I just had a great meeting with officials and representatives from across Berkeley County.   Berkeley County is one of the fastest growing counties in the state with a great quality of life. I want to partner with the local community to keep it that way.   I was pleased to inform those in attendance at the meeting that Berkeley County is receiving one of the unprecedented four BUILD grants awarded to South Carolina. That $22 million grant will be lifechanging to the county’s transportation infrastructure. I am very appreciative of the Trump Administration for awarding these dollars to our state.   I’m glad to advocate for communities who are willing to help themselves before asking others. Berkeley County has done that.   I’m grateful for the longstanding support I’ve received from Berkeley County and will continue to listen, learn and help lead when it comes to the needs of their community.

1 in 50. 😳 That’s the seizure risk for children with a history of seizures after the MMR vaccine—according to research published over 15 years ago. Yet, most doctors still don’t know about it. Why? Parents, your child’s health depends on informed choices. Know the risks. Ask the questions. Be their advocate. Read more 👇 #vaccines#

Excited to share this @WarOnTheRocks piece I've been contemplating and working on for a while now: "The Blind Spots in Chinese Military Studies." My contention is the authoritative textbooks and sources published by the PLA are dwindling or becoming outdated in the face of organizational reforms and data restrictions. The result is a community that is increasingly speculating or inferring Chinese military strategy from woefully outdated doctrinal texts, despite valiant efforts to stitch together incomplete pictures from a paucity of sources. This leads to the current challenge facing PLA watchers: deducing how the PLA will bridge the divide between military strategy and campaign-level and tactical-level operations based on outdated texts. Western analysts resort to using partial sources on particular issues to interpret the PLA's collective, authoritative guidance on the key principles of strategy and operational warfighting. This is a demanding task with a high degree of difficulty, and reasonable Western analysts can come to different conclusions. Less capable analysts are likely to mirror-image or get it wrong. I advocate restoring the Open Source Enterprise — formally called the Foreign Broadcast Information Service — back into the public domain. This can be done by empowering existing U.S. government platforms with the capability and experience to support a reconstituted FBIS — such as the Library of Congress — to revive taxpayer-funded open-source intelligence-gathering of translations of foreign military and political news, articles, and textbooks, in particular related to the PLA. This of course will not fundamentally solve the problem, but it will help. Thanks to David M. Finkelstein, @jwuthnow, Lonnie Henley, Dennis Blasko, Phil Saunders, Ken Allen, Chad Sbragia, Joshua Arostegui, and @NathanMBM for their helpful comments on previous drafts.

One Month Later, We Are Still Fighting for Justice for Wang Wang Today marks one month since Wang Wang, a gentle stray mother dog in Jieyang, Guangdong Province, China and her three newborn puppies were brutally tortured and killed. According to information later circulated online, five minors were involved, including one who filmed what happened; the official notice identified four directly involved boys, all under the age of 14. The videos and reports show that this was not a momentary outburst, and it cannot be dismissed as “children not knowing better.” It was prolonged, escalating cruelty. Wang Wang's three puppies—barely old enough to open their eyes—were beaten to death. Wang Wang was restrained by the neck, repeatedly beaten, doused with a flammable liquid and set on fire, with eyes gouged out. She was so sweet that she did not even try to attack them. Even in her final moments, she reportedly struggled back toward her babies and used the last of her strength to lick their bleeding heads. Meanwhile, the perpetrators filmed, laughed and cheered. This was not ordinary childish misbehavior. It was the deliberate creation, observation and celebration of suffering. It challenged the most basic limits of human conscience. What makes this even more unbearable is not only the cruelty itself, but the absence of clear, transparent and credible accountability. Local authorities stated that the four directly involved boys had been sent to a specialized school for education. Yet the public has received little meaningful information about what intervention, psychological assessment or continued supervision actually followed. People familiar with the case said they were not sent to any "special school", and the authorities had never criticized such horrid behaviors. The parents and family of these perpetrators even threatened to kill more dogs and cats in response to online fury. And at least one father of the killers did kill more animals and brag about it. China still lacks a nationwide anti-cruelty law specifically protecting companion animals such as dogs and cats. Existing laws cover wildlife, livestock and laboratory animals in different ways, but significant gaps remain when someone deliberately tortures an ordinary companion or stray animal. This is not a debate about vegetarianism, and it is not about telling people what they may or may not eat. It is about whether a society is willing to draw a basic legal line against deliberately torturing a sentient being for pleasure, entertainment, attention or online content. Justice means establishing the truth, requiring serious psychological evaluation and long-term intervention, holding guardians accountable, preventing perpetrators from owning or accessing more animals, and creating laws with meaningful consequences and deterrence. Because when children can torture defenseless lives while laughing—and the adults and institutions around them remain silent—the damage extends beyond the animals. It reaches the moral foundation of society itself. Wang Wang never had a real home. She reportedly sheltered her puppies in a small hole, trying to keep them safe. She may never have known comfort or had a truly good meal. But this Earth was her home too. She and her babies harmed no one. They were simply trying to survive. Yet even that most basic right was denied to them. Today, we remember Wang Wang and her three puppies. We will continue to say their names. We will not allow them to become another horrific video that briefly circulates online and is then forgotten. We must turn our grief into strength: continue speaking, advocate for China’s long-overdue animal anti-cruelty legislation, and work toward a society in which more animals like Wang Wang can live peacefully—and those who choose to harm defenseless lives know that there will be consequences. Cruelty is not entertainment. Abuse is not freedom. Deliberately inflicting suffering must have consequences. Justice for Wang Wang and her family.

ChinaAid Welcomes Release of Pastor Ezra Jin to US, Calls for Freedom for All Prisoners of Faith MIDLAND, Texas — July 5, 2026 — ChinaAid welcomes with profound gratitude the release of imprisoned Chinese house church pastor Ezra Jin (Pastor Jin), who arrived safely in Los Angeles on July 4, 2026, after being released directly from detention in China. According to information received by ChinaAid from trusted sources, Pastor Jin was released from detention and transported to the United States in an extraordinary diplomatic arrangement. Chinese officials reportedly informed him that his release resulted from discussions between U.S. President Donald J. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, and was presented as a goodwill gesture coinciding with America’s Independence Day. Pastor Jin had spent months in detention because of his Christian faith and ministry. His unexpected freedom is an answer to countless prayers offered by Christians around the world and demonstrates once again that sustained international advocacy can save lives and restore freedom. “We rejoice with Pastor Ezra Jin, his family, and the global Body of Christ on this remarkable Independence Day miracle,” said Rev. Dr. Bob Fu, Founder and President of ChinaAid. “We thank Almighty God for hearing the prayers of His people. We are deeply grateful to President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and all U.S. officials who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to secure Pastor Jin’s freedom. Their unwavering commitment demonstrates that principled leadership and persistent diplomacy can make a life-saving difference.” Dr. Fu continued: “While we celebrate Pastor Jin’s freedom, our hearts remain with the countless pastors including 8 other jailed pastors and coworkers from Zion Church, priests, bishops, house church Christians, Uyghur Muslims, Tibetan Buddhists, Falun Gong practitioners, and other prisoners of conscience who remain unjustly imprisoned by the Chinese Communist Party. We respectfully call on President Trump and his Administration to continue making religious freedom and the release of all prisoners of faith a top priority in every engagement with Beijing. True progress in U.S.-China relations must include freedom for those imprisoned simply because they choose to believe.” ChinaAid also expresses its appreciation to members of Congress, international religious freedom advocates, churches, and countless individuals around the world whose prayers and advocacy helped keep Pastor Jin’s case before senior U.S. officials. As Americans celebrated the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Pastor Jin’s arrival on American soil serves as a powerful reminder that the universal longing for religious liberty transcends national borders. ChinaAid will continue to advocate tirelessly until every prisoner jailed for peacefully exercising his or her faith is released. “Freedom for Pastor Jin is a tremendous victory,” Dr. Fu added. “But our work is not finished until every prisoner of faith is free.” Media Contact: ChinaAid Association Email: media@chinaaid.org

BREAKING STORY: ChinaAid Welcomes the Release of Pastor Ezra Jin to the United States, Calls for Freedom for All Prisoners of Faith MIDLAND, Texas — July 5, 2026 — ChinaAid welcomes with profound gratitude the release of imprisoned Chinese house church pastor Ezra Jin (Pastor Jin), who arrived safely in Los Angeles on July 4, 2026, after being released directly from detention in China. According to information received by ChinaAid from trusted sources, Pastor Jin was released from detention and transported to the United States in an extraordinary diplomatic arrangement. Chinese officials reportedly informed him that his release resulted from discussions between U.S. President Donald J. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, and was presented as a goodwill gesture coinciding with America’s Independence Day. Pastor Jin had spent months in detention because of his Christian faith and ministry. His unexpected freedom is an answer to countless prayers offered by Christians around the world and demonstrates once again that sustained international advocacy can save lives and restore freedom. “We rejoice with Pastor Ezra Jin, his family, and the global Body of Christ on this remarkable Independence Day miracle,” said Rev. Dr. Bob Fu, Founder and President of ChinaAid. “We thank Almighty God for hearing the prayers of His people. We are deeply grateful to President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and all U.S. officials who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to secure Pastor Jin’s freedom. Their unwavering commitment demonstrates that principled leadership and persistent diplomacy can make a life-saving difference.” Dr. Fu continued: “While we celebrate Pastor Jin’s freedom, our hearts remain with the countless pastors, priests, bishops, house church Christians, Uyghur Muslims, Tibetan Buddhists, Falun Gong practitioners, and other prisoners of conscience who remain unjustly imprisoned by the Chinese Communist Party. We respectfully call on President Trump and his Administration to continue making religious freedom and the release of all prisoners of faith a top priority in every engagement with Beijing. True progress in U.S.-China relations must include freedom for those imprisoned simply because they choose to believe.” ChinaAid also expresses its appreciation to members of Congress, international religious freedom advocates, churches, and countless individuals around the world whose prayers and advocacy helped keep Pastor Jin’s case before senior U.S. officials. As Americans celebrated the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Pastor Jin’s arrival on American soil serves as a powerful reminder that the universal longing for religious liberty transcends national borders. ChinaAid will continue to advocate tirelessly until every prisoner jailed for peacefully exercising his or her faith is released. “Freedom for Pastor Jin is a tremendous victory,” Dr. Fu added. “But our work is not finished until every prisoner of faith is free.” Media Contact: ChinaAid Association Email: media@chinaaid.org

Reuters reviewed thousands of records and interviewed more than 80 people to document the informal network of advocates shaping Trump's second-term clemency process

Reuters reviewed thousands of records and interviewed more than 80 people to document the informal network of advocates shaping Trump's second-term clemency process

Reuters found that President Donald Trump's second-term clemency grants relied on an informal network of allies, donors and advocates with access to his inner circle — a sharp departure from longstanding Justice Department protocols @specialreports