Executive Summary: The Spring Festival Gala, which had 16.8 billion views across all media platforms this year, is the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) annual message to the Chinese people and is used to celebrate the last year’s achievements and list priorities for the new year.... MORE

Executive Summary: The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has officially approved a 60-gigawatt hydropower dam on the Yarlung Zangbo river in Tibet, estimated to cost over 1 trillion renminbi ($137 billion) and surpass the capacity of the Three Gorges Dam. The project aligns with national... MORE

Executive Summary: New deep-sea technologies, growing influence in the International Seabed Authority, and domestic legislation are part of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) ambitions to become a strong maritime power. The PRC is the world’s largest net importer of critical minerals, a potential vulnerability... MORE

Executive Summary: Talent flows uncovered between Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s (TSMC) operations in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and several sanctioned PRC firms constitute risks to the company’s position at the leading edge of the global chip industry. TSMC’s transition to encompass other parts... MORE

Executive Summary: The PRC is tempering its criticisms of the United States and other powerful countries in the early part of the Trump administration in a seeming attempt to foster a stable external environment while it continues to enhance its national power. Official PRC media... MORE

Executive Summary:  Russia is increasingly involved in Southeast Asia’s nuclear energy market, most recently vis-a-vis the signing of a new memorandum on the development of nuclear energy between Rosatom and Vietnam Electricity.   Once established, nuclear energy cooperation creates long-term commitments associated with power plant maintenance,... MORE

Executive Summary: The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), or Middle Corridor, has evolved as a key alternative for trade between Europe and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) due to sanctions against Russia. The route bypasses Russia and transits through Central Asia, the Caucasus, and... MORE

Executive Summary: The beginning of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration highlights contrasting views of Russia’s war in Ukraine. The West views it as a non-sensical distortion that should be stopped, and Russian President Vladimir Putin views it as a confrontation with the West. The state... MORE

Executive Summary: Taiwan is acting against media organizations operating in the country that are affiliated with the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) party-state. In early January, Taiwan’s government revoked the operating license of the magazine Strait Herald following revelations about its influence and infiltration activities.... MORE

Executive Summary: Twan Mrat Naing is the leader of one of the major anti-junta ethnic factions in Myanmar, the Arakan Army (AA). Twan has pushed fairly successfully for a separate Rakhine State under his leadership, either independent or in confederation with a new national government... MORE