Via Middle East Eye

The Israeli government on Sunday approved sweeping changes to land registration and civil control in the occupied West Bank, a move Palestinians say breaches the Oslo Accords and advances de facto annexation.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defense Minister Israel Katz said the changes would “dramatically” alter West Bank policy, paving the way for expanded settlements and land seizure. In a joint statement, they said the measures would remove legal barriers on Israeli settlers and accelerate settlement development.

Katz said the aim was to give settlers equal “legal and civil rights”, while Smotrich said the move would “normalize life in the West Bank” and vowed to “continue to kill the idea of a Palestinian state.”

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the policy was designed to deepen annexation of the West Bank and violated agreements signed with Israel, including the Oslo Accords, according to the Wafa news agency.

Rawhi Fattouh, chairman of the Palestinian National Council, described the decisions as “racist and dangerous”, accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of imposing new colonial realities on the ground.

Several Palestinian factions, including Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, also condemned the move.

The Oslo Accords, signed in 1993 and 1995 between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), established limited Palestinian self-rule in parts of the West Bank and Gaza, dividing the West Bank into Areas A, B, and C as a temporary framework for a future Palestinian state – a goal that has never been realized.

Muayyad Shaaban, head of the Palestinian Commission Against the Wall and Settlements, said the Israeli decisions represent a dangerous escalation that undermines international law and adds to crimes against Palestinians.

The Palestinian National Initiative said the measures drive the final nail into the Oslo Accords and open the door to large-scale land seizures benefiting Israeli settlers. 

The Yesha Council, which represents Israeli settlements, celebrated the decision, saying it “entrenches Israeli sovereignty on the ground.”

Peace Now, an NGO monitoring settlement expansion, said Netanyahu has effectively chosen to “topple the Palestinian Authority” and “impose de facto annexation”, warning the moves go far beyond Area C and break barriers to massive land theft across the West Bank.

What are the changes? 

Under the new Israeli measures, the military would be able to enforce regulations on so-called unlicensed buildings in Areas A and B, citing heritage and archaeological sites, allowing for the confiscation of Palestinian land and demolition of structures.

The changes would also lift secrecy on West Bank land registries, enabling settlers to identify Palestinian landowners and purchase land directly. Exposing ownership records could make it easier for settlers to forge claims over Palestinian land, a tactic widely documented and likely to accelerate land seizures across the occupied territory.

The measures also ease the sale of Palestinian land to Israelis and overturn a Jordanian-era law prohibiting transfers to non-Palestinians. 

Planning, licensing, and construction powers in Hebron would be transferred from the Palestinian municipality to the Israeli army, expanding control over building permits, development, resources, and security. An independent local authority will also be established for the Israeli settlement in Hebron.

The Hebron municipality condemned the move as “illegitimate and dangerous”. Under the 1997 Hebron Protocol, the city was divided into Hebron 1, under Palestinian control, and Hebron 2, under Israeli authority, covering southern and eastern sections.

The new policy also affects the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, a site holy to Muslims, Jews, and Christians.

The Palestinian presidency warned that any violation of Islamic or Christian holy sites, including the mosque, is unacceptable. In January, Israel barred the mosque’s Palestinian directors and seized planning rights over part of the site, violating longstanding arrangements.

The policy comes amid rising settler attacks and access restrictions on Palestinian holy sites since October 2023, including Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem and Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus.

Authored by David Manney via PJ Media,

The Warning That Never Changes

Remember Adam Schiff? The California Democratic senator returned to familiar ground, while sounding another dire warning about President Donald Trump and the upcoming midterm elections.

Schiff insists Trump plans on subverting the midterms by suppressing votes and overturning results if Republicans lose.

Schiff said, “I think he fully intends to try to subvert the elections. He will do everything he can to suppress the vote. And if he loses the vote, and I think the Republicans do now expect they’ll get a real drubbing in the midterms. He’s prepared to try to take some kind of action to overturn the result, and we really shouldn’t question that. We saw him try to the point of insurrection to overturn the 2020 election. We see him now taking these extraordinary steps with an election that was five years ago. He’s basically telling us he intends to interfere in the upcoming election. He hasn’t brought prices down. There’s chaos and killing in American streets by ICE agents. The public has turned against him in every election we’ve had since his election.”

As if a vault of evidence sits ready to open, Schiff presents the claims with grave certainty.

Just not today.

Because the script is familiar and he shares it in a safe space, Schiff points backward, not forward, again leaning on 2020, repeating “insurrection,” while warning that future elections are in danger, prices remain high, chaos rules the streets, and federal law enforcement morphs into a roaming band of villains in Schiff’s telling.

He throws charges around with dramatic flair—I’m surprised he hasn’t hurt his neck—yet none of those charges arrive with verifiable proof.

Fear as a Political Habit

As he’s proven over the course of years, Schiff doesn’t warn; he escalates, while claiming Trump fully intends to interfere in elections and urging a massive turnout to overwhelm imagined schemes. He talks of suppressed votes, seized machines, and intimidation at polling places, all framed as imminent threats, not tested facts.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.J.) is working the same script, promising Democrats will stop a stolen election before it happens.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is working to generate legitimacy by repeating claims about election interference already underway.

The left is using a consistent pattern: State the outcome first, and fill in the justification later.

     Related: Trump Lays Out Why the SAVE Act Is Key for Midterm Elections

It doesn’t matter that Democrats are selling fiction: none of the statements offer any confirmed actions, court findings, or official orders. Instead, their message relies on repetition and urgency; fear works better when people feel rushed.

A Record That Undermines the Message

Schiff’s credibility isn’t an overnight sensation; when he was chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, he repeatedly claimed to have evidence of Russian collusion. He kept referring to proof that was hiding in plain sight, with evidence visible to anyone willing to believe.

Of course, he forgot the pixie dust, so nothing he said actually took off.

Investigations closed over the years, while promised revelations never appeared. A special counsel report dismantled the narrative Schiff sold, and he was later censured for misleading statements tied to the Russia investigation.

Schiff’s censure didn’t erase the past; it highlighted it.

As if that wasn’t enough, Schiff also promoted a dossier filled with unverified claims while reading it into the congressional record, blocked witnesses who might challenge his storyline, and later released summaries full of errors.

Each episode chipped away at trust, not because the public demanded perfection, but because Schiff demanded belief without delivery.

Leaks, Claims, and Lingering Doubt

Accusations followed Schiff around like a smell; allegations surfaced that classified information leaked during the Russia probe with Schiff’s approval. A whistleblower later lost credibility, yet the episode added another layer of doubt. An inspector general’s report found that Schiff’s memo on surveillance contained several false statements. Republicans accused him of shaping the evidence rather than presenting it clearly.

Partisan interpretation wasn’t required for any of those moments; records spoke clearly enough. Schiff argued the process, while outcomes contradicted his assurance.

The public noticed.

Why Fewer People Listen Now

Schiff acts like a neckless chicken who predicts catastrophe every time clouds gather. After enough false alarms, people stop checking the sky. His latest claims about Trump follow his script, just updated with new dates and familiar villains.

While Trump governs with visible policies and measurable results, Schiff governs with warnings. Elections belong to us, voters, not press conferences.

When accusations continually arrive without receipts, skepticism becomes common sense.

Like Wimpy promising a hamburger payment on Tuesday, Schiff keeps promising proof tomorrow, but tomorrow keeps missing deadlines.

Final Thoughts

The fact that ABC News rolled Schiff out tells me how desperate the left is to change the message. Very few Democrats speak with credibility, and that number is rapidly falling. With this in mind, is there any other reason Schiff is allowed in front of a microphone?

Wanting urgency, Schiff earns fatigue, with accusations echoing loudly inside partisan spaces. Yet, outside those walls, the echoes fade fast.

PJ Media VIP backs writers who challenge narratives built on repetition instead of facts. Join today for exclusive analysis, fewer ads, and direct support for independent commentary. Use this link to save 60% and help keep sharp voices in the fight.

Global military spending is often measured in massive national budgets, where the United States and China dominate the conversation.

But looking at defense spending on a per-person basis tells a very different story, one where smaller countries rise to the top.

This visualization, via Visual Capitalist’s Bruno Venditti, ranks major countries by how much they spent on defense per citizen in 2024, revealing which nations invest the most in military power relative to their population – and how countries like the U.S. compare when spending is measured per person rather than in total dollars.

Data comes from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Why Israel Leads the World in Defense Spending Per Capita

Israel ranks first, spending nearly $5,000 per person on defense in 2024.

This figure reflects the country’s ongoing security challenges and mandatory military service.

Despite a total defense budget of $47 billion – small compared to global superpowers – the per-person cost is unmatched.

Below are the world’s 30 largest military spenders, ranked by defense spending per capita:

Several smaller or wealthy nations rank near the top of the list. Singapore spends over $2,500 per person, driven by its strategic location and emphasis on technological superiority. Norway and Denmark also appear in the top 10, supported by high incomes and growing commitments to NATO.

How Major Powers Compare

The U.S. ranks second overall, with nearly $2,900 spent per person, reflecting both its enormous military budget and large population.

China, by contrast, ranks much lower at $221 per capita despite spending more than $300 billion in total.

Meanwhile, European powers like Germany, France, and the U.K. cluster in the middle of the ranking, balancing defense commitments with larger populations.

If you enjoyed today’s post, check out Ranked: Countries With the Highest Cost of Violence on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

With the start of the Winter Games, a story this week resurrected a controversy from the last Summer Olympics. Previously, Olympic officials and pundits denounced those who objected to Algerian boxer Imane Khelif competing as a woman, saying that she was born a female. Female boxers withdrew from the competition rather than fight Khelif. Now, the boxer has admitted to having XY chromosomes and is taking hormone treatments to lower testosterone levels for the next Olympics.

At the time, IOC chief Thomas Bach said: “We have two boxers… who were born as women, raised as women, who have passports as women, who have competed for many years as women. And this is a clear definition of a woman.”

In 2023, the International Boxing Association (IBA) President Umar Kremlev explained the IBA’s decision to disqualify Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting and Algeria’s Imane Khelif from the 2023 Women’s World Boxing Championships. While there remains confusion on the testing used by the IBA (or the reliability of those tests), it issued this statement:

“Based on DNA tests, we identified a number of athletes who tried to trick their colleagues into posing as women. According to the results of the tests, it was proved that they have XY chromosomes. Such athletes were excluded from competition.”

Various media also did their own “fact checks” with outlets like USA Today stating that the “outcries from anti-trans celebrities and politicians” were based on false claims and the boxers were born women.

NBC also cited “attacks from anti-LGBTQ+ conservatives online who claim they’re transgender.”  It stressed that the IBA could not be trusted since the IOC banned the group. (IBA was banned for corruption and financial-related issues).

I wrote about the controversy, criticizing the lack of consistent testing and simple confirmation of the XY chromosomal allegation.

Khelif still insists on competing against female boxers and added:

“Doctors and teachers decide. We all have different genetics, all different hormone levels. I’m not a transsexual. My difference, it is natural. I’m like that. I did nothing to change the way nature did to me. That’s why I’m not afraid. For the next Games, if you have to take a test, I will submit to it. I have no problem with that. I already did this test. I contacted World Boxing, I sent them my medical record, my hormonal tests, everything. But I had no answer. I’m not hiding, I’m not refusing testing. What I don’t understand is why we want to make my story so bigger.”

Notably, Khelif previously filed a criminal complaint against JK Rowling and Elon Musk for cyberbullying.  It is another example of how free speech is being eviscerated in Europe through the criminalization of political speech. I cannot find a record of the complaint’s status.

Sam Darnold just WON the Super Bowl…and LOST $71k because it was in California

Watch as Boomer Esiason explains why the players should block any future Super Bowls in California…

🚨 ABSOLUTELY INSANE: Sam Darnold just WON the Super Bowl.. and LOST $71k because it was in California

California’s jock tax bills him $249K

Boomer Esiason: The NFLPA should shut down ANY future Super Bowls in California!

Super Bowl is in LA Next Year

pic.twitter.com/9VWqSWmOse

— Alec Lace (@AlecLace) February 9, 2026

Here’s SchiffSovereign’s James Hickman to explain the farce…

Yesterday, the Seattle Seahawks beat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

From a financial perspective, each Seahawks player will take home $178,000—payment for that particular game.

Now, given that the Superbowl was played in California—and the players earned money playing in the game— it’s reasonable for the state of California to tax that specific income.

But that’s not the way California looks at it.

Instead, the state will go back in time, all the way to the start of the NFL season in September, and take their ‘fair share’ of the players’ ENTIRE salaries over the entire season.

This is what’s known as the state’s “jock tax,” in which they tax non-resident professional athletes based on the number of “duty days” they spend in the state—traveling, practicing, attending meetings, or playing in a game.

Both teams arrived in California last Sunday, so each player will log at least eight duty days in the state just for the Super Bowl.

They then divide those California duty days over the entire season, and you end up with a percentage. If a player spends, say, 7% of his duty days in California over the season, then the state claims the right to tax 7% of his entire annual salary— at California’s top marginal rate of 13.3%!

This is pretty crazy given that the players only earned $178,000 for that game.

But in the case of Seattle quarterback Sam Darnold, he’ll end up owing Gavin Newsom roughly $249,000 in state taxes this year.

In other words, Sam Darnold will LOSE over $70,000.

I doubt anyone will shed any tears over this (including Darnold). But it’s perfectly consistent with California’s general attitude: dig into absolutely everything they can get their hands on and take as much as humanly possible.

Sam Darnold didn’t have a choice about the venue. But a growing number of people and businesses who are free to choose whether or not to remain in California are getting the hell out.

California has recorded a net loss of residents for six consecutive years— roughly 216,000 people in 2025 alone. Since 2019, more than 200 major businesses have relocated out of the state, including Oracle, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Charles Schwab, and Chevron.

Even Hollywood is crumbling; on-location film and TV production in Los Angeles hit its lowest level since the pandemic shutdown— down 16.1% in 2025—with 42,000 entertainment jobs vanishing in just two years. Production has scattered to Georgia, the UK, Canada, and Australia, where tax incentives are far more generous. California now ranks sixth among preferred filming locations.

And California’s response is almost comically predictable. Rather than examine why people and businesses keep leaving, they propose ever more medieval measures to squeeze those who remain— or punish those who try to go.

There’s a ballot measure in the works for a “one-time” 5% wealth tax on billionaires, retroactive to January 1, 2026. Exit tax proposals have been floated to penalize wealthy residents who dare to leave.

And how does California spend all this money they confiscate?

The state budget is a nearly $500 billion—one of the largest in the country. Yet they can’t manage to make ends meet. Ever. And they squander it on some of the most insane programs.

Over the past five years, the state has poured $24 billion into homelessness programs— and a state audit found they didn’t even bother to track whether the spending reduced homelessness.

(Homelessness actually got worse.)

The state’s high-speed rail project, now more than 15 years behind schedule, has burned through $15 billion without laying a single mile of high-speed track. The latest cost estimate to complete the project has ballooned to as much as $128 billion.

Meanwhile, California is spending an estimated $9.5 billion this year alone on healthcare— for illegal immigrants through Medi-Cal.

And rather than cooperate with federal immigration enforcement, Governor Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta launched an online portal where Californians can report federal ICE agents for “misconduct”— essentially using tax dollars to help obstruct immigration enforcement.

Crazy that this man—Gavin Newsom—is the current front-runner for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination. He is THE standard bearer for the political Left.

Housing is unaffordable. Crime has surged. Unemployment is above the national average. Businesses and billionaires are fleeing.

His only real policy is to confiscate as much as possible from productive people, waste it on obscene levels of misspending, and then gaslight everyone about what a spectacular job he’s doing.

Now he wants to do for the entire country what he’s done to California.

And if that happens, there will be no Texas or Florida to escape to. The jock tax mentality— reach into every pocket, stake a claim on everything, punish anyone who tries to leave—becomes national policy.

A Sunday yoga class at Minneapolis CorePower Yoga studio turned into an unscripted protest earlier this month, as a group of enraged customers berated front-desk staff for not condemning federal immigration enforcement, prompting the Denver-based chain to ban one regular and agree to post anti-ICE signage in its studios.

Caught on camera and subsequently gone viral, the confrontation unfolded inside the CorePower studio lobby after a class let out. The video, posted by regular yogi Heather Anderson, 51, shows more than a dozen spandex-clad patrons “spontaneously” demanding answers from two visibly uncomfortable staffers over the company’s stance on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

“Why are you being silent? Let’s hear it – loud and proud, baby!” Anderson demands, as she films a blonde staffer identified only as “Delaney,” amid approving snaps and cheers from the crowd.

Anderson repeatedly presses the staffer for a corporate position on ICE, dismissing the employee’s attempt to “take a pause” as unacceptable. When a second employee tries to speak, the group grows louder, with one student accusing the company of being “complicit” in violent federal immigration actions.

This is the raw video of the incident in a CorePower yoga location in Minneapolis, women members throwing a tantrum bc corporate would not denounce ICE. We have a program with white women in this country. The indoctrination and programming runs deep. Note they even snap fingers… pic.twitter.com/yop5I1BzAh

— Richard Parker of The Raven’s Call (@astheravencalls) February 6, 2026

“You’re not being berated – you’re being asked hard questions,” Anderson snaps, before demanding the return of an anti-ICE sign she says was taken down from the studio’s front door.

Throughout the nearly six-minute clip, Lionel Richie’s “All Night Long” blares in the background as the crowd continues its vocal denunciations of the staff, who appear unsure how to respond. At one point, a woman in the group declares, “People are being murdered and abducted and attacked here — this is our community and this is bulls-t!”

The routine protest-cum-yoga-studio takedown gained traction after Anderson said patrons caught wind of rumors that corporate had ordered the removal of previously displayed anti-ICE signage. “Every single business in Minneapolis has something on their door right now — it’s not like we were asking for something out of the loop,” she told The Post.

In the aftermath, CorePower issued a series of Instagram Stories saying the company did not support the “violent ICE raids happening in Minneapolis” and that it had distributed approved signage to its studios. Anderson, however, was banned from the location after the incident.

Despite the ban, Anderson stood by her actions. “What I said in that video landed,” she insisted, adding that when one side refuses to engage constructively, activists are forced into a “self-preservation stance.”

Via Gun Owners of America,

A member of Gun Owners of America was recently denied a firearm by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) for writing “exercise my God given right” as their reason for manufacturing the firearm.

Our member wasn’t doing anything illegal; they were not attempting to manufacture something that was banned in their state of residence. They weren’t building anything that is banned federally, and they were complying with all regulations set forth by ATF during the registration process.

Even though no statute or regulation requires it, ATF’s Form 1, Box 4(i) demands that gun owners “specify why you intend to make [a] firearm.”

This GOA member wrote:

As a law-abiding US citizen with no criminal record, you don’t need a reason to purchase or manufacture a firearm. That’s what the Second Amendment is for. Yet ATF denied our member’s application for this exact reason.

Of course, ATF always forgets the “shall not be infringed” part.

As you can clearly see, our member’s Second Amendment rights were denied by bureaucrats because of an “insufficient reason.”

How is the desire to exercise one’s God-given rights an insufficient justification to exercise one’s God-given rights?

This is yet another clear reason why the ATF needs to be defunded and abolished entirely. The Second Amendment guarantees the exercise of our God given right to keep and bear arms.

Stating otherwise is a complete tyrannical falsehood.

That’s why we at Gun Owners of America just filed a notice of supplemental authority in our One Big Beautiful Lawsuit, using this as an example of government weaponizing the NFA against law abiding gun owners.

In our filing, we dismantle the government’s assertions that the National Firearms Act creates only a “modest burden” on the Second Amendment and that the NFA’s registration requirements are comparable to a “shall-issue” permitting system in pro-gun states.

ATF’s blatant denial of our member’s Second Amendment rights shatters this narrative completely.

Instead, the government treats the NFA’s registration requirements as a “may-issue” system – a subjective determination on who is allowed to own these firearms by government employees.

These “may-issue” systems were explicitly declared to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court thanks to the Bruen decision. We think SCOTUS should rule the same here and abolish the NFA’s registration requirements forever.

We just reported this misbehavior by @ATFHQ to Judge Hendrix in our $0 NFA lawsuit.

These tyrants can’t claim that the “Second Amendment protects… suppressors” and that the NFA is a “shall issue regime” & then arbitrarily deny the right to make a suppressor. https://t.co/JPVUJxa6vn pic.twitter.com/qU5PuSJi3p

— Gun Owners Foundation (@GunFoundation) February 9, 2026

We’re glad to be fighting on behalf of our member, because nobody should be denied for exercising their Second Amendment rights by the tyrannical bureaucrats at ATF.

If you aren’t already, please consider becoming a GOA member, so that we can fight on your behalf if the ATF attempts to deny your Second Amendment rights.

Toyota is reshaping its leadership once again, naming Kenta Kon as its next chief executive, with the transition set for April 1. Kon, currently the company’s chief financial officer, will step into the top role as part of a broader management realignment, according to Car & Driver.

The move shifts current CEO Koji Sato into a dual position as vice chairman and chief industry officer. Toyota says the change is designed to reduce Sato’s workload, especially after he took on the chairmanship of Japan’s main auto industry group earlier this year. Under the new structure, he will “focus on the broader industry, including Toyota, as Vice Chairman and CIO, while Kon will focus on internal company management as President and CEO.”

Kon succeeds Sato just three years after he assumed the role following the departure of Akio Toyoda, who stepped down in 2023 after more than a decade leading the company founded by his grandfather. That earlier transition marked a shift away from family leadership, and this latest change continues Toyota’s evolution.

The report says that industry observers see Kon’s promotion as a signal that Toyota is emphasizing financial strategy. Automotive News has described him as a “longtime confidant” of Toyoda, and his background in finance contrasts with his predecessors’ engineering-focused careers. Sato, for example, previously led Lexus and Toyota’s Gazoo Racing division, helping expand the company’s performance brand and develop models like the GR Corolla and Supra.

Kon’s former role as CFO will now be filled by executive vice president Yoichi Miyazaki, who has held the position before.

At a news conference in Tokyo, Kon made clear that profitability will be central to his leadership. “My role will be establishing this good profit structure, this foundation, so that the people can take on courageous challenges,” he said. “I want to use that money for the future of Toyota.”

With Kon focusing on internal management and financial strength, and Sato turning his attention to industry-wide issues, Toyota Motor Corporation is betting that a clearer division of responsibilities will help guide the automaker through its next phase of growth and competition.

Authored by Anders Corr via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Commentary

Google has sacked a Chinese company’s global proxy network, which constitutes part of a Chinese cyber weapon aimed at U.S. and allied critical infrastructure and telecommunications.

The company, Ipidea, allegedly has proxy malware that silently piggybacked on millions of legitimate software downloads by regular U.S. consumers to their phones, tablets, computers, televisions, and projectors. The internet bandwidth of these and other victims is then rented by such proxy networks to malign state actors, criminals, and others seeking to use the internet anonymously. Such networks are a national security threat of the greatest magnitude.

The Google takedown required a federal court order to remove dozens of the company’s domains and apps from approximately 9 million Android devices. Ipidea does not reveal the name of its CEO or headquarters location, which is somewhere in China. However, it does admit to operations in 220 countries using tens of millions of devices. Given the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) unprecedented surveillance in China, Ipidea likely has the full support of the regime. It could be a full-fledged Chinese intelligence operation.

The attacks are the tip of an iceberg that is sinking the privacy and security of American citizens, U.S. allies, and the future of democracy. One focus of CCP cyberattacks is hundreds of high-value critical infrastructure targets, such as municipal water companies, electricity plants, and ports. Another focus is on government operations, including the U.S. National Guard, National Nuclear Security Administration, and Congressional committees key to U.S. foreign and national security policy.

China’s hacker assaults are often given various storm names, such as Salt Typhoon and Volt Typhoon. They allegedly targeted approximately 200 U.S. companies and gathered the private data of almost all Americans. The targets include small municipal water and electric companies that have little or nothing to do with national security. They have no military bases or other sensitive sites nearby.

The only plausible reason for targeting such civilian infrastructure is to target civilians during a war, which is a violation of international norms. In some cases, exported devices and malware include the ability to hack hospitals or flood the water supply with poisonous treatment chemicals at high concentrations.

In December 2024, CCP representatives admitted to Biden administration officials of hacking U.S. infrastructure, including ports and water utilities. The regime representatives said the reason was U.S. support for Taiwan. This was probably a veiled threat against the United States to warn it off from support for Taiwan in case of war.

Hackers in China are similarly targeting the critical infrastructure of U.S. allies, like the United Kingdom, Australia, and Singapore. The hackers also target China’s allies, including Russia, to acquire data about the war in Ukraine. Battlefield data on the performance of different weapons systems is useful to Beijing’s military planning and armaments production. In the worst of cases, foreign weapons could be hacked and used against their own civilians.

Many Southeast Asian countries are also targets, and Taiwan’s chip industry is of particular interest.

In November, Anthropic revealed that state-sponsored hackers in China had used its AI technology in history’s first AI-powered hack, of about 30 U.S. companies and government agencies. The companies included technology, chemical, and financial companies. While Chinese agents allegedly directed and oversaw the attack, as much as 90 percent of them were carried out by Claude, Anthropic’s AI model, acting independently.

The latest Claude models require minimal programming by human coders as they can code programs themselves in response to normal language prompts by humans. The risk of this technology in the hands of a totalitarian state like China is incalculably high.

An international coalition of government cybersecurity agencies, including those from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, and Japan, is publicly identifying individual Chinese companies for their hacking activity and provision of cyber products to China’s military and intelligence agencies.

The warning focuses on Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) actors in China that target “telecommunications, government, transportation, lodging, and military infrastructure networks” globally. France was conspicuously absent as a signer. In 2024, China’s APT31 hacking group allegedly targeted seven French parliamentarians.

The coalition’s warning is good, but not nearly enough to stop China’s highly lucrative practice of hacking pretty much anyone and everyone. CCP hacking will continue to weaken the United States and its allies until direct repercussions are imposed, including through counter-hacking and other measures designed to inflict significant economic damage on the regime.

These repercussions should be at the all-of-China level, not against particular companies. Sanctioning individual companies is ineffective, as they simply do the bidding of the CCP. Real repercussions should instead be imposed on the almost $20.7 trillion Chinese economy, and its almost $1.2 trillion in annual international trade. This should ideally be done to the financial benefit of the United States and U.S. allies as a form of economic compensation for previous harms done by the CCP. These harms include the COVID-19 pandemic, the fentanyl crisis, and intellectual property theft. The longer America waits to act, the more powerful the CCP becomes.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.