To the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), amassing cyberpower is a matter of life and death. The tight control over affairs in cyberspace is essential to regime stability and longevity in China; the CCP s…
The Mystery of CFC Emissions
Thirty-one years ago, the world was facing an environmental crisis. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) had over the previous century become widely used in refrigeration, insulation, and firefighting. However,…
Natural Disaster Relief is No Horsing-Around Matter for Geopolitics
A magnitude of 7.0 on the Richter scale and reports count over 200,000 casualties—Haiti’s 2010 earthquake was one of the first natural disasters that received widespread attention for its devastating …
China’s Uighur Muslim Camps: The Face of Non-Western Islamophobia
You can stop saying “assalamu alaikum” to your neighbor, shave your beard, tell your children not to speak of their prayers, even try to fake tickets for an international flight, but you can never tru…
China’s Pursuit for Global Influence Starts to Face Resistance
In northern Laos, blue and white silos tower over blue and white cement plants, which employ workers in blue and white jumpsuits. Something corporate has occupied this jungle. The country is getting i…
Sharing is Caring: The Politics and Consequences of Trump’s Trade War
Trump’s recent economic policies on levying tariffs against countries, primarily China, that have a trade deficit with the U.S. have consequences that go beyond just harming the other party. The effec…
Failing Grade: How China’s All-Important Exam is Stunting National Growth
Every year, for two days in June, China comes to a standstill. Construction work is halted, traffic is diverted, and motorists are banned from honking, lest they disturb the nine and a half million te…
China v. the US: Tariff Threats and Redirection Techniques
On the economic front, the world has recently been shaken by the continued intensification of the Chinese-American trade war initiated by President Trump. Marking just over a year since Trump began h…
The Spies Next Door: China’s Espionage Campaign in California
Cloak and Daggers in California In the early 2000s, the CIA succeeded in recruiting the personal valet of one of China’s most powerful Communist Party members. Over the next few years, this source ove…
The World’s Largest Security State Has Created its Own Security Problem
Violence In Western China The capital of the Chinese province of Xinjiang, Urumqi, looks like many Chinese cities. The horizon is full of construction machinery creating new factories, high-rises, and…