Executive Summary: Azerbaijan has pursued proactive diplomacy to strengthen its role as a transit hub since the beginning of Russia’s war against Ukraine in 2022, especially with the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Transit through Azerbaijan offers a sanction-free, resilient, and stable environment to facilitate... MORE

Executive Summary: Beijing and Budapest have reportedly finalized the details of an extradition treaty that reflects Beijing’s growing involvement in Hungary’s internal security. The new treaty comes as the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has begun investing heavily in various sectors of the Hungarian economy.... MORE

Executive Summary: Saw Chit Thu is a warlord active in Karen State in southeastern Myanmar. Thu’s Karen Border Guard Force controls a stretch of the Thai–Myanmar border. Once an ally of the ruling junta, Thu appears to have switched sides after witnessing the rebels’ military... MORE

Executive Summary: Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Tianjin on August 31 and September 1, and the Victory Day military parade on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on September 3. Putin likely... MORE

Executive Summary: Beijing’s relentless pressure on Taiwan now includes oil rigs: twelve permanent or semi-permanent structures and dozens of associated ships. The structures, which are owned by state-owned firm CNOOC, include seven rig structures, three floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels, and two semi-submersible... MORE

Executive Summary: For the first time, an official PRC publication explicitly defines its goal to “establish a world-class army” (建设世界一流军队) standards as equivalent to the “world’s strongest military”(​​实力最强的军队), marking a direct competitive framework with the United States and other leading powers. Released weeks before the... MORE

Executive Summary: The People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) upcoming military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII will serve as both a symbolic display and an operational exercise, highlighting the PLA’s advancements in new combat domains—such as unmanned systems, directed energy, and... MORE

Executive Summary: This August, 62 experts from the fields of science and technology, philosophy and social sciences, and basic research were invited to take a vacation and meet with senior officials in Beidaihe as part of an annual tradition that dates back to at least... MORE

Executive Summary: Since 2015, Beijing has pursued a whole-of-nation strategy to dominate intelligent robotics, combining vertical integration, policy coordination, rapid deployment, and local experimentation. This approach has already achieved several of its core objectives. Policy documents articulate an official focus on core trends and technologies... MORE

Executive Summary: The One Belt One Road initiative is evolving, with Chinese enterprises beginning to localize. In Algeria, this has led to increased exposure to the corruption and mismanagement that continue to plague the country’s economy. This is leading to tensions with Beijing’s pragmatic commitment... MORE