Executive Summary: Uzbekistan is pursuing nuclear power cooperation with both Russia and the People’s Republic of China (PRC), aiming to become a nuclear energy hub in Central Asia. Tashkent is hedging against risks in working with Moscow due to Russia’s weakened economic position amid international... MORE

Executive Summary: Menase Tabuni became chairman of United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) in 2023, replacing Benny Wenda’s “government-in-waiting” of the Papuan independence movement with a new constitution and headquarters in Vanuatu, sparking a bitter leadership split. Wenda, backed by the West Papua People’s... 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: Russia has become increasingly dependent on trade with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with more than a third of Russia’s total trade turnover being generated by the PRC. The recent memorandum on the development... MORE

Executive Summary: The parade equipment of the Cyberspace Force indicates that the PLA has drawn lessons from the Russia–Ukraine war, seeking to avoid making the same communications mistakes on future battlefields. The reorganized Cyberspace Force has already demonstrated its battlefield communications capability during disaster relief... MORE

Executive Summary: A new documentary on the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), Gongjian, presents an array of military hardware while showcasing operational competence. Highlighting the latest Fujian-class aircraft carrier and recent nuclear missiles tests while underscoring Party loyalty and spirit of sacrifice, the documentary signals to... 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: Beijing has shifted its rare earth management model to a “total volume control” system, in which annual production caps are set centrally and allocated directly to enterprises. This reflects tighter centralization and a new focus on controlling overall output rather than mandating production... MORE