Chinese Nationals

BEIJING - China is staking its claim on paper to what neighbors say is rightfully theirs. The latest territorial flap in Asia is over new Chinese passports with an outline of China that includes swaths of the South China Sea that are claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei, as well as all of Taiwan and disputed territory on the border with India. Beijing's vision of a greater China is nothing new. The disputed territories are included in official Chinese maps.

USA Baby Care's website makes no attempt to hide why the company's clients travel to Southern California from China and Taiwan. It's to give birth to an American baby. "Congratulations! Arriving in the U.S. means you've already given your child a surefire ticket for winning the race," the site says in Chinese. "We guarantee that each baby can obtain a U.S. passport and related documents. " That passport is just the beginning of a journey that will lead some of the children back to the United States to take advantage of free public schools and low-interest student loans, as the website notes.

Three Chinese nationals have been arrested on suspicion of extorting money from restaurants in Chinatown, officials said Friday. Quang Yan Quan, 18, and Du Hong Trinh, 19, who have been living recently in the San Gabriel Valley, are being held without bail for allegedly trying to extort money from 13 restaurateurs, saying that harm would come to their businesses if they refused, said Los Angeles Police Detective Ben Lee.

BEIJING - China is staking its claim on paper to what neighbors say is rightfully theirs. The latest territorial flap in Asia is over new Chinese passports with an outline of China that includes swaths of the South China Sea that are claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei, as well as all of Taiwan and disputed territory on the border with India. Beijing's vision of a greater China is nothing new. The disputed territories are included in official Chinese maps.

Two Chinese nationals pleaded guilty Friday in the ransom kidnapping of a 17-year-old San Marino youth who was freed after being chained to a bed for more than two weeks. Xu Lin Wang, 27, and Xue Han Wang, 26, admitted abducting Johnny Chen, the son of a wealthy Taiwanese businessman, and holding him hostage at a Temple City house while their confederates demanded a $1.5-million ransom from his family.

The leader of what prosecutors describe as the largest ring of brothels ever uncovered in Orange County was sentenced to three years in state prison Tuesday after pleading guilty to pimping. Jian Shi's day in court came just one month after two associates, including a licensed acupuncturist, pleaded guilty and were also sentenced to prison terms.

More than 300 Chinese nationals from the coastal province of Fujian brave two months crammed in the dank hull of a smuggling ship, so ill and desperate for drinking water that many contemplate suicide. A smaller group slips across the hilly Baja California border before dawn with the help of seasoned Mexican coyotes , and is handed off to Chinese smugglers who arrange journeys to New York. There, the immigrants' labor will pay off smuggling debts of up to $30,000.

Qantas Airlines faces a federal fine of more than $50,000 after failing to heed a U.S. law enforcement warning and allowing a group of 17 undocumented Chinese passengers to fly to Los Angeles this week from Australia, the Immigration and Naturalization Service said Friday. The 17 Chinese nationals, who arrived Wednesday aboard Qantas Flight 93 from Melbourne, were among the largest groups smuggled into Los Angeles International Airport in recent years, officials said. All were taken into INS custody but are expected to apply for political asylum.

He called himself the "supreme commander. " From a storefront in Temple City decorated to look like a military recruiting center, David Deng raised an army of more than 100 Chinese nationals and claimed they were members of an elite U.S. special forces unit, authorities said. Together, they marched in local Chinese New Year parades and even received a special military tour in uniform at the USS Midway museum in San Diego. Chinese-language newspapers ran photos of the troops with prominent community leaders.

An El Monte man was sentenced to three years in state prison Wednesday in connection with a scheme to recruit hundreds of Chinese nationals and charge them for joining a phony Army Special Forces unit that he led as "supreme commander," Los Angeles County prosecutors said. Under the deal with prosecutors, Chinese national Yupeng "David" Deng pleaded guilty to three felony charges, including manufacturing deceptive government documents and counterfeiting a government seal, said Jane Robison, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.

President Obama stepped in to nullify the acquisition of four Oregon wind farms by a Chinese-owned company, citing “credible evidence” that the company “might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States.” In recent weeks, Obama and his Republican opponent in the presidential race, Mitt Romney, have traded jabs over which of them would be more effective in dealing with the challenges the ascendant Chinese...

An El Monte man was sentenced to three years in state prison Wednesday in connection with a scheme to recruit hundreds of Chinese nationals and charge them for joining a phony Army Special Forces unit that he led as "supreme commander," Los Angeles County prosecutors said. Under the deal with prosecutors, Chinese national Yupeng "David" Deng pleaded guilty to three felony charges, including manufacturing deceptive government documents and counterfeiting a government seal, said Jane Robison, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.

He called himself the "supreme commander. " From a storefront in Temple City decorated to look like a military recruiting center, David Deng raised an army of more than 100 Chinese nationals and claimed they were members of an elite U.S. special forces unit, authorities said. Together, they marched in local Chinese New Year parades and even received a special military tour in uniform at the USS Midway museum in San Diego. Chinese-language newspapers ran photos of the troops with prominent community leaders.

As the manager of a sleek restaurant in Tokyo's Ginza shopping district, Yu Yoshida never expected he'd be in the kitchen wearing a white chef's hat and wrapping little dumplings. But that's exactly what he was doing this week as customers in this still disaster-shocked city start to drift back, a welcome but also worrisome prospect for the 33-year-old manager. That's because 15 of his workers, all Chinese nationals, bolted within a few days of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, leaving Yoshida with a crew of just seven to wait tables, bus dishes and cook.

Four Chinese nationals have been arrested on suspicion of recruiting women from China to work in brothels set up in residences in Monterey Park and San Gabriel. According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, the weekend bust resulted from a nine-month investigation into a far-reaching prostitution enterprise that relied on word of mouth and personal referrals to lure customers into private condominiums for commercial sex. Court papers allege that the defendants engaged in various types of immigration fraud, including using fake documents and false marriages to recruit Chinese women, many with valid student visas, into a life of prostitution in the San Gabriel Valley.

BEIJING -- A week of embarrassing global protests along the international Olympic torch relay has fanned Chinese nationalism at home and turned a 27-year-old disabled woman into a national hero. Jin Jing is a one-legged Chinese torchbearer who was attacked by protesters on the streets of Paris. Images of her in her wheelchair protecting the flame with her tiny body catapulted her to overnight fame in China as a symbol of the nation's effort to defend its place in the world. Businesses are throwing job offers at the unemployed former member of the Shanghai wheelchair fencing team.

Japan sent 491 Chinese nationals, some in tears, back to China by boat in the largest deportation of Chinese refugees who streamed into Japan during last year's political unrest in China.

Six Chinese nationals found on board a private airplane were being held by federal officials on suspicion of entering the United States illegally, authorities said Sunday. In addition, at least one man suspected of helping smuggle them into the country was taken into federal custody. El Monte police detained the Chinese citizens -- four women, a man and a girl -- Friday after the twin-engine airplane carrying them landed at the El Monte airport.

The leader of what prosecutors describe as the largest ring of brothels ever uncovered in Orange County was sentenced to three years in state prison Tuesday after pleading guilty to pimping. Jian Shi's day in court came just one month after two associates, including a licensed acupuncturist, pleaded guilty and were also sentenced to prison terms.

Six people have been charged with pimping and operating 10 brothels staffed by women from China in what authorities said was the largest prostitution investigation ever in Orange County. Law enforcement officials said the ring, which also operated in Los Angeles and Riverside counties, was broken up last week after a three-year investigation by local and federal agencies. Investigators believe the ring may have been running at least 31 houses of prostitution.