From covering up the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic to using dangerous apps like TikTok to compromise Americans’ personal information‚ the Chinese Communist Party has long cloaked its nefarious activities in secrecy. As a new report from The Heritage Foundation assesses‚ China’s lack of transparency is part of a larger strategy to deceive its adversaries. Based on data pulled together from various sources‚ the report exposes many things China has gone to great lengths to hide‚ including its inhumane practices in Xinjiang‚ its influence operations to distort global media‚ and the unreported millions of Chinese citizens who likely died from COVID-19 within its borders. (The Daily Signal is Heritage’s news and commentary outlet.) The 2024 China Transparency Report assesses the current state of the People’s Republic of China’s transparency on eight key issues: its economy‚ energy and the environment‚ human rights‚ influence operations‚ the military‚ outbound investment into other nations‚ politics and law‚ and technology. In each section‚ the report reviews the data China makes publicly available—the information China wants the world to know. But that data alone does not tell the full story. To get a better understanding of what is really happening‚ the report surveys nearly 100 private and nongovernmental databases‚ reports‚ and researchers that shed light on the reality in China. The report includes many eye-popping statistics. For example‚ despite publicly claiming to be adopting environmentally friendly policies‚ China is rapidly adding to its already existing 1‚100 coal plants‚ while the U.S. has fewer than 250. And while China reports an annual defense budget of around $225 billion‚ the true figure is likely to exceed $700 billion. The report also includes essays from distinguished experts that dive deeper into subjects such as human rights‚ the U.S. defense industrial base‚ influence operations in the Pacific‚ Wall Street financing‚ COVID-19 coverups‚ and Chinese inner-circle politics. For example‚ Dr. Adrian Zenz‚ the world’s leading expert exposing China’s genocide against the Muslim Uyghur population in Xinjiang‚ offers new evidence examining China’s mass internment and birth prevention measures. Using classified internal state documents from the Chinese Communist Party‚ Zenz shows that Beijing is fully intent on targeting the Uyghurs for genocide‚ finding that the Communist Party enacted measures‚ such as female sterilization‚ to prevent the births of up to 2.6 million children because they didn’t belong to China’s dominant ethnic group (the Han).   In another essay‚ Dr. George Calhoun‚ the director of the Hanlon Financial Systems Center at the Stevens Institute of Technology‚ uses China’s own data to expose its systematic suppression of COVID-related information and assesses the true impact COVID-19 had within China. While the official Chinese statistics pegged the official COVID-19 death toll at around 90‚000 people by the spring of 2022‚ Calhoun concludes: “The number of Chinese killed by COVID is believed to be between 1.5 and 2 million‚ with estimates ranging up to 3.5 million at the high end‚ underscoring how the Chinese government’s efforts to cover up the virus outbreak and suppress vital information about the disease have imposed terrible costs‚ not just on the rest of the world‚ but its own citizens as well.” For the United States to win the New Cold War against the Chinese Communist Party‚ it must have access to accurate data and resources. As Dr. Kevin Roberts‚ president of The Heritage Foundation‚ notes in the report’s preface: In honor of President Reagan’s legacy‚ the 2024 China Transparency Report equips our leaders to both shine a light on and bring the heat to the [Chinese Communist Party]. As he famously said‚ “When you can’t make them see the light‚ make them feel the heat.” The American people take the threat from China deadly seriously; it’s time for our leadership to do the same. Heritage’s 2024 China Transparency Report‚ found here‚ will help lead the way in exposing the truth about the Chinese Communist Party and the consequences of its authoritarian rule and the secrecy and deception it practices with the rest of the world. Armed with credible‚ in-depth‚ and transparent data on China‚ America’s policymakers can ensure they know as precisely as possible the nature of this adversary they must confront. Have an opinion about this article? To sound off‚ please email letters@DailySignal.com‚ and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state. The post What’s China Hiding? appeared first on The Daily Signal.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties‚ subscribe to Reclaim The Net. Senator Josh Hawley has appealed to the Supreme Court‚ advocating for an intervention in the censorship by major technology firms‚ a situation he believes is endangering Americans’ freedom of speech. In a show of support for recently enacted laws in Texas and Florida‚ which aim to prevent social media companies from censoring content based on political bias‚ Hawley has filed an official brief with the Court. We obtained a copy of the filing for you here. Joining Hawley is the First Liberty Institute‚ alongside Consovoy McCarthy PLLC‚ and other groups that have submitted an amicus brief to the court. Representing the interests of the Babylon Bee LLC and Not the Bee LLC‚ the legal teams are challenging the actions of social media platforms that they argue unfairly target and suppress conservative and religious viewpoints. Jeremy Dys‚ Senior Counsel for First Liberty Institute‚ emphasized the seriousness of this issue: “Censorship is no laughing matter. For too long‚ social media giants have censored conservative and religious speech with which they disagree.” He contends that the laws in question are essential for ensuring that social media companies are held to the standards of neutrality they claim to uphold‚ aligning with both federal law and the First Amendment. We obtained a copy of that filing for you here. These state laws‚ which have become the subjects of legal contention‚ have escalated to the Supreme Court. Hawley expressed his viewpoint on X‚ stating‚ “The Supreme Court should rein them in – and the government should break them up.” He is openly critical of the censorship tendencies of major tech companies like YouTube‚ Facebook‚ Instagram‚ TikTok‚ and Google. Hawley’s brief challenges the argument made by these tech giants. These companies claim that the Texas and Florida laws‚ enacted late last year‚ infringe upon their First Amendment rights. This claim comes amidst their actions that‚ according to critics‚ suppress the free speech of American users. In his brief‚ Hawley calls out the perceived duplicity in Big Tech’s stance and cautions against accepting their contradictory assertions. He warns that endorsing their claims could shield these platforms from legal and regulatory accountability. The issue gained prominence following legal challenges in 2021 after the governors of Texas and Florida‚ Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis respectively‚ introduced laws targeting political bias censorship by Big Tech. Industry groups NetChoice and the Computer &; Communications Industry Association sued‚ citing violations of First Amendment rights. Florida’s approach differed‚ enabling residents to seek compensation from tech firms that suppress their speech‚ and imposing fines of up to $250‚000 per day for censoring political candidates. However‚ this approach was not universally accepted‚ as the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the social media companies‚ leading to a split in judicial opinion on the matter. The outcome of these crucial lawsuits‚ set to be decided in the Supreme Court on February 26‚ is eagerly anticipated by both sides. The post Senator Josh Hawley‚ Babylon Bee‚ and Other Groups Ask the Supreme Court To Favor Florida and Texas Anti-Censorship Laws appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

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