News of the World

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Biden Signs Debt Ceiling Bill, Ending Monthslong Political Battle

President Joe Biden signed the Fiscal Responsibility Act on Saturday, suspending the debt ceiling for 19 months and bringing a monthslong political battle to a close.

The compromise legislation negotiated by Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) passed both houses of Congress with bipartisan support this week, averting a potential default on the nation’s financial obligations.

“Passing this budget agreement was critical. The stakes could not have been higher,” Biden said in a Friday evening address to the nation from the Oval Office.

Congressional leaders in both parties, eager to avoid financial disaster, endorsed the bill.

McCarthy referred to the legislation in historic terms, calling it the biggest spending cut ever enacted by Congress. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said, “We’ve saved the country from the scourge of default,” after the bill passed the Senate on June 1.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) both supported the bill.

Less Than 10 Percent of Pistol Braces Registered With ATF by Deadline

Only 255,162 of the millions of pistol stabilizing braces known to be in civilian hands have been registered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) by the May 31 deadline set by the agency.

“Possessors of such firearms were also provided the option to comply with the final rule by permanently removing and disposing of, or altering, the ‘stabilizing brace’ such that it could not be reattached or by destroying the firearm,” Erik Longnecker, deputy chief of the ATF’s Public Affairs Division, told The Epoch Times by email on June 3.

“ATF is unable to estimate the number of possessors of such firearms that used either of these methods to comply with the final rule. Likewise, we have no data currently available for the number of firearms abandoned to ATF.”

Pistol brace owners have been estimated at between 3 million and 40 million. So, the number of registered owners is anywhere from 8 percent to 0.6 percent. This does not consider the pistol brace owners covered by injunctions issued by federal judges.

On Jan. 13, the ATF issued criteria outlining that pistol stabilizing braces converted pistols into short-barreled rifles (SBR), which are regulated by the National Firearms Act (NFA) of 1934 and the Gun Control Act of 1968.

That rule went into effect on Jan. 31.

Case Closed: No Charges as DOJ Ends Pence Classified Docs Investigation

Former Vice President Mike Pence will face no criminal charges in relation to the discovery of classified documents at his Indiana home earlier this year, according to a letter seen by NBC News.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) had its own national security division formally inform Pence’s attorney Thursday it had closed the case and based on the “results” of that probe, no charges will be filed, the NBC News story details.

The department declined to comment but a DOJ official confirmed to the outlet the missive had been sent.
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Pence later acknowledged “mistakes were made” with the classified documents and took responsibility for them ending up at his home. He also subsequently pledged to “fully cooperate” with any FBI investigation.

A Pence adviser told NBC the former vice president and his team are pleased but not surprised by the investigation’s conclusion.

Beyond Pence, two DOJ special counsels are continuing to investigate the handling of classified documents by both Trump and Biden.

Xi Calls on China’s Top National Security Officials
to Prepare for ‘Worst Case Scenarios’

Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping on May 30 told his top national security officials to be ready for “worst case scenarios” and “stormy seas”.

Xi was addressing officials attending the first National Security Commission meeting since the CCP’s 20th National Congress last year, according to state-run Xinhua.

As commission chairman, Xi  said they must deeply understand “the complexity and difficulty of the national security issues we now face have increased significantly.”

Xi called on CCP officials to carry forward the “spirit of struggle” and “must adhere to bottom-line thinking and worst-case-scenario thinking, and get ready to undergo the major tests of high winds and rough waves, and even perilous, stormy seas.”

Xi’s use of “bottom-line thinking and worst-case-scenario thinking” has drawn the outside world’s attention.
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Xi also emphasized the regime must speed up the modernization of the military, making it more effective in “actual combat and practical use,” as the CCP faces a “complex and grave” situation in terms of national security.
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In the meeting, Xi also required the construction of a national security risk monitoring and early warning system, enhanced national security education, and improved data and AI security management.

The CCP Adopts New Maritime Policy
Aggravating Tensions in the South China Sea

The new policies instruct the China Coast Guard to arrest foreigners and have drawn international scrutiny due to territorial disputes in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. The CCP’s move was seen as an escalation of those disputes.

On May 15, the China Coast Guard adopted new rules regarding handling “criminal cases,” which will come into effect on June 15, 2023. The rules (pdf) further specify that foreigners may be held liable for crimes against Chinese citizens or the Chinese state, even when committed outside of China’s territorial waters.

Xia Yifan, a member of the Federation for a Democratic China and an expert on Chinese social issues, believes that according to the 2016 judgment of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the Chinese regime’s maritime claims and actions in the South China Sea violate the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Therefore, the CCP wants to enforce the law by virtue of its own decree, and it authorizes the China Coast Guard to arrest what it considers to be foreign “criminals.” Such an act in and of itself is a violation of international law.
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China has escalated its outward expansion, and China Coast Guard vessels, including state-backed fishing vessels, have often confronted or clashed with these countries.

On Feb. 6, a Philippine Coast Guard vessel was on a mission to assist the Philippine Navy in the South China Sea on the Second Thomas Shoal when it was approached by a China Coast Guard vessel. The Philippine Coast Guard was forced to change its course due to the Chinese ship aiming military laser beams and temporarily blinding several Philippine crew members. The CCP’s foreign ministry claimed that the Philippine ship was in Chinese waters although the Philippines is in control of the disputed atolls.

On May 7, a China Coast Guard vessel photographed a Vietnamese drilling platform in the waters of Vanguard Bank to collect “evidence,” but was stopped by Vietnam’s Fishery Administration vessel. This was considered a new incident of conflict between the two countries.

US, Taiwan Sign Trade Deal Over China’s Opposition

The two governments say the U.S.–Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade will strengthen commercial relations by improving customs, investment, and other regulation.

The measure was signed by employees of the unofficial entities that maintain relations between the United States and Taiwan, a center for high-tech industry. They have no formal diplomatic ties but maintain unofficial relations and have billions of dollars in annual trade.
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The Chinese communist regime accused Washington of violating agreements on Taiwan’s status and demanded the U.S. government stop official contact with the island’s elected government.
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The CCP has stepped up efforts to intimidate Taiwan by flying fighter jets and bombers near the island.

Chinese warship comes within yards of US destroyer
in latest act of aggression in Taiwan Strait

A Chinese warship came within 150 yards of hitting the USS Chung-Hoon on Saturday before crossing its bow a second time at closer to 2,000 yards while the U.S. destroyer was conducting joint exercises with Canada in the Taiwan Strait, the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) confirmed.

The incident occurred as U.S.-Chinese tensions remain high in the South China Sea.

The Chinese ship "executed maneuvers in an unsafe manner," overtaking the USS Chung-Hoon on its portside at 150 yards while the U.S. destroyer was sailing "through waters where high seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply" with Canada's HMCS Montreal, USINDOPACOM said in a release. 

The Chinese ship then crossed Chung-Hoon’s bow a second time "starboard to port at 2,000 yards and remained off Chung-Hoon’s port bow," the release added.

USINDOPACOM said "its actions violated the maritime ‘Rules of the Road’ of safe passage in international waters."

The U.S. told the Chinese ship to stay away from the destroyer and at the last moment the Chinese altered course, Canada's Global News reported The Chung-Hoon slowed down to 10 knots but maintained its course.