Spies and Spooks – The Scholar's Stage

On China’s Enemies Within

27 January, 2023Spies and Spooks, The Middle Kingdom

On January 16th the friends of Cao Zhixin, a 27 year old book editor residing in Beijing, posted a video of Cao onto Youtube. The video spread quickly spread across Chinese language Twitter, and from there into newspaper reports in Great Britain, the United States, and Taiwan…. Had Cao’s video ended on that note of triumph little attention would have been paid to it. But Cao concluded on a very different note: she was about to disappear. One by one her fellow vigil-organizers had gone dark. Where they were taken, and on what charges, she did not know. She knew only this: she was next.

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The World That China Wants (III): Taking Chinese Communism Seriously

29 July, 2020Bargaining and Balancing, Entangling Alliances, Spies and Spooks, The Middle Kingdom, Wealth

Image source A few months back I promised I would highlight some of the key passages in Dan Tobin’s testimony to Congress, “How Xi Jinping’s ‘New Era’ Should Have Ended U.S. Debate on Beijing’s Ambitions.” Tobin’s testimony has since been published by CSIS as a full length report, but in my citations below I will […]

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It Is Not Like That Black Mirror Episode

05 June, 2019Spies and Spooks, The Middle Kingdom

Last month the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on Intelligence held a public hearing on Chinese influence activities and the risks of a global Chinese-led technological regime. I found the prepared statements by Samantha Hoffman and by Peter Mattis to be particularly valuable, and both are good resources for understanding why this issue is […]

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Secure Communications Strategies for China and Elsewhere

02 March, 2019Media, Spies and Spooks, The Middle Kingdom

Image Source The New York Times had an interesting piece out this week about the lengths their reporters in China go to try and protect their sources and their data from the digital surveillance state. To quote a bit from the piece: I use an iPhone because Apple tends to be more secure than Android. […]

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Notes From All Over: Communists, Partisans, and P-Values

27 October, 2017Books and Literature, Community, Culture, Domestic Politics, Notes From All Over, Political Theory, Spies and Spooks, The Middle Kingdom, Tyranny

Notes From All Over: A collection of recently published articles, essays, reports, or blog posts of merit.TOP BILLING “This Is What A 21st-Century Police State Really Looks Like“Megha Rajagopalan. Buzzfeed (18 October 2017). “In the countryside, if you get even one call from abroad, they will know. It’s obvious,” said R., who agreed to meet me in […]

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Chinese Influence and Intelligence Activities: A Few Notes

20 September, 2017By The People, Entangling Alliances, Spies and Spooks, The Middle Kingdom, Tyranny

Image Source The most important thing you will read this week—likely the most important thing you will read this month—is Anne-Marie Brady’s report “Magic Weapons: China’s political influence activities under Xi Jinping.” In this report Dr. Brady describes in detail what is known about Chinese influence and intelligence operations inside New Zealand. In many ways […]