Latest Articles about Espionage

The Cross-Strait Intelligence Contest Continues Without Quarter
Last week, the Taiwan High Court found retired air force Colonel Liu Sheng-shu (劉聖恕) and five serving military officers guilty of espionage for China. The court sentenced Colonel Liu and two of his co-conspirators to approximately 20 years in prison, marking some of the harshest... MORE

Hong Kong: The Keystone in China’s Economic Statecraft
The recent decision by Hong Kong to join China in banning Japanese seafood took many observers by surprise (Reuters, August 23). At first glance, the ban seemed an overblown reaction to Japan's handling of nuclear wastewater, which many international bodies have deemed safe and compliant... MORE

The Real U.S.-China 5G Contest is Just Getting Started
Introduction On June 6, China declared the three-year anniversary of its business deployment of 5G, with the country having invested nearly 185 billion yuan in related infrastructure in 2021 alone (Xinhua Baoye, June 5). However, China’s 5G ambitions, which continue to form a substantial component... MORE

China Closes its Windows to the World: When Will They Reopen?
Throughout the pandemic, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has focused on sharply limiting international travel as a risk vector for the spread of COVID-19, and as a result has kept its borders largely closed. As Beijing edges closer to a total shutdown and lockdowns... MORE

Who Is Losing Belarus?
On October 7, the European Parliament (EP) passed a resolution demanding that the European Union (EU) impose the fifth package of economic sanctions on Belarus, including additional sectors, such as metallurgy, woodworking, and chemical. According to the EP, the sanctions should affect “all remaining uncovered... MORE

Divide, Depoliticize, and Demobilize: China’s Strategies for Controlling the Tibetan Diaspora
Introduction Last fall, the Tibetan community in New York City was scandalized by news that a New York Police Department (NYPD) officer named Baimadajie Angwang, allegedly of Tibetan ethnicity, had been arrested and charged with spying on the local Tibetan community for the Chinese Communist... MORE

How Long Is Ramzan Kadyrov’s Long Arm?
The German Federal Prosecutor's Office (GBA) is investigating a case of an employee of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania who is suspected of divulging classified information (Spiegel, July 2). On the same day of... MORE

The Hijacking of the Ryanair Flight Over Belarus: A Russian ‘Reflexive Control’ Operation?
The Belarusian authorities’ forced landing of the Vilnius-bound Ryanair Flight 4978 at Minsk airport, on May 23, and the arrest of the opposition NEXTA Telegram channel founder Roman Protasevich, who was traveling aboard the plane, raised the political crisis happening inside Belarus since last August... MORE

China’s Tactics for Targeting the Uyghur Diaspora in Turkey
Introduction: Sino-Turkish Relations and the Uyghur Diaspora Relations between Turkey and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have been strained by the situation in China’s northwestern region of Xinjiang (also known as East Turkestan), where the party-state has been subjecting over 14 million Uyghurs, Kazakhs,... MORE

Arrests in Poland Contribute to the International Controversies Surrounding Huawei
Introduction The December 1, 2018, arrest of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou (孟晚舟) in Vancouver—an arrest made by Canadian officials pursuant to a warrant issued in the United States—touched off a three-way diplomatic firestorm between China, Canada, and the United States. However, in the... MORE