Executive Summary: Military procurement documents show that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is adopting homegrown artificial intelligence (AI) systems like DeepSeek to accelerate its shift toward “intelligentized warfare.” PLA experts describe DeepSeek not as a single product but as an evolving system architecture. They envision... MORE

Executive Summary: Trade between the United States and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is now defined by selective weaponization, not interdependence or decoupling. Both sides are learning to use high-value channels of exchange—technology, materials, and capital—as instruments to shape the other’s behavior. Neither seeks... MORE

Executive Summary: The People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) influence in Central Asia is growing, and it presents a greater challenge to Russia, the traditional regional hegemon, through multilateral summits such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the China–Central Asia Summit. PRC–Central Asia cooperation is... MORE

Executive Summary: A humanoid robotics ecosystem is developing in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). A vertically integrated supply chain is improving global competitiveness and market share in core component technologies. In most segments, Western firms remain dominant. PRC firms note that they are constrained... MORE

Executive Summary: The PLA’s new regulation on political cadres aims to reform a deeply entrenched political work system by emphasizing impartial personnel management and personal discipline. The regulation defines behavioral standards for political cadres across three main categories: core political logic, operational priorities, and personal... MORE

Executive Summary: Xi Jinping’s personal imprimatur on the Party-state’s policies in Xinjiang are unambiguous, according to a new white paper published to coincide with a central-level delegation to the region in late September. The Party uses cultural and historical arguments to justify its ongoing policies... MORE

Executive Summary: Leading candidates in the KMT party chair elections strongly self-identify as Chinese and are advocating to resolve cross-Strait tensions with a dialogue approach rooted in the 1992 Consensus. Notably lacking amongst the leading candidates is someone who represents the “Taiwanese” faction of the... MORE

Executive Summary: Pursuit of artificial general intelligence (AGI) is a top-priority project within the Party’s increasingly centralized technology planning apparatus. Its success would both close the gap with U.S. firms and bind AGI models to Party-state governance, shaping how intelligent systems are aligned, deployed, and... MORE

Executive Summary: Since 1992, the Party has enshrined seven national development strategies in the Party Charter, embedding development of “comprehensive national power” (CNP) at the heart of its approach to governance. In the first phase (1992–2008), three strategies focused on strengthening science and education, as... MORE

Executive Summary: Tibet’s Yarlung Tsangpo hydropower project, which broke ground in July, is set to become the world’s largest hydrpower installation. Officials see it as a key pillar of the PRC’s energy sovereignty and a step toward implementing the “total national security concept” and the... MORE