Shipping containers not inspected, military-aged Chinese men crossing border, and Chinese 'police stations' in the US...nothing to see here?

The following slipped by earlier this year, but given the significant number of illegal aliens that have entered the U.S. from countries that wish us harm, it is taking on even greater significance. 

Law Enforcement Today has reported on the large number of military-aged Chinese males who have entered the U.S. under the Biden administration’s open border policies. Given that large number, the fact that a minuscule number of cargo shipping containers are inspected is of grave concern and is ignored only by those who seek the destruction of our country. 

Most Americans likely believe that most shipping containers brought into our ports from overseas are subject to inspection of their cargo. However, the surprising truth is that only 3.7% of the roughly 11 million containers entering the U.S. each year are scanned. In other words, over ten and one-half million containers are NOT inspected each year, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP). 

Of that total, only one percent–or 104,000 containers–are checked at overseas ports. 

In the European Union (EU), only 1.5% of all cargo arriving at EU ports are scanned. 

With the explosion in global trade over the past several decades, the shipping industry has become an essential part of the world economy. With that comes a significant security challenge for customs officials and border security agencies like CBP. 

Those officials are tasked with knowing what is inside each container, if it poses any risk to people, the environment, or national security, and ensuring proper revenues are collected. 

Why, then, are such a small number of cargo containers checked? Clearly, there is a shortfall and a need for more widespread cargo screening. 

One possibility is using artificial intelligence and other technologies to solve the issue; however, those solutions come with a cost, and it is unknown if using those technologies would be practical on such a large scale. 

The inspection process of containers involves checking the contents of the containers to ensure compliance with regulations and standards. There are also two major concerns around container inspection–safety and security. 

With shipping containers being used to transport a large variety of goods, including hazardous materials, any mishandling or mislabeling of them could pose a significant risk to humans and the environment. 

Moreover, shipping containers are often stacked on top of one another on ships, trucks, and trains. Any damage to containers or if they are overloaded, they can collapse, resulting in injuries, death, or the release of hazardous chemicals or gases. 

Therefore, shipping containers must be inspected to determine their viability.

Security is another concern, probably one that should concern all Americans, given the apparent lack of inspections. They provide a means for terrorists and criminals to smuggle weapons, drugs, or other illegal goods into the country. Given the large number of military-aged men of Chinese and Middle Eastern descent who have entered the country, the possibility of national security being breached is a paramount concern. 

Containers typically undergo an array of inspections, with the International Convention for Safe Containers (CSC) setting the standards for handling and transporting shipping containers. The CSC mandates that all containers undergo periodic inspections to meet required safety standards. 

Inspections are performed by authorized personnel, and containers are required to be marked with a valid safety approval plate before being loaded onto cargo ships. 

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) sets international standards and regulations for the safe transport of goods by sea. 

The IMO’s International Ship and Port Facility (ISPS) Code mandates that all ports have a comprehensive security plan, which includes the inspection of shipping containers for any potential security threats. 

In the United States, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is tasked with inspecting shipping containers for contraband, such as drugs and weapons, and ensuring they comply with federal regulations. 

At sea, the United States Coast Guard is charged with inspecting freight containers and other property used in transporting hazardous materials on water. The Coast Guard’s authority is not limited to shipments that are on board or have been on board vessels. 

Currently, the frequency of container inspections is determined based on “risk assessments.” Containers deemed to be high-risk are inspected more frequently than those that are considered low-risk. 

The current issue is CBP agents are being routinely pulled from their regular duties to handle matters such as processing paperwork, bringing illegal aliens back and forth from court, and handing out meals. Meanwhile, our national security suffers. 

Last week, the New York Post reported the number of Chinese nationals crossing into the United States via the Mexican border has reached a new high. 

In the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2023, 24,048 Chinese citizens were apprehended at the US-Mexico border, which was twelve times the number apprehended in FY-2022, Customs and Border Protection reported. That number does not include the “gotaways,” which are likely ten times that amount. Moreover, the FY-2023 number is a 7,000% increase over FY-2021, when only 323 Chinese nationals crossed the border. 

The fear is many of these Chinese nationals–a majority of them men of military age–are, in fact, either Chinese spies or, worse, sneaking into the country among the millions of illegals from nearly every country on the planet. 

“Clearly, that border is a big opportunity,” Rebecca Grant, a national security analyst at IRIS Independent Research, told Newsweek.

“Some of those people want to come here and have a better way of life, but I think some of those Chinese [nationals] quite possibly are here to spy and report back at a minimum,” she said. 

Worse still, she said she is “99% certain that at least a little bit of this is [the] Chinese military infiltrating for reasons harmful to our national security.” 

“Is it one person, is it a hundred, is it a thousand–we don’t know, but the fact that we have to ask this question is outrageous,” she told the outlet. 

 The significant Chinese infiltration into the country has not been lost on some lawmakers, including Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.), chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, who said a majority of Chinese nationals entering the US are military-age men with known ties to the Chinese Communist Party and the People’s Liberation Army. 

Fear not, however. The Biden administration is ensuring we have the wokest military on the planet. 

DHS meanwhile dismisses the concerns expressed by Green and Grant, saying the department uses biometric and biographical information on those encountered at the border “to identify potential terrorists or criminals and prevent their release into the U.S.,” according to Newsweek. 

That is fine for those who are apprehended but does not account for those who evade detection by CBP. The DHS spokesperson stressed that “anyone who poses a national security or public safety threat is detained and not released into the United States.” 

That did little to assuage Grant’s concerns. 

“We know that China is using everything that they have, every bit of espionage, to spy on our military and our high technology,” she said. 

“And we know China’s government is not our friend, so this dramatic upswing, I think it could definitely present a potential national security risk.” 

Combine that with less than 4% of container ships entering the U.S., many from East Asia, including Hong Kong, not being inspected, and it is a recipe for potential disaster. 

Some downplay the threat, claiming the wave of Chinese are simply those trying to flee the oppressive Communist regime in that country. 

“This wave of emigration reflects despair toward China,” said Cai Xia, editor-in-chief of online commentary site Yibao and a former professor at Central Party School of the Chinese Communist Party, now a US resident. 

“They’ve lost hope for the future of the country.” 

Renata Castro, an immigration attorney who formed the pro-immigration group USA4ALL, says the Chinese view the US as a “beacon on the hill where people seek refuge from oppression.” 

“The movement of Chinese individuals through the border is consistent with the situation on the ground in China–less financial opportunity, and most importantly, a growing oppression by the Chinese government,” she told Arizona Family. 

Earlier this year, Law Enforcement Today reported on the unusual situation where the Chinese Communist Party has been opening the equivalent of police stations in the U.S., as well as other Western countries. 

In May, The Hill reported that two New York residents, Lu Jianwang and Chen Jinping, were indicted by the Department of Justice for “conspiring to act as agents” of the CCP’s Ministry of Public Security (MPS) and for obstructing justice by destroying evidence of their communications with the MPS. They were allegedly operating a “secret police station” in Manhattan’s Chinatown neighborhood, which was assisting the CCP’s transnational repression by intimidating and threatening Chinese dissidents. 

According to one assessment, there are some 102 known or suspected Chinese overseas police stations active in 53 countries, with the number likely being higher. In the United States, stations have been identified in New York City, Los Angeles, Houston, and San Francisco, as well as some smaller cities in Nebraska and Minnesota. 

The operations were started in 2014 when the CCP launched “Operation Fox Hunt,” an effort to repatriate overseas Chinese fugitives it deemed to be corrupt officials. In only the first six months, 680 “fugitives” were returned to China. 

Since 2014, the Chinese “police” have forced some 10,000 Chinese fugitives to return to China, proof that China ignores international borders and the sovereignty of nations, believing it can act with impunity. That is what makes the incursion across the southern border even more daunting. 

Despite China acting as a rogue foreign nation, the Biden administration has done little to shut down the illegal police stations in the U.S. In fact, Biden reversed the DOJ’s “China Initiative,” a Trump-era policy focused on countering Chinese espionage and prioritizing threats from the CCP, citing alleged “allegations of intolerance and bias.” We're sure it probably had nothing to do with the Biden family money laundering operation. 

Military-aged Chinese men crossing the border by the thousands…container ships, by and large not being inspected…Chinese “police stations” across the country…what could possibly go wrong?