Voice of America Chinese Broadcast (October 17, 2026) — With the U.S. midterm elections approaching, candidates launch campaigns to win voter support; Trump says Ukraine's president is "harder to deal with than Putin," and Zelensky responds that he is defending Ukraine's interests
Main highlights of today's program include: U.S. President Trump criticizing Ukrainian President Zelenskyy as harder to deal with than Putin, and mentioning U.S.-Russia-China talks on nuclear disarmament; U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent calling on the World Bank to phase out sovereign loans to China; with the U.S. midterm elections approaching, campaigns in multiple states enter a white-hot stage; multiple advanced drones and cruise missiles unveiled at the Washington defense exhibition, among which Shield AI delivered its first VBAT drone to Taiwan; bipartisan Senate lawmakers introduced the National Security Minerals Council Act to address reliance on critical minerals; as well as financial and stock market dynamics.
Video Link:
Full Text:
Hello to all our listeners. Welcome to Voice of America's Chinese broadcast; I am Lin Sen. Reporting today's program to you from the U.S. capital, Washington. The main highlights of today's program include: U.S. President Trump criticizing Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, saying he is harder to deal with than Russian President Putin. President Donald Trump said Washington is holding talks with Moscow and Beijing aiming to promote denuclearization among the nations with the largest nuclear stockpiles. With less than three weeks until U.S. Election Day, candidates running for federal Senate and House seats are making their final push toward supporters and undecided voters. U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent called on the World Bank to stop providing sovereign loans to China and demanded that the International Monetary Fund deal more forcefully with global economic imbalances. For more news, stay tuned to today's Voice of America Chinese broadcast.
U.S. President Trump criticized Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, saying he is harder to deal with than Russian President Putin, as Trump attempts to persuade the leaders of Russia and Ukraine to reach an agreement to end the four-year war. In an interview with U.S. news outlet Newsmax on Thursday, Trump accused Zelenskyy of being an obstacle to peace, saying the Ukrainian leader does not want to resolve the conflict. Trump said I'm not a big fan of Zelenskyy. When asked whether he believes the Russia-Ukraine war will end before he leaves office in 2029, President Trump said when referring to Zelenskyy and Putin: he said I think they both actually want the war to end, but I feel Zelenskyy is harder to deal with than Putin. A reporter asked Zelenskyy about Trump's remarks at a press conference in Brussels on Friday, to which Zelenskyy responded that he finds dealing with Trump easier than dealing with Putin. Zelenskyy said, for me, being with Trump is easier; I have met with the U.S. President multiple times, and we can always find topics for discussion and decision-making; I only defend the interests of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also responded to Trump's remarks on Friday. Russian state media quoted him as saying that it is obvious Zelenskyy is unwilling to take responsibility or move toward a peaceful settlement, and here we completely agree with President Trump's point of view. Peskov also stated that Moscow deems it necessary to continue engaging with Zelenskyy, saying that even if we wanted to discuss without the participation of the current Ukrainian leadership, no issues could be discussed. Trump also criticized Zelenskyy, calling the Ukrainian leader's decision to resume attacks on Russian energy facilities on Thursday a disgrace. Trump said there are many targets that could be hit, but when you hit refineries producing diesel, it's different because we need diesel, the world needs diesel, so he did not do good for the world by doing this.
President Donald Trump stated on October 15 that Washington is holding talks with Moscow and Beijing aimed at advancing denuclearization among the countries with the largest nuclear stockpiles. In an interview with American media outlet Newsmax, President Trump remarked that the scale of China's nuclear arsenal still lags behind that of the United States and Russia, but he anticipated Beijing would catch up with the U.S. within the next five years. He noted that precisely because of this, China's willingness to disarm is relatively low, yet both sides continue to engage in discussions. President Trump told Newsmax that the entire situation is unfortunate because, if possible, he would very much like to achieve denuclearization, noting that the U.S. is actually holding talks with Russia on this and also engaging in talks with China. Newsmax reported that Trump had already spoken with Chinese President Xi Jinping regarding denuclearization, though no further details were provided.
Trump's remarks come several months after the expiration of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) earlier this year. A bilateral nuclear arms control treaty signed by the United States and Russia in 2010, it expired on February 5 of this year, and any new extension would require an executive decision by the president to voluntarily prolong the treaty's validity. In July of this year, the U.S. stated that it had monitored China test-firing an unarmed intercontinental-range ballistic missile from a submarine, with the impact area situated in the South Pacific. The U.S. Department of State criticized Beijing's rapid and opaque nuclear expansion as a matter of deep concern for the region and the world, urging China to participate in meaningful arms control discussions. On Friday, when responding to whether she could confirm that the U.S. and China are communicating on denuclearization, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning replied that China's nuclear forces are completely not in the same league as those of the U.S. and Russia. She stated that requiring China to take part in so-called trilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations between the U.S., Russia, and China at this stage is unfair, unreasonable, and unfeasible, and she emphasized that this has always been China's consistent stance.
Data released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) on June 8 indicated that as of January 2026, Russia possessed 5,420 nuclear warheads and the United States possessed 5,042, while at the same time China was expanding its nuclear arsenal faster than any other country, currently holding approximately 620 nuclear warheads. In its 2025 China Military Power Report, the U.S. Department of Defense also estimated that as of 2024, China's stockpile of operational nuclear warheads stood at around 600, adding that China is on track to deploy more than 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent called on the World Bank to stop extending sovereign loans to China and demanded that the International Monetary Fund address global economic imbalances more forcefully, including the impacts of non-market policies and exchange rates. In a policy statement submitted on October 14 to the World Bank Development Committee and the International Monetary and Financial Committee, Bessent welcomed the World Bank's plan to phase out loans to China and Poland. Bessent said the U.S. looks forward to the World Bank phasing out sovereign loans to countries that have long met the graduation criteria, calling the phase-out of lending programs for China and Poland an important milestone. However, Bessent's statements do not mean that the World Bank will immediately terminate all operations in China. According to the World Bank's new Country Partnership Framework for China for Fiscal Years 2026 to 2031, the lending volume from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) to China has already been scheduled to decrease progressively. The framework stipulates that total IBRD lending to China during this period will not exceed $2 billion, and it is anticipated that, in principle, China will no longer seek new IBRD loans by the end of the framework period.
The World Bank stated that its cooperation with China is gradually shifting from financing toward knowledge sharing, policy advice, and private sector partnerships. China has been a World Bank member since 1980 and has now also become one of the institution's contributors and donors. Bessent also called on the International Monetary Fund to strengthen its scrutiny of economic distortions caused by non-market policies and exchange rates. He stated that the IMF should further analyze how these policies generate external imbalances, warning that if the organization cannot more explicitly call out policy practices that distort competition and harm employment, it may face the risk of marginalization. Bessent did not directly name China in this portion of his speech; however, his remarks come at a time when the United States has long been focused on China's industrial subsidies, manufacturing overcapacity, and exchange rate policies.
At the same time, Bessent called on the World Bank to play a greater role in the development of critical minerals. He welcomed the World Bank's newly approved metals and minerals implementation plan and stated that the bank should support regulatory reforms, infrastructure development, local mineral processing, project financing, and risk mitigation. He also indicated that the World Bank could play a role in the emerging field of deep-sea mining. While Bessent's statement did not directly assert that these policies are designed to reduce dependence on China, Washington has in recent years designated the diversification of critical mineral supply chains as an economic and national security priority, given that China continues to hold a dominant position in the processing of numerous critical minerals used in advanced manufacturing, energy technologies, and the defense industry.
With less than three weeks until Election Day in the United States, candidates running for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives are making a final push to supporters and undecided voters. The Senate races in Texas, Michigan, and Maine are among the most critical contests in this midterm election. U.S. President Donald Trump traveled to Texas last week, a state that is one of the key battlegrounds for control of the Senate. We will get Ken Paxton elected; remember, he is probably the best attorney general in the entire United States. I think he might be the best attorney general in the history of Texas. He is very tough and has supported us all the way, so I just want to thank him; he is a very outstanding person.
Democratic candidate James Talarico stated that what will drive his campaign to victory is the people of Texas, not corporate interest groups. We have broken grassroots fundraising records and have not taken a single penny from corporate political action committees. This is a campaign driven by the power of the people. On November 3, we will achieve something extraordinary, make history, and end the 30-year one-party rule in this state. U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance traveled to Michigan this week to campaign for Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers. Rogers attacked his opponent, Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed, calling him too dangerous for Michigan. Just yesterday, Abdul refused for the second time to acknowledge his family ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. Think about what is at stake in this election, and think about what has happened recently; the people funding his campaign are also funding the Muslim Brotherhood.
El-Sayed denied these allegations, saying, so you see, he can continue to use my name, use my faith, and continue to use those scary-sounding words to describe me. He can say whatever he wants and do whatever he wants, but at the end of the day, this is not the real reason why you cannot afford the basic expenses needed for a dignified life. In Maine, five-term Republican U.S. Senator Susan Collins and Democratic challenger Troy Jackson clashed in a heated debate. First of all, I have voted nine times to stop the war in Iran, and Troy knows this very well. I also want to point out that long before we went to war with Iran, store prices in Maine had already risen by 40%. At that time, he was serving as the President of the State Senate, and he should be held responsible for this.
That was before the Iran war, before we had a conflict with Iran. Senator Collins keeps saying that he voted against the war nine times, which I am very aware of, but after it was too late, he voted five times to allow the war to happen. You know, just voting against it is not enough. I mean, he is the chairman of the Appropriations Committee; if he really wanted to stop the war, he could have cut off the funding for the war. Early voting has begun in many U.S. states, and Election Day is November 3. All 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are up for election, and 35 of the 100 seats in the U.S. Senate are also up for election. Currently, the Republican Party controls both houses of Congress.
Earlier this week, at the defense exhibition of the 2026 Association of the United States Army (AUSA) Annual Meeting held in Washington, D.C., several advanced weapon systems were unveiled, including the X-BAT vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) autonomous jet drone from the American defense startup Shield AI, Anduril's Barracuda 500M cruise missile, and Kratos's tactical fire jet drone. This Shield AI X-BAT VTOL autonomous jet system is designed specifically for highly contested theater environments such as the Indo-Pacific, allowing it to completely eliminate reliance on traditional runways. Its delta-wing tailless shape and internal weapons bay design give it extremely low radar detectability. The X-BAT uses a GE Aerospace F110-GE129 engine, the same as that on Taiwan's F-16 Block 70, paired with a vector nozzle. Its actual size is also similar to an F-16, and it features the HiveMind autonomous flight control system developed by Shield AI, capable of performing various missions such as autonomous strikes, electronic warfare, and reconnaissance.
Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration recently received its first Shield AI VBAT VTOL reconnaissance drone and will receive 12 more of the same model in the future. The X-BAT is one of the projects Shield AI is actively promoting for cooperation with Taiwan following the VBAT. The Barracuda 500M cruise missile, with a range of over 500 nautical miles, displayed by defense company Anduril at the exhibition, belongs to the air-breathing autonomous vehicle category designed and manufactured by the company for large-scale production and deployment. Steve Milano, a representative of Anduril's Advanced Effects product line, stated that regardless of the launch platform configuration, such as pylon mounting or palletized launching, the Barracuda 500 has the capability to strike fixed targets as well as moving and maneuvering targets. Therefore, the design of the 500 fully considers cost-effectiveness; its cost is only one-tenth of current active traditional strike systems. At the same time, the system is highly flexible, allowing for the integration of new mission systems to enhance performance and corresponding costs based on mission requirements, or for configuration adjustments to reduce costs when cost control and supply availability become key considerations. Anduril will co-produce the Barracuda 500 with international partners such as Poland, and Taiwan's National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology is also seeking cooperation with Anduril in this regard.
US defense company Kratos exhibited the Tactical Firejet autonomous drone at a defense expo. This autonomous drone shares the same lineage as Taiwan's Wind Sword 4 attack drone, both developed based on Kratos's MQM-178 Firejet platform. Tactical Firejet can be configured as a tactical target or a kamikaze drone according to mission requirements, while Taiwan's Wind Sword 4 attack drone combines mission payloads and guidance systems developed by the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology to meet Taiwan's needs for rapid countermeasures and long-range preemptive strikes. The Wind Sword 4 recently completed live-aircraft flight evaluations in southern Taiwan.
Aquaculture is changing the lives of rural residents in Guatemala. With the support of the international development organization World Neighbors, some remote communities are improving their diets, increasing their income, and making their livelihoods more secure through sustainable fish farming. In San Lucas Tolimán, about 110 kilometers west of Guatemala City, the capital of Guatemala, surrounded by green mountains, some families increase their income through fish farming and also gain a healthy source of protein. The fish must be fed three times a day, and after five months, they can be sold. Fish farmers keep a portion for their own consumption and sell the rest to community residents and visitors from elsewhere, with people buying one pound, two pounds, or even ten pounds. This fish farming project was launched by the international development organization World Neighbors, which is dedicated to helping some of the most remote rural communities in Asia, Africa, and Latin America alleviate hunger, poverty, and disease. World Neighbors was founded on a belief that communities have the power to change their own lives, and we are their partner, helping them achieve their goals using local materials and technology during this process.
Fish farmers raise popular tilapia, selling for 25 quetzals per pound, about $3.27. Genaro Pal has been farming fish for 16 years. He said that after deducting costs, fish farmers can make a profit of about 50%. "I raised three children through fish farming, put them through school, and was also able to supplement household income and pay some expenses." Farmed fish also provides these families with an important source of protein. "With this project, we don't worry about having no food to eat. Every week we eat fried fish, fish soup, or make fish into the local traditional dish patín." Fish farmers in San Lucas Tolimán say they hope to further expand their businesses with the help of World Neighbors. "We started with about 300 fish, and now with two projects combined, we have about 600. We are making continuous progress. They hope our next batch will be even better, and life keeps getting better." Our goal is to make them as self-reliant as possible; the more food they can produce themselves and the more income they can earn, the better. This will make life happier for communities around the world and better equip them to cope with difficulties. In Guatemala, about 1,200 fish farmers are spread across 12 communities. World Neighbors also operates fish farming projects in other countries. Fish farmers in San Lucas Tolimán hope to expand their farming scale with the continued support of World Neighbors to reach commercial-scale output, supplying sustainably farmed fish to local businesses and restaurants.
Turning to the stock market, regarding the three major stock indices on Friday: the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.34%, the S&P 500 fell 1.09%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index fell 2.14%. From Monday to Friday at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time (Tuesday to Saturday at 6:00 a.m. Beijing Time), please tune in to Voice of America Chinese radio broadcast. You are also welcome to visit the VOA Chinese website voachinese.com and follow our social media platforms such as X, YouTube, and Facebook to get more news information.
Bipartisan members of the U.S. Senate introduced a bill aiming to establish a federal critical minerals strategy and establish a National Critical Minerals Council, marking the latest measure introduced by lawmakers on critical minerals issues such as rare earths. Democratic Senator Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Democratic Senator John Hickenlooper of Colorado, Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Republican Senator Tim Sheehy of Montana, and Republican Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota cross-party introduced the National Security Minerals Council Act on October 13. The bill would create a National Critical Minerals Council responsible for developing and implementing a national strategy for critical minerals and building reliable supply chains both domestically and internationally. Senator Rosen noted in a statement that critical minerals play a crucial role in driving most modern technological innovations, including automobiles, smartphones, and defense systems. However, she noted that China dominates the global market, while the United States is 100% dependent on imports for 16 critical minerals. Rosen said that as the world races to acquire and utilize the critical minerals that drive the modern economy, the United States needs to develop an efficient and effective plan to secure access to these vital resources.
Senator Hickenlooper said in a statement that China does not need to fire a single shot, it just needs to cut off the transport of a batch of goods, and we urgently need to formulate a national strategy on critical minerals now, otherwise he said who can get supplies and who cannot will be decided by Beijing. Senator Tillis said in a statement that the United States can no longer adopt a piecemeal approach to meet our critical mineral needs. Senator Shaheen said in a statement that this is common sense, and we cannot continue to rely on adversaries like China to meet our critical mineral needs, because doing so would endanger U.S. national security and threaten our competitive advantage. Senator Cramer said in a statement that we cannot afford to increasingly rely on other countries for the critical minerals needed to drive the economy and consolidate national security, and he said our bill will establish a national critical minerals commission and integrate all federal investments and development efforts regarding critical minerals under a national strategy, and he said the demand for critical minerals is growing day by day and we must seize every opportunity to launch domestic production. According to the bill, the Secretary of the Interior, the National Security Advisor, and the Director of the National Economic Council will serve as co-chairs of the commission, and they will appoint a Chief Minerals Advisor to oversee the operation of the commission and cooperate with experts from universities, industry, national laboratories, government, tribes, non-profit organizations, and civil society. This is one of the bills related to rare earths and other critical minerals that bipartisan members of both houses of Congress have continuously introduced or passed in recent years. A bill needs to be passed by both houses of Congress in identical text versions and signed by the President to become law, and the term of the current Congress will expire in early January next year. Hickenlooper, Tillis, and others had previously introduced a bill with the same name across party lines in the last Congress, but failed to make further legislative progress.
U.S. defense technology company Shield AI said that the company has partnered with Taiwan's Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) to deliver the first VBAT vertical take-off and landing reconnaissance drone to the Coast Guard Administration of Taiwan's Ocean Affairs Council, and will deliver 12 more drones of the same type in the future to strengthen Taiwan's situational awareness of surrounding waters. Shield AI said in a press release issued on October 13 that the company won the bid for the Coast Guard's ship-borne unmanned system project in July last year, and the Coast Guard will use the ship-borne capability of the VBAT to perform reconnaissance, coastal patrol, and law enforcement missions to maintain continuous maritime situational awareness. Joseph Wu, Secretary-General of Taiwan's Presidential Office National Security Council, and Kuan Bi-ling, Minister of the Ocean Affairs Council, accompanied by Coast Guard Administration Director-General Chang Chung-lung, inspected the Coast Guard's science and technology equipment at the Taipei Port Coast Guard Base last Wednesday, which included the first VBAT delivered by Shield AI. Chen Yi-ru, Shield AI's head of Asia government relations, and engineers introduced and demonstrated the performance and operation of this drone on site. Shield AI said that engineers completed the setup within a few minutes during the demonstration at Taipei Port, demonstrating the drone's easy-to-operate characteristics and advanced technological performance in the field of marine security. The Coast Guard Administration stated in a press release issued on the same day that the successive addition of advanced unmanned vehicles symbolizes that maritime law enforcement and defense systems have entered a new era of intelligence, and the Coast Guard Administration will invest in patrols in surrounding waters on a regular basis in the future, forming a solid cooperative network with patrol vessels to build an all-weather, seamless maritime defense line.
Recently, China has increased its pressure on the waters surrounding Taiwan, and coast guard, scientific research, and official vessels frequently enter waters adjacent to Taiwan. The Taiwan Coast Guard Administration said that four Chinese coast guard vessels entered the waters of Kinmen on Tuesday, and the Coast Guard monitored the whole process and dispatched patrol vessels to drive them away. The Beijing authorities claimed that China has sovereignty over Taiwan and jurisdiction over its surrounding waters. The Taiwan government rejected China's territorial claims and pointed out that Beijing is trying to create a false impression and undermine the status quo across the Taiwan Strait. Brandon Tseng, President and co-founder of Shield AI, said that the VBAT will provide the Taiwan Coast Guard Administration with the maritime situational awareness and maritime intelligence picture it needs in the Taiwan Strait and maritime borders. He said that the VBAT has provided the same capability to the U.S. Coast Guard, helping to intercept more than 100,000 pounds of drugs in the past year alone. Shield AI's press release stated that vertical take-off and landing aircraft do not require runways, which both improves deployment flexibility and reduces costs and manpower requirements. Shield AI will build local professional capabilities in Taiwan, train the Coast Guard Administration's operators and maintenance personnel, and work with AIDC to establish a robust local support system for the VBAT.(-)
According to the U.S. Department of Defense's five-tier unmanned aircraft system classification based on maximum takeoff weight, flight altitude, and speed, the V-BAT belongs to Group 3. Equipped with a heavy fuel engine and an endurance of over 12 hours, it is an aircraft designed, tested, and deployed for contested electronic warfare environments. Shield AI said that it reached an agreement with Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) last year to enhance Taiwan's self-defense capabilities, strengthen the aerospace industry base, and promote technological innovation cooperation. Both sides are carrying out strategic cooperation through system maintenance, personnel training, and autonomous systems integration to ensure that Shield AI's products can be deployed, supported, and expanded in their applications in Taiwan. AIDC General Manager Zhuang Xiumei said that the Coast Guard Administration's adoption of the V-BAT demonstrates the effectiveness of combining Shield AI's world-class technology with AIDC's local professional capabilities. Zhuang Xiumei stated that Shield AI has continued to strengthen its presence in Taiwan over the past year and has remained dedicated to collaborating with local partners to integrate, sustain, and support advanced autonomous systems in Taiwan, giving us confidence that they are not just providing a capability, but are also committed to building local expertise and infrastructure to enhance our maritime security for years to come. Fang Yiran, a policy analyst with the National Security Division and Economic Security Division of the Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET), a Taiwanese government think tank, said in an interview with Voice of America that several U.S. drone companies, including Shield AI and another American firm, are currently collaborating with Taiwan.
Finally, let us turn our attention to Republican U.S. Senator Steve Daines, who stated that the United States should not pursue a complete decoupling from China, but rather reduce risks while maintaining engagement. He stressed that the United States needs to maintain economic and military strength and avoid further escalation of U.S.-China relations through diplomatic communication. On the Taiwan issue, Daines advocates maintaining the current course. That concludes this Chinese broadcast from Voice of America. Thank you for listening. You can also tune in to VOA's Chinese broadcasts on VOA Chinese's YouTube channel or social media platforms like Facebook. You can search for Voice of America on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to listen to our programs anytime. I'm Lin Sen, and we will see you next time.