All articles - China

The West's scattered response to its ex-fighter pilots training Chinese counterparts

For some time, US, Australian, British and French pilots have been training their Chinese air force counterparts, as we revealed in May last year. Caught unprepared, their governments are now scrambling to find legal means to stop the practice from benefitting their strategic adversary.

Spotlight
All eyes on DGSE's move into Indo-Pacific

The former head of French external intelligence agency, the DGSE, is opening an office in Singapore to help it expand its presence in the region. China is keeping a close watch, as are France's European and US allies.

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Risk and Intelligence firms' hunger for ex-CIA China experts grows

As relations between the US and China grow ever more tense, corporate intelligence firms are keen to have several ex-CIA China experts among their ranks, with traditional investigation firms vying for the same recruits as new AI-based analysis providers.

A new faction forms around Xi Jingping: the Tsinghua clique

The group of senior officials gradually emerging as the new clique around Xi Jingping have one thing in common, they all attended the president's alma mater, Tsinghua, in Beijing.

Xi Jinping invites foreign experts into closed-door meetings on China's challenges

The Chinese Communist Party is increasingly relying on small meetings with foreign participants to tackle the country's problems. It has launched a new LinkedIn recruitment campaign with the aim of building a database of foreign experts who can be called upon at short notice when needed.

The Intelligence Gazette
UK tight with US space force, Uzbek state probe, Abbas succession reboot, Russian separatists summit, China's reservists

Appointments, reforms and key issues: every Monday, Intelligence Online serves up snippets big and small from the global intelligence community. This week, we hone in on London and Tashkent via Ramallah, Brussels and Beijing.

United Kingdom/United States Britain buddies up with US Space Force

Uzbekistan Senior officials investigated by State Security Service

Palestinian territories Abbas's presumed successor falls from grace

Brussels Kremlin opponents and separatist leaders gather at European Parliament

China Xi changes reservist conscription system

Hanoi corruption affair linked to Chinese power struggles

The arrest of Chinese-Vietmanese businesswoman Truong My Lan for alleged corruption, against a backdrop of activity by the Chinese intelligence services, has fanned tensions in Chinese-Vietnamese business circles.

China builds team to develop strategies to thwart post-Taiwan invasion sanctions

The appointment of Gao Xiang as head of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences confirms of President Xi Jinping's goal to take control of Taiwan. If successful in this, he anticipates it would throw China into a long period of economic isolation.

Xi instructs media to increase coverage of France, South Korea and Pakistan

The Chinese president has been working closely with his propaganda unit to use the media to draw attention to those countries with which China would like to renew contact. He has three specific leaders in mind:

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The unassuming Kabul guest house at the heart of China's Afghan business networks

The recently signed deal between a Chinese mining group and the Taliban authorities was made possible by the existence of a Chinese political and commercial network in Kabul, with, at its heart, a guest house for visiting Chinese business people.

Chinese cyber surveillance firm renews contact with UAE

Chinese interceptions firm Sinovatio is poised to make a comeback in the Middle East, where it is set to attend the ISS World trade fair in Dubai, at a time when Abu Dhabi is looking to invest in Chinese technology.

The Intelligence Gazette
Moldovan security council, Russia's data border crack down, Xi Jinping and Moscow, Ankara struggling with PKK

Appointments, reforms and the issues at stake: every Monday, Intelligence Online serves up snippets big and small from the global intelligence community. This week, we bring news from Ankara, Moscow, Chisinau and Beijing.

MoldovaPresidential cabinet musical chairs.

RussiaRoskomnadzor strengthens border controls.

China/RussiaBeijing gets involved in peace efforts in Europe.

Turkey/IraqAnkara searches for equipment to fight PKK in northern Iraq.

Xi Jinping to bring PLA political commissars to heel

In his third term, China's president wants to consolidate his hold over his country's military apparatus. To regain control over the politics of the People's Liberation Army, Xi has chosen to drastically rein in political commissars, who have now been relegated to merely executing the party's will.

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Inspired by Russia's mistakes, Beijing fine-tunes its military strategy on Taiwan

The Chinese president convened the Central Military Commission last month to discuss Taiwan and the new direction its military strategy should take on the island, and particularly on its eastern flank, in the light of Russian setbacks in Ukraine.

Xi Jinping chooses the CCP's future leadership team

After winning backing in October for his plans to govern China until 2037, Xi Jinping has begun preparing a new generation of leaders to take up key positions in the Chinese Communist Party. This is a way of assuring himself of their loyalty.

Huawei flounders after losing Turkish bid

Huawei is determined to provide data network services to the Turkish armed forces. Now tangled up in ruthless negotiations with Ankara and local mobile companies, the Chinese giant is damaging its thus-far good relations there.

New airport in Southeast Asia's Golden Triangle sparks Western intelligence concerns

Laos' Bokeo International Airport is set to open next year in Southeast Asia's Golden Triangle. The area, notorious for trafficking, is currently served by only a small airport in Ban Houayxay. The profile of the investors behind the new project has sparked concern in the regional offices of Western intelligence services in Bangkok.

UK parliamentary committee pleads for greater oversight in face of Chinese threats

China's sweeping cyber operations are putting the parliament's intelligence oversight to the test. While UK agencies have ramped up their intelligence work to counter Chinese and foreign threats, the Intelligence and Security Committee laments not having oversight over these new players.