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China, North Korea, Russia
Russia and North Korea agree to grant China direct access to North Pacific

The Kuril Islands and the Tumen River in the Indo-Pacific (illustration). © Indigo Publications - 2024

Capitalising on the opportunities afforded by the war in Ukraine, China has quietly secured unlimited access to the North Pacific via the Tumen River, thanks to an agreement between Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un. This also allows Beijing to bypass Taiwan. [...]

Published on 09/07/2024 at 04:00 GMT Reading time 2 minutes

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China, South Korea
Chinese warship shadows French frigate in Yellow Sea

A People's Liberation Army warship followed France's Prairial frigate as she sailed to enforce sanctions on North Korea. The French crew noticed a remarkable number of Chinese fishing boats, a growing cause of concern for Seoul.

Subscribers only Defence 18.11.2025

The French frigate Prairial at the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force base in Yokosuka, on 16 October 2025.

China
Beijing enlists local authorities' support in drive to secure military-industrial infrastructure

Against a backdrop of mistrust towards the People's Liberation Army, China has handed over the supervision of strategic military infrastructure to local Communist Party officials.

Subscribers only Defence 19.06.2025

Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) recruits patrolling the China-Russia border in Heilongjiang province, a sensitive area where the CCP plans to step up protection of key military-industrial facilities, 27 December 2015.

Spotlight | North Korea, Russia
Clock ticks for Russia's Security Council to get Pyongyang military alliance ratified

Intelligence Online can reveal the details of how Moscow's supreme security body is coordinating all aspects of North Korea's troop reinforcements in Russia - while carefully monitoring reactions in Beijing and Seoul.

Subscribers only Defence 04.11.2024

Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and Korean leader Kim Jong-un, in Pyongyang, 19 June 2024.

China, North Korea
Guoanbu's shadow lurks behind Kim Jong Un's harder line

The Chinese Ministry of State Security is taking advantage of turbulent international waters and North Korea's dire finances to reach out to Kim Jong-un. The helping hand, however, comes with a set of requests.

Subscribers only Back-door diplomacy 21.10.2024

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspecting artillery firing ranges (undated picture released from Korean Central News Agency, on 6 October 2024).

The Agencies' Gazette
Russia overtakes China in AI disinformation, still no MPs for French intel oversight college, Paris monitors US rear base in Benin, CCP's sights on Japanese archipelago

Appointments, reforms and the issues at stake: every Monday, Intelligence Online serves up snippets big and small from the global intelligence community.

United StatesRussian AI-generated election interference outweighs China

FranceSome changes to intelligence techniques oversight college but still no MPs

United States/FranceParis keeps watch after renewed US-French cooperation in West Africa

Japan/ChinaCCP backs its interests in East China Sea as far as Okinawa with research

Subscribers only 30.09.2024

Spotlight | North Korea
Intelligence services enforce ban on sharing same name as Kim Jong-un's daughter and presumed successor

The North Korean intelligence department, Bowibu, is implementing a ban preventing other people from using Kim Jong-un's youngest daughter's first name, Ju-ae. Originally, the Workers' Party of Korea was supposed to be doing this, but failed.

Subscribers only Agencies 30.08.2024

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his (possibly) youngest daughter, Kim Ju-ae, Pyongyang, 15 May 2024.

United States
US Marines special forces keen to try out Firestorm Labs' low-cost drones

The US Marine Corps is preparing for possible future wars of attrition in the Pacific. Firestorm Labs' drones offer a number of advantages for the carrying out of this type of war.

Subscribers only Cybersecurity 01.08.2024

China
CCP's third plenum geared at moulding finance sector into model example

Xi Jinping is due to announce closer relations between the party and the financial sector at the CCP's next plenum. The aim is to turn the latter into a model for the private sector, in order to achieve the "common prosperity" that the Chinese president is so keen on.

Subscribers only Agencies 11.07.2024

China, Taiwan
State Security agenda for Xi's meeting with former Taiwanese president

China's Ministry of State Security has urged Xi Jinping to meet with the former president of Taiwan in Beijing next week on 8 April.

Subscribers only Back-door diplomacy 04.04.2024

Former Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou.

China, France
Differences over Ukraine cloud Xi's trip to France

President Xi Jinping's European tour is set to begin at the end of the month. Its French leg, planned from 6 to 7 May, is likely to be troubled by persisting disagreements between France and China over Ukraine.

Subscribers only Back-door diplomacy 03.04.2024

Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron in Beijing, 6 November 2019.

China, North Korea, Russia
Beijing lets North Korean workers protest near border to pressure Pyongyang

North Korean workers in China are protesting near the border with North Korea under the watchful eye of China's Ministry of State Security. Kim Jong-un's regime can't do anything to stop the demonstrations, except realign itself to Beijing's interests.

Subscribers only Back-door diplomacy 29.02.2024

Spotlight | China, Japan, Russia
Tokyo mobilises surveillance systems over China-Russia deals in Indo-Pacific

Japan's diplomats are using every trick in the book to try to understand the nature and breadth of the deals Russia and China are negotiating over Vladivostok and the Kuril Islands. Total access would open up the entire North Pacific to Beijing, without having to pass by the Taiwan Strait.

Subscribers only Back-door diplomacy 03.07.2023

Russian Deputy FM Andrey Rudenko meeting Chinese FM Qin Gang in Beijing on 25 June 2023.

China, North Korea
Intense negotiations under way for Kim Jong-un's visit to Beijing

Before the potential summit meeting between the Chinese and North Korean leaders at the end of this year, Chinese delegations are due to visit Pyongyang. Drawing on their common support for Russia in its war with Ukraine, the two want to put the improvement in their relations on an official footing.

Subscribers only Back-door diplomacy 03.07.2023

China, Russia
Russian and Chinese coast guards draw closer in North Pacific

Moscow and Beijing are coordinating their North Pacific border security efforts, and in doing so are stoking the flames of Russia and Japan's unresolved dispute over the four Kuril Islands.

Subscribers only Agencies 24.04.2023

Spotlight | China, Russia, Ukraine
Beijing, Moscow and Kyiv locked in secret negotiations

China was caught offguard by the Russian invasion of Ukraine but Beijing reacted quickly, looking at the war as an opportunity to explore new investment possibilities there and positioning itself as a key contact in Ukraine, while also reviving the idea of a possible armed intervention in Taiwan.

Subscribers only Back-door diplomacy 14.03.2022

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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