odds over Canceled Briefings

Dec. 19, TEHRAN (FNA)- Tensions between President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team and political appointees at the Pentagon erupted on Friday over acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller’s abrupt decision Thursday to cancel transition team meetings with Pentagon officials for the rest of the year...


..."The Biden team said they hoped the Defense Department would reverse its decision.

“In terms of when meetings will resume, meetings and requests for information, which are substantively interchangeable, it’s our hope and expectation that that will happen immediately,” said Abraham.

Miller was scheduled to meet with President Donald Trump on Friday afternoon, the only publicly announced event on Trump’s schedule for the day.

Miller was named acting secretary of Defense on November 9, after Trump abruptly fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper. "    source



President of the United States Donald Trump speaking with attendees at the 2019 Teen Student Action Summit hosted by Turning Point USA
Four chilling signs Trump’s attempted coup is escalating


Dec. 18 - President Donald Trump continues to refuse to concede that he lost the 2020 election to President-elect Joe Biden.
There were four major signs on Thursday evening that the Republican effort to overthrow the election is escalating.

The first sign was when former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn suggested on NewsMax Trump could use “military capabilities” to overturn the election in swing states hold do-over elections.

Here’s Michael Flynn on Newsmax saying that Trump could order “military capabilities” to swing states and “rerun an election in each of those states.”

“People out there talk about martial law like it’s something that we’ve never done. Martial law has been instituted 64 times.” pic.twitter.com/KNmiAGGiPF

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 18, 2020


continue to read


DECEMBER 18, 2020 | PART OF U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
U.S. House of Representatives
House Session, Part 2
Debate and votes are possible later in the day on a long-term spending package to fund the government through next year and coronavirus relief legislation if an agreement is reached. Current government funding expires tonight at midnight.


12/18/2020

White House News (白宮消息) | Dec. 18, 2020

 1 - White House News in Chinese (weebly.com)

Hackers breached computers at the US Treasury Department and possibly other federal agencies.
US cybersecurity agency warns of 'grave threat' after 'critical infrastructure' hacked

Dec. 18 - US authorities have expressed increased alarm about a long-undetected intrusion into computer systems around the world that officials suspect was carried out by Russian hackers.

The nation's cybersecurity agency has warned of a "grave" risk to government and private networks, after federal agencies and "critical infrastructure" were hacked in a sophisticated attack.


It was hard to detect and will be difficult to undo, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said in an unusual warning message.

The Department of Energy acknowledged it was among those hacked.
Microsoft also confirmed it had found evidence of intrusion in its internal systems, but there was nothing to suggest customer data had been accessed.

If authorities prove the attack was carried out by Russia, as experts believe, it would create a fresh foreign policy problem for US President Donald Trump in his final days in office.

Mr Trump, whose administration has been criticised for eliminating a White House cybersecurity adviser and downplaying Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, has made no public statements about the breach.     continue to read

Key points:
  • The Department of Energy and the Treasury Department were among the agencies infiltrated
  • Cybersecurity officials are yet to clarify how significant the attacks were, and what infrastructure was successfully targeted
  • The UK has also issued a warning for those using the software thought to have been exploited by the hackers

DECEMBER 17, 2020
Russian President Putin Holds Year-End News Conference
Russian President Vladimir Putin 
held his annual year-end news conference in Moscow. For more than four hours, he answered a wide range of questions on the economy, foreign interference, relations with the U.S. and Europe, and whether he would run again in 2024. This 90-minute portion from the news conference began with a question on how his government is handling the coronavirus pandemic and the distribution of vaccines. President Putin said he had not yet taken the vaccine, but reassured the public it was safe and reliable. Following the event, he stopped to talk to a small group of reporters as he was headed out of the building, answering more questions on working with the incoming Biden administration and loosening restrictions during the pandemic. 

Picture

In this Monday, July 27, 2020 file photo, a nurse prepares a shot as a study of a possible COVID-19 vaccine, developed by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna Inc., gets underway in Binghamton, N.Y.
U.S. FDA advisory panel sets stage for Moderna vaccine authorization


Dec. 18 - A panel of outside advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday overwhelmingly endorsed emergency use of Moderna Inc’s coronavirus vaccine, virtually assuring a second option for protecting against COVID-19 for a pandemic ravaged nation.

The committee voted 20-0 with one abstention that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh its risks in people aged 18 and older, one week after the same panel backed a similar vaccine from Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech SE, leading to an FDA emergency use authorization (EUA) a day later.

The FDA is expected to grant the EUA as early as late Thursday or Friday, providing another ray of hope to a nation that has lost more than 300,000 lives to COVID-19 – including a one-day high of 3,580 deaths on Wednesday – while record numbers of patients threaten to overwhelm U.S. hospitals and health care workers.     continue to read

Trump Says He Has ‘Nothing To Do With Potential Prosecution Of Hunter Biden’

Dec. 17 - President Donald Trump clarified Thursday morning that he is not involved in the Justice Department investigation into President-elect Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden.

“I have NOTHING to do with the potential prosecution of Hunter Biden, or the Biden family,” Trump tweeted. “It is just more Fake News. Actually, I find it very sad to watch!”


I have NOTHING to do with the potential prosecution of Hunter Biden, or the Biden family. It is just more Fake News. Actually, I find it very sad to watch!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 17, 2020


The Associated Press claimed Wednesday that Trump wants a special counsel to be named in the Hunter Biden investigation, effectively ensuring that President-elect Biden cannot dismiss it after being sworn in Jan. 20. Some White House aides reportedly warned the president that his public comments on the investigation could politicize the legitimate probe into Biden’s tax affairs and potentially cause problems for the president once he leaves office. (RELATED: President Trump Reportedly Seeking Special Prosecutor To Investigate Hunter Biden)

source
PBS NewsHour full episode, Dec. 17, 2020
Dec 18, 2020
Thursday on the NewsHour, Thursday on the NewsHour, new details on a dangerous cyber attack in the U.S., President-elect Biden names key climate officials for his administration, examining the many historical reasons for reluctance surrounding immunizations in communities of color, and a look at solutions for treating and preventing childhood trauma.

12/17/2020

White House News (白宮消息) | Dec. 17, 2020

 White House News in Chinese - About (weebly.com)


DECEMBER 16, 2020
Senate Hearing on U.S. Policy Toward Hong Kong
Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration held a hearing on U.S. policy towards refugees from Hong Kong. After a brief recess, the committee returned to continue their questions for the witnesses. Among the topics discussed were attacks on free speech and protections for the media, the imprisonment of peaceful protestors, and the importance of the United States to take the lead with “safe harbor” protections for Hong Kong refugees with the hope of garnering international support for the people of Hong Kong





Why Taiwan can feel at ease with Joe Biden as US president
While Biden has historically not supported Taiwan’s independence, his voting record and statements on China, as well as his national security team, should reassure Taipei that the US will stand by the islanda



Dec. 17 - It is an open secret that Taiwan is one of US President Donald Trump’s 
biggest fans
.  Under his administration, US-Taiwan relations have strengthened in virtually every respect, and even in the always sensitive domain of security cooperation.

That is why his loss to Joe Biden in the presidential election is causing thinly veiled heartburn in Taipei. But concerns that the incoming Biden administration might rethink Taiwan policy in favour of better relations with China are probably misguided, judging from Biden’s own pronouncements and the national security team he has assembled thus far.

Regarding Biden himself, it is important to remember that as a senator on the Foreign Relations Committee in 1979, he voted in favour of passing the Taiwan Relations Act, which, to this day, stands at the heart of US security cooperation with the island.

Fast forward to this spring, when Biden penned an important op-ed titled “Why America Must Lead Again”. Although Taiwan went unmentioned, Biden argued that “the United States does need to get tough with China” by “build[ing] a united front of US allies and partners to confront China’s abusive behaviours”.     continue to read


A protester holds a U.S. flag outside of the Chinese consulate in Houston after the U.S. State Department ordered China to close the consulate.
How 2020 Shaped U.S.-China Relations

This year, tensions between Washington and Beijing flared over many issues. As the Biden administration prepares to take over, what lies ahead for one of the world’s most important bilateral relationships?

Dec. 15 - U.S.-China relations sharply deteriorated in 2020, after three years of steadily declining under the Donald J. Trump administration. Beijing and Washington traded blame over the coronavirus pandemic, remained locked in a trade war, competed over 5G networks and other technologies, and clashed over rights abuses in Xinjiang and Hong Kong, among other issues.


U.S. President-Elect Joe Biden will have to grapple with all these challenges from day one in office. In this roundup, CFR experts look back on significant moments over the past year that will have lasting implications for the relationship and offer their analysis on what to expect under Biden.

More From Our Experts:
Adam Segal
Week in Review: December 11, 2020
Yanzhong Huang
Toxic Politics
Jerome A. Cohen
Is Hong Kong Still Autonomous? What to Know About China’s New Laws
【精華】拜登當選台灣離美國越來越遠?
幕僚鷹派鴿派雙頭馬 
改變美中台緊繃三角?

Dec 17, 2020

12/16/2020

White House News (白宮消息) | Dec. 16, 2020

 White House News in Chinese - About (weebly.com)

DECEMBER 15, 2020 | PART OF ATLANTIC COUNCIL HOSTS DISCUSSION ON BIDEN ADMINISTRATION FOREIGN POLICY
Discussion on Biden Administration Foreign Policy, Part 2
The Atlantic Council hosted a series of discussions on the foreign policy challenges facing the incoming Biden administration. Following a short break, a second panel of foreign policy experts and former government officials discussed the top global risks, the coronavirus pandemic and U.S. global leadership. Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper was among the speakers on the panel. He cited climate change as one of the issues needing the most attention, saying if nothing was done about it, the planet will become an “uninhabitable hell.”





A video of Donald Trump being unceremoniously escorted out of the White House mid-speech has been making the rounds of social media after the Electoral College certified Joe Biden as president-elect.
Goodnight Mr Trump video goes viral as Electoral College certifies Joe Biden president-elect

Electors gave Mr Biden a solid majority of 306 electoral votes to Mr Trump’s 232 last night, although the outgoing President is yet to concede.

Dec. 16 - ..."No concession
But there was no concession from the White House, where Mr Trump has continued to make unsupported allegations of fraud.
Mr Trump remained in the Oval Office long after the sun set in Washington, calling allies and fellow Republicans while keeping track of the running Electoral College tally, according to White House and campaign aides.

The president frequently ducked into the private dining room off the Oval Office to watch on TV, complaining that the cable networks were treating it like a mini-Election Night while not giving his challenges any airtime"...   more

DECEMBER 15, 2020
Campaign 2020President-elect Biden Remarks in Georgia
President-elect Biden campaigned for two Democratic Georgia U.S. Senate candidates -- Jon Ossoff and Rev. Rafael Warnock -- in Atlanta. Both men faced runoff elections with the Republican incumbents -- Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler -- on January 5, 2021 after all candidates failed to reach the 50 percent threshold in the 2020 election. President Biden said Georgia Democrats would need to again turn out in record numbers to secure a victory for the two candidates, whose win would secure the narrowest possible majority for Democrats in the Senate, giving the part 50 in their caucus plus the tie-breaking vote of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. The drive-in rally also featured opening remarks from Stacey Abrams, the Fair Fight 2020 founder and former Democratic Georgia gubernatorial candidate, and Keisha Lance Bottoms, the Democratic mayor of Atlanta.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
McConnell reportedly begged Senate colleagues in a leaked call not to block Congress from recognizing Biden as president-elect

published on Dec. 15, 2020





  • Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell asked his Senate colleagues in a leaked call not to stop Congress from officially recognizing Joe Biden as the president-elect next month, Politico reported.
  • McConnell said on the call that if Senate Republicans joined in with a long-shot House Republican effort to throw out a state's electoral votes for Biden and hand them to Trump, the Senate would ultimately vote it down, according to Politico.
  • It would be a "terrible vote" for the GOP, McConnell said, because it could spark a showdown between congressional Republican leaders and Trump, who has continued to baselessly claim the election was rigged.
  • Sen. John Thune went even further, telling colleagues on the call, "It would be great if there were no members that took up that issue."     source

Dr. Fauci strongly recommends President-elect Joe Biden get vaccinated for COVID-19 sooner rather than later

Dec. 16 - America's top infectious disease expert is strongly recommending President-elect Joe Biden get vaccinated for COVID-19 sooner rather than later.


Speaking to ABC News on Tuesday, Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases stressed the importance of vaccinating Biden as well as Vice President-elect Kamala Harris for (quote) "security reasons."

Fauci also recommended that President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence get vaccinated soon.     source
PBS NewsHour Weekend Full Episode December 14, 2020
Dec 15, 2020
Tuesday on the NewsHour, more hospitals nationwide begin vaccinations as the number of COVID infections continue to spike, the campaigns intensify ahead of Georgia's runoff election with control of the U.S. Senate up for grabs, and a lack of available treatment and a cultural reluctance to seek help exacerbate the generational crisis of childhood trauma in rural Montana.