US to Have Permanent Troop Presence in Poland as Defense Pact Agreed

US Sanctions 2 More Chinese Officials, Paramilitary Group for Human Rights Abuses in Xinjiang

The United States imposed sanctions on two more Chinese officials and one Chinese regime entity over human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslim minorities in the far-western region of Xinjiang. The Trump administration on July 31 announced sanctions on current and former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials heading the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), a regional paramilitary force under the Party, as well as the XPCC itself. The latest move builds upon sanctions issued earlier this month against four CCP officials—including a member of the CCP’s powerful Politburo Chen Quanguo—for their roles in overseeing the suppression in Xinjiang. The United Nations estimates that more than a million Uyghur Muslims have been detained in internment camps in the Xinjiang region. Survivors of the internment camps said they experienced torture, rape, and political indoctrination while…

WARSAW鈥擳he United States will establish a permanent military presence in聽Poland聽as it deploys around 1,000 additional U.S. troops there,聽Poland‘s Defense Ministry said on Friday.

Poland聽is setting growing store by its bilateral defense relationship with its NATO partner, fearful of an increasingly assertive posture from Russia to the east since Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

On June 12 last year, U.S. President Donald Trump agreed, with Polish President Andrzej Duda beside him at the White House, to send 1,000 more troops to his NATO ally.

US to Have Permanent Troop Presence in Poland as Defense Pact Agreed

But negotiations on the details of where the troops would be stationed and how much聽Poland聽would pay dragged on for years.

“We did it. We have finished the negotiations on military cooperation,” Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said in a statement.

Poland聽currently hosts a rotating contingent of over 4,000 U.S. troops. A permanent presence, which the statement says will now number at least 5,500 troops, is likely to cost聽Poland聽more.

The deal also involves the development of expertise for Polish forces in the areas of reconnaissance and command, with the possibility of more U.S. forces coming to聽Poland聽in case of an increased threat, the statement said.

The financial details of the new deal were not revealed in the ministry’s statement.

The U.S. military on Wednesday expanded on plans to withdraw about 12,000 troops from Germany and indicated that some of them could be moved to聽Poland聽or the Baltic states.

It was unclear from Friday’s statement where the additional 1,000 troops would come from, and whether some would be reassigned from Germany.聽Poland‘s Defense Ministry was not immediately available to comment and the U.S. embassy declined to do so.

U.S. officials have insisted that the agreement with聽Poland聽and the decision to pull some U.S. troops out of Germany are separate matters.

By Joanna Plucinska

Focus News: US to Have Permanent Troop Presence in Poland as Defense Pact Agreed

DOJ Takes Action Against Researchers in Connection With Their China Work

An American former professor was sentenced for concealing his participation in a Chinese state-run recruitment program, while a Chinese researcher pleaded guilty to stealing trade secrets from her employer in order to benefit China. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced details of two separate cases on July 30. Dr. James Patrick Lewis, a former West Virginia University (WVU) professor, was sentenced to three months in prison for federal program fraud, while Chen Li pleaded guilty to stealing trade secrets from the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Research Institute in Ohio, for the benefit of herself and the Chinese communist regime. According to the DOJ, she applied to multiple Chinese state-run talent plans. For years, China’s central authorities and regional governments have rolled out talent recruitment programs, targeting promising overseas Chinese and…