Executive Summary: The People’s Republic of China (PRC) frames people-to-people exchange programs as benign cultural and educational efforts, but in reality, they serve to advance the Chinese Communist Party’s agendas—such as the “community of common destiny for mankind”—and bolster the PRC’s geopolitical aims. While the... MORE

Executive Summary: Chinese military experts are incorporating lessons from Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on the use and importance of drones and autonomous systems, which is reshaping the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) strategic planning and operational doctrine. In simulated Taiwan Strait scenarios, the PLA has... MORE

Executive Summary: Two waves of recent purges in the People’s Liberation Army have focused on Xi Jinping’s two major bases of support, the Shaanxi Gang and the Fujian Clique, likely eroding his power over the military. A series of articles in the PLA Daily in... MORE

Executive Summary: Creative legal strategies have been deployed in recent years to support a justification for a blockade around Taiwan. International law contains the concept of a “long-distance blockade” and the “continuous voyage doctrine” that could both be invoked to restrict access to Taiwan by... MORE

Executive Summary: Fujian Province’s new “Measures for Guaranteeing Militia Rights and Interests” aim to incentivize maximum readiness for forces who likely will be key in any campaign against Taiwan. The measures provide financial support and other perks in an attempt to motivate troops and promote... MORE

Executive Summary: Corruption within the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has stymied efforts to deepen coordination in the military-industrial sector and related military equipment departments. The substance of Xi Jinping’s speech to military delegates at the Two Sessions was similar to his 2019 speech, focusing on... MORE

Executive Summary: The annual “Two Sessions” meetings in Beijing are increasingly insignificant affairs, as the lack of genuine policy announcements and restrictions on delegates reduces the space for consultation and deliberation. The government unveiled a new RMB 1 trillion national innovation investment guidance fund, but... MORE

Executive Summary: President Xi Jinping unveiled the “2025 Action Plan to Stabilize Foreign Investment” and met with leading entrepreneurs for the first time in seven years, in an effort to reinvigorate the private sector and court foreign investment. The plan seeks foreign investment in sectors... MORE

Executive Summary: The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is using the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War to promote a distorted version of history in order to  stoke patriotism among the Chinese people. Official remembering of the war has changed over the... MORE

Executive Summary: Beijing’s economic control of port operations at strategic chokepoints across the world, many of which are part of the Maritime Silk Road initiative, pose a threat to the United States and its allies. Two Chinese state-owned firms, COSCO and China Merchant Ports, control... MORE