Voice of America Chinese Broadcast (October 3, 2026) U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent Says Tehran Failed to Export Any Crude Oil in September Due to U.S. Naval Blockade and Mounting Economic Pressure on the Iranian Regime
This episode mainly broadcasts multiple international and regional news items: US Treasury Secretary Bessent stated that due to a military blockade and economic pressure, Iran failed to export crude oil in September; Russian attacks forced the closure of three bridges in Kyiv; the death toll from the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo exceeded 4,000; Taiwan received its first batch of F-16V fighter jets and reassigned a Navy vice admiral to the Coast Guard Administration; the National Gallery of Art in the United States is holding an art exhibition for the country's 250th anniversary; SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft astronauts arrived at the International Space Station; four US senators urged the Department of Justice to investigate Chinese criminal organizations involved in illegal marijuana; the Philippine Coast Guard drove away a Chinese research vessel, and more.
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Hello, dear listeners and friends. Welcome to Voice of America's Chinese broadcast. I am Li Sen. Broadcasting to you from the US capital, Washington. The main contents of today's program include: US Treasury Secretary Bessent stated that due to US military blockades and increasing economic pressure against the Iranian regime, Tehran failed to export any crude oil in September. The Kyiv city government said that Russian attacks on October 2 forced the closure or partial closure of three bridges in the Ukrainian capital, causing severe traffic congestion. Four Republican senators recently wrote a letter to the US Attorney General asking the Department of Justice to investigate Chinese criminal organizations operating illegal marijuana and hemp businesses. The four astronauts carried by the US Dragon spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station on October 1, with the flight taking about 8 hours, setting a record for the speed of US manned spaceflight.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that due to US military blockades and increasing economic pressure against the Iranian regime, Tehran failed to export any crude oil in September. Bessent posted on X on October 1 that the amount of crude oil loaded onto tankers by Iran in September was zero. The Trump administration is cutting off the Iranian regime's most important source of revenue. The economic isolation action is severing Tehran's economic lifeline for funding its terrorist agenda. What Bessent referred to was a massive economic action launched by the Treasury Department on August 24. The US government stated that the action aims to cut off Iran's trade and financial lifelines. In mid-July, the US accused Iran of violating the temporary ceasefire agreement by opening fire on merchant ships, and therefore reimposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports and oil terminals. Iran, in turn, accused the US of violating the agreement and attempting to open another transport route without its participation. The dispute between the two sides subsequently escalated into mutual attacks. The US military reported that as of September 30, Central Command forces had guided 125 merchant ships to reroute to ensure strict compliance requirements. Last week, Iran proposed a 7-day ceasefire and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for unfreezing its assets, lifting the US blockade, and allowing Iran to sell oil. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said that in a region where we cannot sell oil, no one else should even think of selling oil. US President Trump stated that Iran's proposal was not enough and therefore rejected it. International benchmark Brent crude traded below $100 on Friday, while US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude prices hovered around $89. The US side stated that the volume of oil transported through the Strait of Hormuz is increasing, emphasizing that traffic has sometimes reached or even exceeded pre-conflict levels. Global land and water energy analysis companies reported this week that most tankers currently turn off their identification systems when passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
The Kyiv city government said that Russian attacks on Friday, October 2, forced the closure or partial closure of three bridges over the Dnipro River in the Ukrainian capital, causing severe traffic congestion. Some residents had to wade across the river to hear reports. The Kyiv City Military Administration stated on Telegram that the South Bridge, which serves both highway and subway traffic in Kyiv, was attacked multiple times on Thursday and again at night. The bridge was closed in both directions. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that traffic on the metro bridge was restricted to a single lane. The Paton Bridge was closed in one direction. Several bus and tram lines were rerouted. According to Ukrainian media reports, traffic resumed around noon. Officials said that elsewhere in the Ukrainian capital, a nighttime drone strike caused a fire on the upper floors of an apartment building, resulting in one death and two injuries. Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov stated on Telegram that guided bombs struck residential areas in Kharkiv on Friday, causing one death and nine injuries, including children. The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that Russian military drones attacked a bridge in Kyiv, a power station in the surrounding area, the port of Izmail, and a cargo ship. All these targets were used for military purposes. The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that air defense forces shot down 646 Ukrainian drones overnight. Diplomatically, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that Ukraine has received four ceasefire proposals from India, Turkey, Egypt, and the US. He told reporters in Kyiv that we are willing to achieve a ceasefire in the energy sector and the Black Sea region, but it must be in both areas. He noted that India's proposal has the broadest scope, while Washington's proposal only covers the energy sector. He said that Kyiv remains willing to achieve an unconditional ceasefire along the front lines. Moscow rejected the temporary ceasefire agreement, stating that a comprehensive solution must be reached first. Sybiha also mentioned that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed the US proposal when he met with US President Donald Trump in New York on September 22.
According to the latest data released by the Ministry of Health of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Thursday, October 1, the Ebola outbreak in the country has caused more than 4,000 deaths. Authorities are struggling to control this Ebola outbreak, which has become the fastest-spreading in history. Data shows that since the outbreak began on May 15, a total of 8,300 cases have been confirmed across 7 provinces, with 4,0018 deaths. More than 2,000 patients have recovered. This outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus. There are currently no approved vaccines or treatments. This is the 17th Ebola outbreak in Congo's history and the largest and deadliest in the country's history. Its scale is second only to the 2014-2016 West Africa outbreak. That outbreak infected more than 28,600 people and killed at least 11,000 in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. The United Nations said that earlier this week, a camp for displaced persons in Kigonze, on the outskirts of Bunia in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which did not have an Ebola transit center, was burned down by soldiers searching for weapons, forcing 19,000 people to flee. UN Ebola Senior Coordinator Julien Harnes said in a statement that when we lose a center, it means we lose capacity, we lose investment, and we have to start from scratch. Most importantly, it means people cannot get the care they truly need. Healthcare workers in Bunia held a protest on Thursday demanding payment of overdue wages.
The first two of the 66 brand-new F-16 fighter jets purchased by Taiwan arrived in Taiwan on Friday, October 2. Taiwan President Lai Ching-te posted on Facebook, thanking the U.S. government for its long-term support in enhancing Taiwan's self-defense capabilities and stating that the addition of these new fighter jets is an important step in improving Taiwan's air defense capabilities. Let's listen to the report by VOA reporter Liu Yiming. Two F-16 C/D Block 70 fighter jets, numbered 6727 and 6728, commonly known as F-16V Block 70, flew to the Taitung Zhihang Air Base in Taiwan on Friday, October 2. This is the first batch of deliveries since Taiwan ordered 66 of these aircraft in 2019. A folded national flag was placed in front of the cockpit of the first aircraft to land, 6728. Taiwan President Lai Ching-te stated on Facebook that this is an important step in improving Taiwan's air defense capabilities, demonstrating Taiwan's firm determination to strengthen self-defense and ensure peace with strength. Compared with the 139 F-16V Block 20 aircraft currently in service in Taiwan, which have been upgraded under the Fengzhan project with the APG-83 AESA active electronically scanned array radar, the most obvious difference in the appearance of the Block 70 is the addition of removable conformal fuel tanks on both sides of the fuselage, which can extend air superiority time and expand the combat radius. Because the Block 70 is equipped with the brand-new General Electric Aerospace F110-GE129 turbofan engine, the maximum thrust reaches 29,000 pounds. The configuration near the engine nozzle is wider than the older Block 20. The military community jokingly refers to this as the difference between a small mouth and a big mouth. The brand-new airframe design allows for a service life of 12,000 flight hours, an increase of more than 50% over the old design life. Taiwan's Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo stated that the delivery of subsequent fighter jets is being continuously planned, and the new fighter jets will enter the eastern region of Taiwan in the future. I think we will plan the subsequent deliveries with the U.S. project office. Since they are currently on the production line and have passed the tests, I think we will coordinate the ferry time with the U.S. side. We now need to maintain our strategic depth. I think these F-16s are important for our strategic preservation, and the eastern region is an important area for our strategic preservation. I don't think we will disclose too many other details. Taiwan's F-16 C/D Block 70 fighter jets will have the AN/ALQ-254(V)1 Viper Shield electronic warfare system built-in, which has the functions of DRFM (Digital Radio Frequency Memory) and DRWR (Digital Radar Warning Receiver) to detect, identify, and counter electronic threats. U.S. defense company Elbit Systems of America stated in early September that it had completed the first batch of 35 Viper Shield electronic warfare systems, which can fully interoperate with the aircraft's advanced APG-83 active electronically scanned array radar. VOA reporter Liu Yiming reporting from Washington.
The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., is exhibiting artworks that record important moments in American history and culture to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. These exhibits tell the story of a young America's development from the colonial period to the early 20th century. Listen to this Voice of America report. How does a museum with a collection of 75,000 artworks choose from them to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States? The National Gallery of Art tells the story of the country by exhibiting artworks that reflect America's rich and diverse history and culture. Walk through our galleries and you will see American artists recording the lives of Americans with various themes: our environment, our traditions, and the people around us. American landscape painting is one of the most important subjects in American art. Many artists in this gallery are representatives of the Hudson River School. This school can be said to be America's first truly indigenous art movement. This is an important work created by Jasper Francis Cropsey in 1860 entitled Autumn on the Hudson River. As you can see, this is a grand painting depicting the Hudson River Valley. When this work was exhibited in London, it caused a sensation. The colors of the painting were so vivid and intense that many Londoners did not believe it was a real scenery, thinking it could not be so realistic. The American Civil War was another important turning point in American history and also became an important subject for artists. In the early 1880s, the famous American sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens created the Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial to commemorate Colonel Robert Shaw and other famous African Americans of the 54th Regiment he led. This was a very brave regiment. Many of them gave their lives. This work is to commemorate their bravery. On the other side of the gallery is Archibald Motley's 1922 work Portrait of My Grandmother. Motley's grandmother was once a slave from Louisiana who worked on a plantation at the time. She experienced the American Civil War, gained her freedom, and later traveled with her family to Chicago as part of the Great Migration. Her grandson Archibald Motley grew up to be an artist there. The American government and democratic system are also reflected in these collections. Samuel Morse's The House of Representatives depicts a night session of the U.S. House of Representatives. The portrait of George Washington recalls this first U.S. president and leader of the American Revolutionary War. Other works show the optimistic atmosphere after the American Civil War. Thomas Cole's four-part series The Voyage of Life depicts the journey of life from birth to death, offering a broader reflection on the passage of time. I think when people come here in person and see the works, a complete society is presented before them. They will learn about some important historical figures, understand why they are important, and why we should remember them. For 250 years, American artists have recorded the people, places, and experiences that shaped this country, leaving a historical record of America that is still evolving and changing. Voice of America TV report.
Four astronauts carried by SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station on October 1. This flight took about 8 hours, setting a record for the speed of American manned space flight. The four astronauts will carry out scientific missions on the International Space Station, studying human health in a space environment and conducting experiments such as crop cultivation research in a space environment. Listen to NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins talk about her feelings. Hello Houston. Hello International Space Station. We are so happy to be here. This journey was just too fast. I can't believe we've arrived here. We are very happy to work with the members of the space station's 75th long-duration crew. It's amazing and unexpected that the journey here was so short, but the road here was so long. We are really happy to be here. Thank you to the 75th long-duration crew for giving us such a warm welcome. We are happy to join you and hope to start working as soon as possible. Thank you all very much. On Friday, the stock market's three major indexes, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.49%, the S&P 500 index rose 0.73%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1.19%.
On September 30, four Republican U.S. Senators sent a letter to the U.S. Attorney General, demanding that the Department of Justice investigate Chinese criminal organizations operating illegal marijuana and hemp businesses. The senators stated that recent reports and investigations indicate that Chinese criminal networks are exploiting loopholes in U.S. federal law to operate large-scale drug businesses, thereby threatening U.S. communities and national security. Here is the report from Voice of America. Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, Maine Senator Susan Collins, Nebraska Senator Pete Ricketts, and North Carolina Senator Ted Budd wrote to Attorney General Todd Blanche. In their letter, they cited the 2025 National Drug Threat Assessment released by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which points out that Chinese transnational criminal organizations dominate marijuana cultivation and distribution activities within the United States, especially in states where the marijuana market has been legalized. The senators wrote that these organizations purchase and lease U.S. land for illegal cultivation, traffic foreign labor, and use toxic pesticides and fertilizers shipped from China, including chemical substances explicitly banned in the United States. The letter states that the scale and complexity of these criminal networks make them difficult to track and raise concerns about other illegal or synthetic products being introduced into the U.S. market. The four Republican senators mentioned in the letter cases involving Chinese citizens in illegal cultivation and distribution in recent years, including 29 Chinese citizens who were charged this April for their involvement in a black-market marijuana operation centered in Oklahoma that spanned the entire United States. In a recent case, local authorities in California uncovered a massive, industrial-scale illegal cultivation network, with many of the grow sites operated by Chinese citizens. They noted in the letter that these growers are allegedly involved in human trafficking, violent crime, and the use of toxic foreign pesticides. However, the scale of these operations and the shell games used in property records make dismantling them complicated. The lawmakers also addressed loopholes in existing federal law regarding marijuana toxicity standards, noting that failure to close these loopholes would give these criminal networks more time to dump synthetic products into the U.S. commercial market on a large scale. Furthermore, they said this would further consolidate their operations within the United States, using illegal proceeds to fund their enterprises and exposing consumers to synthetic products that are disguised as legal hemp but are unregulated and dangerous. The letter stated that Congress has recognized the need to close this loophole, and reform measures will take effect on December 11 of this year. The four Republican senators told Blanche that while this will address the issue of harmful products currently on the market, the question of who is funding and supporting these organizations operating within the industry remains. We therefore request that the Department of Justice conduct a comprehensive investigation into these criminal networks, including their financing, land use, chemical imports, and any ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
While Taiwan faces increasingly aggressive military harassment by China in the waters surrounding it, the Taiwan government has transferred a Navy vice admiral to the Coast Guard Administration as deputy director-general to strengthen the peacetime-to-wartime transition and coordination between the Navy and the Coast Guard, in order to cope with the increasingly severe maritime security environment in the surrounding areas and enhance deterrence against China's gray-zone harassment. Let us listen to the report by Voice of America reporter Zhong Chenfang. On Thursday, October 1, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te presided over the promotion and handover ceremony for general officers at the President's Office. Yuan Shenghua, deputy chief of staff of the Navy Headquarters who had been approved for promotion to vice admiral, was transferred to the Coast Guard Administration of the Ocean Affairs Council to serve as deputy director-general. According to a press release from the President's Office, Yuan Shenghua previously served as director of the Strategic Research and Planning Division of the Ministry of National Defense's Department of Strategic Planning, and also served as commander of a naval fleet and director of the Combat Readiness and Training Division, possessing a deep mastery of naval strategic planning and unit combat readiness training. Lai Ching-te said that the Navy and the Coast Guard must have closer cooperation in order to respond to rapidly changing maritime situations. Both sides must share maritime intelligence and ensure the stable operation of command and communications under various circumstances. He expects Yuan Shenghua to utilize his past experience to promote collaboration between the Navy and the Coast Guard, strengthen the sharing of maritime intelligence and resources, closely connect maritime sharp-end operations and emergency response, and jointly safeguard Taiwan's maritime territory. Although it has never governed Taiwan, the Beijing authorities claim that Taiwan is its territory, do not recognize Taipei's sovereignty or its jurisdiction over the surrounding waters, and do not hesitate to use force to achieve reunification. In recent years, Chinese military aircraft and warships have operated around Taiwan almost every day. Over the past two years, Chinese coast guard vessels have also frequently conducted so-called law enforcement patrols around Taiwan and even in its eastern waters. The frequency of Chinese scientific research vessels entering Taiwan's restricted waters has also increased, with suspected hydrographic data collection operations arousing high alertness in Taiwan. The Coast Guard Administration is also stepping up patrols and implementing necessary expulsions. Facing harassment by the Chinese Navy, Coast Guard, and research vessels in the surrounding waters, Taiwan is enhancing the Coast Guard's response capabilities while also guarding against the Beijing authorities using their so-called joint combat readiness patrols or law enforcement patrols to assert jurisdiction over Taiwan on the one hand, and to conduct rehearsals for an invasion of Taiwan on the other. In the most recent Han Kuang exercise, the Coast Guard Administration and the Navy coordinated actions to conduct anti-blockade drills. Following the handover ceremony at the Taiwan President's Office, Yuan Shenghua immediately went to the Ocean Affairs Council's Coast Guard Administration to take the oath of office as deputy director-general. The Coast Guard Administration said in a statement that Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling presided over the swearing-in ceremony and stated that, facing China's gray-zone harassment and composite state security threats, the Coast Guard Administration's arrangement for Yuan Shenghua's transfer and promotion to deputy director-general is based on professional and mission-complementary considerations, responding to the special nature of maritime and river defense and the peacetime-to-wartime transition. The current Coast Guard leadership team possesses deep expertise in judicial enforcement, maritime search and rescue, and coastal patrol; introducing a professional general with senior fleet maneuver and strategic coordination experience can timely strengthen the intelligence sharing, direct communication, and peacetime-to-wartime transition efficacy between the Coast Guard and the national military, building a more solid maritime security defense line, Kuan Bi-ling said. She also stated that the Coast Guard and the Navy are fundamentally one family, and she hopes Yuan Shenghua will bring naval tactical thinking into the Coast Guard, injecting new functions into the peacetime-to-wartime transition and effectively connecting the communication channels among the military, police, and Coast Guard to deepen sea-air joint defense and emergency response mechanisms. The Coast Guard Administration said that to cope with the situation in Taiwan's surrounding waters and geopolitical changes, the Coast Guard Administration has added a third deputy director-general in accordance with its organizational law to accelerate the advancement of sea-air integrated strategy construction, technological transformation, and peacetime-to-wartime transition tasks, safeguarding a maritime defense line spanning up to 540,000 square kilometers. Meanwhile, Reuters said in an exclusive report that although Chinese leader Xi Jinping has asked the People's Liberation Army to prepare to use force to take Taiwan by 2027 if necessary, multiple sources familiar with American thinking say that U.S. officials believe the possibility of Xi Jinping invading Taiwan before 2028 is increasingly low. 2027, also known as the Davidson Window, is the timeline previously mentioned by former U.S. Indo-Pacific Commander Philip Davidson in congressional hearings regarding when China might take military action against Taiwan.
The Philippine Coast Guard stated on Thursday, October 1st, that the Philippine side successfully expelled a Chinese research vessel operating in the waters north of Batanes Province, near Taiwan, by deploying one of its largest ships and an aircraft. Let's listen to the report. During the process of the Philippine ship and aircraft expelling the Chinese research vessel, a Chinese coast guard ship arrived at the scene and had a brief standoff with the Philippine vessel, but it did not prevent the research vessel from leaving. Batanes is the northernmost province of the Philippines, separated from Taiwan's Orchid Island by the Bashi Channel, with a distance of about 99 kilometers between them. Jay Tarriela, the spokesperson for the Philippine Coast Guard responsible for South China Sea affairs, said they interrupted the vessel's unauthorized marine scientific research activities and forced it to leave its position. The Chinese research vessel, named Jia Geng 7, had previously been accused by the Philippine Coast Guard of falsifying its location information while lingering near the waters of Batanes. The Philippine Coast Guard stated that they deployed the 97-meter-long patrol vessel BRP Teresa Magbanua and an aircraft. They accused the Chinese vessel of having remained about 37 nautical miles northwest of Itbayat Island since September 28th. Reuters quoted the Philippine Coast Guard as saying that the BRP Teresa Magbanua approached within 100 yards of the Jia Geng 7, lowered a rigid-hulled inflatable boat to circle the research vessel several times, and issued radio challenges. According to the Philippine side, during the operation, the Chinese research vessel changed course multiple times to evade the Philippine ship. A Chinese coast guard ship subsequently arrived at the scene, attempting to shield the research vessel and issuing radio challenges to the Philippine ship. The Philippine Coast Guard pointed out that the Jia Geng 7 claimed to be a private vessel, but the intervention of the Chinese coast guard ship raised external questions about its relationship with the Chinese government. The Philippine side believes this also raises concerns that the research vessel might be collecting data on undersea cable channels near Batanes and the Luzon Strait, as well as concerns regarding the use of such data. The Philippine Coast Guard stated that its expulsion operation is still ongoing, but it has currently forced the Jia Geng 7 to leave its lingering position. The BRP Teresa Magbanua continues to monitor the vessel to ensure it leaves the Philippine exclusive economic zone. Tarriela posted on social media, noting that the Coast Guard's Islander 251 aircraft circled in the air multiple times to support the maritime operation, and vowed to continue challenging, interfering with, and expelling the research vessel until it leaves Philippine waters. Guo Wei, deputy spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Manila, posted on social media on Thursday, claiming that the Chinese research vessel was conducting normal operations in waters under Chinese jurisdiction at the time and accused the Philippines of harassment. Guo Wei urged the Philippines to stop provocative interference with China's normal scientific research activities. Tarriela immediately retorted on social media, stating that the Philippine Coast Guard will continue to oppose and expel those Chinese research vessels that have no permission or right to conduct research in our waters. The sovereignty dispute between the Philippines and China in the South China Sea has a long history. The Philippines and Japan decided in May this year to launch formal negotiations on delineating overlapping exclusive economic zones and continental shelves, which angered Beijing. China not only lodged strong protests with both the Philippines and Japan but also claimed that the bilateral measures between the Philippines and Japan were illegal and invalid, on the grounds that these waters belong to Chinese jurisdictional waters extending from Taiwan. Since some Chinese researchers proposed in June this year that the Batanes Islands are a natural geographical extension of Taiwan and therefore fall within the scope of Chinese sovereignty, disputes and conflicts surrounding these waters have become particularly noteworthy. Although this claim has not been officially recognized by Beijing.