Executive Summary: The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) will likely take many years developing into a veritable world-class aircraft enterprise. Over 1,200 orders have been placed for the new C919, primarily from domestic state-owned airlines. Comac has delivered 5 single-aisle planes to domestic airlines... MORE

Executive Summary: A new report from two high-end PRC think-tanks details the country’s path to modernization in anticipation of July’s Third Plenum but suggests that any shifts in policy direction will be muted. The report emphasizes the triumph of Chinese-style modernization over the Western model... MORE

Executive Summary: The Safeguarding National Security Ordinance (SNSO) introduced under Article 23 of the Basic Law prohibits five types of activities which HKSAR officials intend to declare as “offenses,” and has proposed provisions which are vague and criminalize the peaceful exercise of human rights while... MORE

Executive Summary: Consolidation and refinement of military information power capabilities within the new Information Support Force (ISF) continues to reflect the PLA’s outsized emphasis on battlespace information control in multi-domain integrated joint operations. The April 2024 reorganization eliminated the Strategic Support Force and subordinated the... MORE

Executive Summary: People’s Armed Forces Departments (PAFD), or People’s militias, have grown under Xi Jinping. This reflects apprehension about domestic security rather than any serious effort at wartime preparedness. PAFD units are staffed by military and civilian employees from local governments. They are responsible for... MORE

Executive Summary: The Comprehensive National Security Concept has expanded over the last decade to cover areas the People’s Republic of China (PRC) perceives to be its territory, which now includes the deep sea, space, and digital networks. Xi Jinping has pushed the totalizing conception of... MORE

Executive Summary: The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Strategic Support Force likely was designed principally as a transitional structure meant to provide a home for disparate space, cyber, and informatization forces until their force structure could be developed enough to stand as independent branches. The successor... MORE

Executive Summary: For first time since establishing its forced labor taskforce in 2001, the International Labour Organization (ILO) has issued authoritative and comprehensive guidance on operationalizing the research and measurement of forced labor, updating its more provisional guidelines from 2012. The new ILO Handbook adds... MORE

Executive Summary: Xi Jinping is unequivocal that US-China AI cooperation is contingent on Western AI technology flowing into the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Broken promises from past US-China technology transfers suggest the PRC will once again use US technology to strengthen censorship and surveillance... MORE

Executive Summary: Recent data from China shows a decline in fertility rates in the countryside as well as in the cities. This complicates hopes that rural women could alleviate the declining birthrate. Demographic decline is increasingly a concern for policymakers. The population was found to... MORE