Latest / The President's Daily Brief / PDB Afternoon Bulletin | September 24th, 2026: China’s Secret Lifeline to Iran’s War Effort Exposed & Trump-Xi Summit

Transcript

PDB Afternoon Bulletin | September 24th, 2026: China’s Secret Lifeline to Iran’s War Effort Exposed & Trump-Xi Summit · The President's Daily Brief

• 0:12
  It's Thursday,
• 0:13
  the 24th of September.
• 0:14
  Welcome to the PDB
• 0:16
  afternoon bulletin.
• 0:17
  I'm Mike Baker,
• 0:18
  your eyes and ears on the world stage.
• 0:20
  All right,
• 0:21
  let's get briefed.
• 0:23
  First up,
• 0:24
  new reporting reveals just how much China
• 0:27
  is helping keep Iran's war machine running,
• 0:29
  from drone and missile components
• 0:31
  to satellite imagery and financial lifelines.
• 0:34
  And later in the show,
• 0:35
  as Beijing's support for the Iranian regime comes under new scrutiny.
• 0:39
  President Xi Jinping is in Washington DC for talks with President Trump
• 0:44
  on Taiwan,
• 0:46
  trade,
• 0:46
  and the future of US China relations.
• 0:49
  But first,
• 0:49
  today's afternoon spotlight.
• 0:51
  We've been reporting on concerns that Iran may
• 0:54
  have been using satellite imagery obtained from Chinese companies
• 0:58
  to help target American forces.
• 1:00
  Now
• 1:01
  new reporting suggests that was only one part
• 1:04
  of a much broader flow of Chinese technology and equipment
• 1:07
  helping to keep Iran's war machine running.
• 1:10
  The Wall Street Journal analyzed Iranian customs records and
• 1:14
  found roughly 1300 shipments of dual-use components
• 1:18
  from China to Iran's Defense Ministry this year
• 1:21
  through the end of June.
• 1:23
  That's 1300 shipments in six months
• 1:26
  during the height of the U.S.Iran conflict.
• 1:29
  Those shipments included electronics,
• 1:31
  GPS equipment,
• 1:32
  electric motors,
• 1:33
  and aircraft engine components,
• 1:35
  items that can have legitimate civilian uses
• 1:38
  but can also be used in drones,
• 1:41
  missiles,
• 1:41
  and precision guided weapons,
• 1:44
  and the timing of some of those deliveries is notable.
• 1:47
  On June 17th,
• 1:48
  for example,
• 1:49
  the day the US and Iran agreed to a temporary truce,
• 1:52
  China was publicly touting its role in helping
• 1:55
  ease tensions and bringing the two sides together.
• 1:58
  Ah,
• 1:58
  the Peacemaker
• 2:00
  that same day,
• 2:00
  according to the journal,
• 2:01
  an aircraft from China landed in
• 2:03
  Tehran carrying electronics for Iran's Defense Ministry
• 2:07
  that could be used in drones and missile guidance systems.
• 2:10
  Well,
• 2:10
  I'm sure that was
• 2:11
  helpful in bringing the two sides together.
• 2:14
  Two days later,
• 2:15
  more than 12 additional shipments arrived
• 2:17
  carrying more than $6 million in components
• 2:20
  that can be used in drones.
• 2:22
  Now none of this necessarily means that the Chinese government,
• 2:25
  the Chinese Communist Party,
• 2:27
  or the
• 2:27
  People's Liberation Army directly ordered or managed those shipments.
• 2:31
  We're talking plausible deniability here.
• 2:34
  Many of the companies involved are private or obscure Chinese suppliers.
• 2:38
  And China,
• 2:39
  of course,
• 2:39
  says it strictly regulates exports of dual use technology.
• 2:43
  Beijing also denies accusations that it's helping fuel
• 2:46
  the war and says its economic relationship with Iran
• 2:50
  complies with international rules.
• 2:52
  But
• 2:53
  perhaps it's worth noting
• 2:54
  it's not likely that any Chinese company would be
• 2:57
  in the business of supplying Iran with dual use components
• 3:00
  unless they had at least the tacit approval of the Chinese government.
• 3:04
  Chinese companies tend not to go rogue
• 3:07
  at the risk of running afoul of Xi Jinping.
• 3:10
  What the customs records show is a large and continuing
• 3:12
  Chinese supply network feeding directly into Iran's defense industry.
• 3:17
  And that network became even more important after the war began
• 3:21
  when the US tightened its blockade of Iranian ports.
• 3:23
  Iran began dramatically increasing air cargo traffic from China.
• 3:28
  Mahan Air,
• 3:29
  the Iranian carrier sanctioned by the US for
• 3:32
  directly supporting the Revolutionary Guard Corps,
• 3:34
  the IRGC,
• 3:36
  increased flights from Beijing,
• 3:37
  Shanghai,
• 3:38
  and Guangzhou
• 3:39
  to Tehran from roughly 4 a week at the beginning of March
• 3:43
  to around 27 a week
• 3:45
  by the end of April.
• 3:46
  And that traffic has continued.
• 3:48
  The journal says Mohan Air flew from China to Iran
• 3:51
  39 times during the first week of September alone,
• 3:54
  roughly double its pre-war level,
• 3:57
  and many of those flights appear to be carrying cargo rather than passengers.
• 4:02
  So as Washington squeezed Iran's maritime trade,
• 4:04
  Tehran appears to have built an increasingly important air bridge to China.
• 4:09
  Researchers cited by the journal say
• 4:11
  some Chinese companies have advertised electronics known
• 4:14
  to be used in Iran's Shahid drones,
• 4:16
  the relatively cheap attack drones
• 4:18
  that Iran has repeatedly used against American bases and regional targets.
• 4:23
  Iranian customs records also show that
• 4:26
  just days before the war began,
• 4:28
  roughly 300 tons of chemical compounds arrived from China
• 4:32
  to Iran's Defense Ministry.
• 4:34
  China has also long been a source of
• 4:36
  sodium perchlorate.
• 4:38
  That's a chemical used to produce solid fuel
• 4:40
  for ballistic missiles
• 4:42
  that became especially important after Israeli strikes in 2024
• 4:47
  badly damaged parts of Iran's missile production infrastructure,
• 4:50
  forcing Tehran to rebuild its stockpiles and
• 4:53
  manufacturing capacity.
• 4:55
  And there's another weapons system that Iran
• 4:57
  has apparently been trying to acquire,
• 4:59
  and that would be shoulder-fired surface to air missiles.
• 5:02
  The Treasury Department has sanctioned Chinese and Hong Kong-based companies
• 5:06
  that it says were involved in attempts to procure weapons for Iran,
• 5:10
  including
• 5:11
  manned portable air defense systems known as MANPADs
• 5:14
  that could be used against American aircraft.
• 5:18
  One network allegedly tried to route those weapons through Belarus
• 5:21
  in order to hide Iran as the ultimate customer.
• 5:24
  US officials say that that particular effort failed,
• 5:28
  but it gives us another indication of what Iran is looking for and
• 5:31
  where some of its procurement networks are operating.
• 5:35
  Then there's the satellite imagery,
• 5:36
  and we've discussed that before here on the PDB.
• 5:39
  US officials concluded that Iran obtained imagery from
• 5:43
  Chinese satellite companies before and after the July 17th attack on
• 5:47
  Muwaffak Salti Air Base in Jordan,
• 5:50
  an Iranian strike that
• 5:51
  killed three American troops.
• 5:53
  The US had already sanctioned several
• 5:55
  Chinese satellite imagery companies over concerns that
• 5:58
  their data could help Iran target American forces.
• 6:02
  Again,
• 6:03
  while there is evidence that Chinese companies supplied
• 6:05
  Iran with imagery and military use components,
• 6:08
  that's not the same as having evidence that Beijing
• 6:11
  ordered those companies to help Iran attack American troops.
• 6:14
  How much the Chinese government knows,
• 6:16
  tolerates,
• 6:17
  or facilitates remains an important question.
• 6:20
  The Journal reviewed a letter from one sanctioned Chinese company that
• 6:23
  was trying to sell chemical materials to an Iranian-linked buyer.
• 6:27
  The company reportedly said that exports required government licenses.
• 6:31
  And claimed that it had coordinated with Chinese authorities
• 6:34
  to process some of those licenses
• 6:36
  confidentially.
• 6:38
  The journal could not determine whether that particular deal was ever completed.
• 6:42
  And the relationship goes beyond weapons.
• 6:45
  China remains the primary buyer of Iranian oil,
• 6:48
  providing Tehran with an important source of revenue
• 6:51
  despite American sanctions.
• 6:53
  Chinese banks,
• 6:54
  shell companies,
• 6:54
  and yuan-based payment networks have
• 6:57
  also been used
• 6:58
  to move Iranian money beyond the reach of the American financial system.
• 7:03
  China buys the oil that provides Tehran with cash.
• 7:06
  Chinese financial networks help move some of that money.
• 7:09
  Chinese suppliers
• 7:10
  provide components that can go into Iranian drones and missiles.
• 7:14
  Iranian aircraft are flying back and forth to China
• 7:17
  carrying cargo,
• 7:18
  and Chinese satellite companies
• 7:20
  have provided imagery that US officials say
• 7:23
  Iran used in connection with an attack
• 7:25
  that killed American troops.
• 7:27
  The scale and nature of this relationship is becoming fairly clear,
• 7:31
  and despite what China may claim,
• 7:32
  It doesn't have anything to do
• 7:34
  with bringing the two sides of the conflict together.
• 7:37
  All right,
• 7:38
  coming up next,
• 7:39
  even as Chinese companies help bolster Iran's war effort against the US,
• 7:43
  President Xi Jinping is in Washington DC today for talks with President Trump.
• 7:48
  I'll be right back.
• 7:50
  Hey,
• 7:50
  Mike Baker here.
• 7:51
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  Welcome back to the PDB
• 10:29
  afternoon bulletin.
• 10:31
  President Trump kicked off Chinese President Xi Jinping's
• 10:34
  first Washington visit in more than a decade
• 10:36
  with a rare plain side greeting at Joint Base Andrews,
• 10:39
  opening a high stakes visit
• 10:41
  between two rival powers divided over trade,
• 10:44
  artificial intelligence,
• 10:45
  and security.
• 10:47
  The President and First Lady Melania Trump
• 10:49
  were waiting on the tarmac Wednesday evening
• 10:51
  when she and his wife stepped off the plane.
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  A 100 ft red carpet,
• 10:56
  a 21 person honor guard,
• 10:57
  military formations,
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  and a flyover by 2 B-1 bombers
• 11:01
  turned the arrival into a very deliberate display of diplomacy and pageantry.
• 11:06
  Xi,
• 11:06
  in a written statement marking his arrival,
• 11:08
  said the US and China
• 11:10
  should be partners,
• 11:11
  not rivals.
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  He also said
• 11:13
  China's national rejuvenation
• 11:15
  and Trump's effort to make America great again
• 11:17
  can go hand in hand.
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  Reportedly,
• 11:21
  the first item on the agenda.
• 11:23
  Is trade.
• 11:24
  The Treasury Secretary Scott Besset announced that the two
• 11:26
  countries have agreed to extend their current trade truce,
• 11:29
  pushing the deadline from the 10th of November
• 11:32
  to the 10th of January.
• 11:34
  That takes the immediate threat of another round of tariffs
• 11:36
  off the table as Trump and Xi begin their talks.
• 11:40
  Instead,
• 11:40
  the
• 11:40
  new deadline gives the administration more time to
• 11:43
  test whether Beijing is prepared to follow through on commitments
• 11:47
  involving purchases of American farm goods and Boeing aircraft,
• 11:51
  along with restrictions.
• 11:52
  Involving critical mineral exports.
• 11:55
  Besson told Fox News,
• 11:56
  quote,
• 11:57
  I don't know whether a bigger deal can be done.
• 11:59
  I don't know whether we will just roll the current deal,
• 12:02
  end quote.
• 12:03
  As for what that current deal is,
• 12:05
  well,
• 12:05
  it's essentially a pause in the trade fight.
• 12:08
  Both sides scaled back some tariffs and agreed not to impose new trade restrictions
• 12:13
  while negotiators worked through the remaining disputes.
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  So the extension gives both sides breathing room,
• 12:19
  but it does not resolve the underlying fight.
• 12:21
  With the trade deadline pushed into January,
• 12:23
  the talks moved to the rest of the agenda,
• 12:26
  starting with
• 12:27
  artificial intelligence.
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  AI is quickly becoming one of the most important areas of U.S.China competition,
• 12:33
  from advanced chips and AI models
• 12:36
  to the question of what happens if one
• 12:37
  of those systems creates a national security crisis.
• 12:41
  The US has proposed a notification mechanism
• 12:43
  that would allow the two governments to alert each other
• 12:47
  about a major AI incident serious enough to threaten national security.
• 12:51
  Then there's Taiwan,
• 12:53
  probably the most sensitive security issue between the two countries.
• 12:56
  As PDB listeners know,
• 12:58
  Beijing continues to claim the self-governed island as its own territory
• 13:03
  and has not renounced the use of force to take control of it.
• 13:06
  Washington continues to support Taiwan,
• 13:09
  including through weapons sales.
• 13:10
  In December,
• 13:11
  the Trump administration approved an $11 billion arms sale
• 13:14
  to Taiwan that would be the largest ever.
• 13:16
  A second package,
• 13:18
  reportedly
• 13:18
  worth about $14 billion has been on hold for months,
• 13:22
  and Trump has described arms sales to Taiwan as a
• 13:25
  very good negotiating chip.
• 13:28
  Now that may be one of the most delicate parts of the visit
• 13:30
  for Beijing.
• 13:31
  Taiwan is a red line.
• 13:33
  For Washington,
• 13:34
  it's a democratic partner and a critical part
• 13:36
  of America's security posture in the Indo-Pacific.
• 13:40
  Now,
• 13:40
  no one is expecting some
• 13:41
  sweeping breakthrough during Xi's visit.
• 13:43
  That's usually not the result from any summit.
• 13:46
  But the way that Trump and Xi handle Taiwan
• 13:49
  could tell us a lot about whether tensions in the Western Pacific are about to ease
• 13:53
  or intensify.
• 13:55
  Now Iran is also likely to come up during the course of this summit,
• 13:58
  and after the reporting we just discussed about Chinese companies
• 14:01
  supplying Tehran with military use components and other support,
• 14:05
  there is plenty there for Trump and Xi to discuss
• 14:08
  should Trump choose to bring it up.
• 14:11
  The rest of the visit keeps moving through that same mix of ceremony and substance.
• 14:15
  Trump and Xi are expected to exchange toasts at a state dinner at the White House,
• 14:20
  and the dinner is expected to include major tech leaders,
• 14:22
  including Nvidia's Jetson Huang,
• 14:24
  Apple's Tim Cook,
• 14:25
  OpenAI's Sam Altman,
• 14:27
  and SpaceX's Elon Musk.
• 14:29
  I'm still waiting for my invite.
• 14:31
  On Friday at the end of the visit,
• 14:32
  the two sides are expected to release separate announcements
• 14:35
  allowing each government to frame the meetings for their own domestic audiences.
• 14:41
  And that,
• 14:41
  my friends,
• 14:42
  is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Thursday,
• 14:44
  the 24th of September.
• 14:46
  If you have any questions or comments,
• 14:47
  please reach out to me
• 14:48
  at PDB@thefirstv.com.
• 14:51
  And to listen to the show ad-free,
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  by visiting PDBpremium.com.
• 15:01
  I'm Mike Baker and I'll be back tomorrow,
• 15:03
  still on the road.
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  Until then,
• 15:06
  stay informed,
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  stay safe.
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