Latest Articles about Information Technology and Telecommunications

Russia Struggles for ‘Hearts and Minds’ in Global South (Part Two)
(Part One) Executive Summary Russian special services are actively disseminating disinformation to influence public opinion in Africa. The disinformation campaign replicates Soviet-era themes that emphasize narratives alleging the West’s compromising of African countries’ sovereignty. These themes continue to have resonance in the region because of... MORE

TikTok: An Expanding Front in Cognitive Warfare
Executive Summary: PRC cognitive warfare strategies now include the cultivation of internet influencers who disseminate rumors and on platforms like YouTube designed to undermine Taiwan’s democratic institutions. TikTok has become a significant tool in shaping public opinion, exploiting its algorithmic power to spread narratives favourable... MORE

Russia Combats Internet Freedom
Executive Summary: The conflict in Ukraine has prompted Russia to intensify its efforts to restrict internet freedom, leading to unprecedented measures against uncensored information and internet encryption. In response to censorship, Russian users have turned to VPN technology for accessing uncensored news. Russian officials are... MORE

A Greater Bay Area: China’s Initiative To Build A New Silicon Valley
Executive Summary The GBA, covering 56,000 square kilometers with 70 million people, aims to become a globally renowned economic and technological hub, comparable to bay areas like San Francisco, Tokyo, and New York. Its economic output surpasses 13 trillion RMB ($1.8 trillion) by 2022, exceeding... MORE

Brain-Computer Interfaces: Medical Miracles and Innovation Policy
Decades of strategic investment in science at the central and local levels have manifested in significant advances in Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs, 脑机接口) (Xinhua, November 15, 2023). This nascent technology is an increasingly important part of China’s ambitions to become a science and technology superpower. A... MORE

Chokepoint Consortium: Chinese Experts on Confronting American Pressure
News broke this September that Huawei released a new 5G-capable phone produced with domestic chip technology reportedly in contravention of US export controls. While experts disagree to what extent this new product represents a true domestic breakthrough, it serves as an important symbolic win for... MORE

Moonshot vs. Long March: Contrasting the United States’s and China’s Space Programs
On the morning of November 2, 2023, the Gobi Desert's silence was shattered: From a remote launchpad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (中国酒泉卫 星发射中心), the Hyperbola-2 (双曲线二号), a slender rocket bearing the iSpace emblem (星际荣耀), surged upwards, before gracefully alighting back on Earth (iSpace... MORE

China’s “Important Data” Regime Challenges Global Norms
China has recently launched a series of provincial “data security escort” special action campaigns (数安护航”专项行动) to speed implementation of a new regulatory regime that focuses on the identification and protection of a specific subset of data known as “important data” (重要数据) (GDCENN, October 26; Anquan... MORE

Laying Down the Law Under the Sea: Analyzing the US and Chinese Submarine Cable Governance Regimes
Introduction In May 2018, the World Bank opened bidding to “all eligible firms from any country” on a $72.6 million submarine fiber-optic cable system that sought to enhance the Internet infrastructure of three Pacific island nations: the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Kiribati, and Nauru... MORE

Cash-for-Metaverse: How China’s Digital RMB and Metaverse Strategy Could Circumvent Sanctions
Introduction On February 27, the State Council of the People’s Republic of China released its Digital China Plan (数字中国建设整体布局规划), outlining China’s latest strategy for its “digital economy” (The State Council of the People’s Republic of China, February 27). The Plan highlights the PRC’s ambitions for... MORE