The Official Chinese 🇨🇳 Espionage & Cold War Thread

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

US says Chinese firm is helping Houthis target American warships

Satellite company linked to People’s Liberation Army has supplied images to Iran-backed group in Yemen, say officials

www.ft.com

US says Chinese firm is helping Houthis target American warships
Summarize
Satellite company linked to People’s Liberation Army has supplied images to Iran-backed group in Yemen, say officials

Yemen’s Houthi forces ride a vehicle next to a large screen broadcasting an attack of Yemen’s Houthis targeted a US battleship in the Red Sea
Houthi rebels in Yemen say they are attacking shipping in the Red Sea in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza © Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images
A Chinese satellite company linked to the country’s military is supplying Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen with imagery to target US warships and international vessels in the Red Sea, according to American officials.

The Trump administration has repeatedly warned Beijing that Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co Ltd, a commercial group with ties to the People’s Liberation Army, is providing the Houthis with the intelligence, according to the US officials.

“The United States has raised our concerns privately numerous times to the Chinese government on Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co Ltd’s role in supporting the Houthis in order to get Beijing to take action,” said a senior state department official.

The official added that China had “ignored” the concerns. He also told the Financial Times that CGSTL’s actions and “Beijing’s tacit support” despite Washington’s warnings was “yet another example of China’s empty claims to support peace”.

“We urge our partners to judge the Chinese Communist party and Chinese companies on their actions, not their empty words,” the official said.

The concern about CGSTL comes amid a deepening trade war between the Washington and Beijing after President Donald Trump slapped huge new tariffs on imports from China, which are now subject to a 145 per cent levy.

The Houthis started attacking vessels in the Red Sea, a critical maritime route for global trade and the US navy, after Israel launched a war against Hamas, another Iran-backed group, in 2023, in response to the Palestinian militant group’s October 7 attack.

The US has escalated attacks on the rebel group’s positions in Yemen in recent weeks, including a large military strike that was the subject of the Signalgate leak and signalled an escalation of the campaign.

China has expressed concern about the Houthis’ attacks. The Biden administration urged Beijing to use its leverage with Iran to rein in the Houthis — but his officials saw no evidence that Beijing had done so.

Trump has made tackling Red Sea instability a priority, amid concerns that the Houthis continue to pose a threat to the global economy.

“Beijing should take this priority seriously when considering any future support to CGSTL,” said the US official.

Asked about the US claims about the satellite company, the Chinese embassy in Washington said it was “not aware of the relevant situation”.

CGSTL has previously come under US scrutiny, and was among groups hit by sanctions in 2023 for allegedly providing high-resolution satellite imagery to Wagner Group, the Russian mercenary army that helped President Vladimir Putin prosecute his full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The Chinese company was established in 2014 as a joint venture between the provincial government in Jilin and a branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Changchun, the province’s capital.

“Chang Guang is one of a handful of ‘ostensibly’ commercial Chinese satellite companies that are in fact deeply embedded in the military-civil fusion ecosystem, supplying global surveillance capabilities to both civilian and military customers,” said James Mulvenon, an expert on the Chinese military and intelligence services at Pamir Consulting.

Under China’s military-civil fusion programme, companies must share technology with the PLA when ordered by the government.

Matthew Bruzzese, a China defence expert at BluePath Labs, a consulting firm that works with the US government, last year said CGSTL had 100 satellites in orbit, although it plans to have 300 by the end of 2025 which would enable it to take repeat images of any location in the world every 10 minutes.

Bruzzese said CGSTL had “close connections” to the Chinese government, communist party and military. But he there were fewer public mentions about its PLA ties from 2020, suggesting that it had “become more wary of publicly discussing these connections”.

The US has in recent years imposed sanctions on dozens of Chinese commercial groups with alleged connections to the military.

Bruzzese added that CGSTL had provided briefings to senior Chinese officials about its applications, including those for “military intelligence” and had demonstrated its technology before several top PLA officers, including Zhang Youxia, the top general in the Chinese military who is second-in-command after President Xi Jinping.

US concerns about CGSTL come as the Pentagon increasingly focuses on Chinese military activity in space.

The Pentagon has said China put 200 satellites in orbit in 2023, second only to the US. It added that Beijing was also exporting its satellite technology, including domestically developed remote-sensing satellites — the same kind of technology being deployed by CGSTL.

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

Opinion | Brace Yourself. Trump’s Trade War With China Will Get Even Uglier.

What happens if we run out of rare-earth metals or bond prices collapse?

www.nytimes.com

Brace Yourself. Trump’s Trade War With China Will Get Even Uglier.
Summarize
April 19, 2025, 7:00 a.m. ET
Shipping containers and gantry cranes at night at a port in Shenzhen, China.
Jade Gao/Agence France-Presse
Want to stay updated on what’s happening in China? , and we’ll send our latest coverage to your inbox.

Voters elected Donald Trump in part because they wanted a fighter. But increasingly it seems that in international trade, he’s good at shaking his fist for the cameras but utterly outclassed when he steps into the boxing ring.

Indeed, Trump may be more dangerous to his own side of a trade war than to the other guy.

Even after Trump’s climb-down — declaring a 90-day pause on many of the “Liberation Day” levies that sent the stock market reeling — America’s tariff rates remain the highest in more than 90 years. They amount to an enormous tax hike on consumers, with researchers previously estimating that they might add something like $1,700 in costs per year to a middle-income American family. They’re a reason many economists fear that the United States is slipping into a recession.

The most heated trade war is with China, and it’s there that I fear Trump has particularly miscalculated. He seems to be waiting for President Xi Jinping to cry uncle and demand relief, but that’s unlikely; instead, it may be the United States that will be most desperate to end the trade conflict.

China does have serious internal economic challenges, including widespread underemployment and a deflationary loop with no end in sight. The trade war could cost China millions of jobs, and that raises some risks of political instability.

Yet it’s also true that China has prepared for this trade war. I’m guessing some Chinese factories are already printing “Made in Vietnam” labels and preparing to ship goods through third countries. And China will fight with weapons that go far beyond tariffs.

Sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter Get expert analysis of the news and a guide to the big ideas shaping the world every weekday morning.

China buys agricultural products and airplanes from America, and it can almost certainly get what it needs elsewhere. But where is the United States going to get rare-earth minerals, essential for American industry and the military-industrial base?

These days we rely on China for 72 percent of the 17 metals known as rare earths, used in everything from glass to ceramics to catalytic converters. And in the subcategory of heavy rare earths, China is the sole world producer of six.

China has already announced that it will limit the export of those six heavy-rare-earth minerals, as well as rare-earth magnets, of which it controls 90 percent of the world supply. In effect, China is the OPEC of rare earths, which are essential for American industry and for military production. Without them, we’d struggle to produce drones, cars, planes, wind turbines and more. A single F-35 fighter plane contains some 900 pounds of rare earths, and a submarine may use more than four tons of them.

In 2010, when China and Japan were caught in a maritime dispute after a boat collision in contested waters, Beijing halted rare-earth exports to Japan. The result was a mad scramble in Japan to find sufficient rare earths to keep factories open, and Japan hurriedly became conciliatory and pleaded for a resumption in the trade.

Perhaps Trump thinks he’ll find alternative sources of rare earths. We should. But because rare earths are polluting to mine and process, it can take nearly three decades to get permission to open and operate a rare-earth mine in America, so finding substitutes won’t be easy.

Know someone who would want to read this? Share the column.

Rare earths aren’t all that rare in nature, despite their name, and they offer a window into the vulnerability of the West’s military-industrial base and our dependence on China. Until 1995, they were produced mostly in the United States. But then China began refining them inexpensively, and the United States couldn’t compete (and didn’t seriously try to).

Trump’s concerns about China are in many ways legitimate: It has manipulated trade. He’s right that our weakness in manufacturing and supply lines is a critical security deficiency, especially given China’s strengths in areas like drones and batteries. I’d be delighted if Trump tackled these issues seriously with targeted tariffs, a crackdown on transshipments to evade tariffs, subsidies for critical industries at home and cooperation with allies abroad. Instead, it’s not quite clear what his aim is, and the United States has gone out of its way to antagonize allies.

One alarming sign: Even before the latest tariffs, a poll in Southeast Asia found that for the first time, a majority of people there would choose China over the United States if forced to align with one side or the other.

China has other tools available in this trade war with America beyond stopping most exports of rare earths. It could stop its limited cooperation on narcotics and turn a blind eye to its greedy private companies that would like to export fentanyl to America or fentanyl precursor chemicals to Mexico. Conversely, it could tighten shipments to the United States of cardiovascular or cancer medicines that Americans rely on.

China could also dump U.S. Treasuries for a few days, panicking the bond market and weakening the dollar. I doubt China would do this for long, because it would lose as well, but it might be satisfying for the Politburo to remind Trump who he’s messing with.

While all that’s going on, the People’s Liberation Army might cut multiple undersea internet cables leading to Taiwan. It could hold more military drills off Taiwan, the Philippines or the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands. It has already burrowed into American infrastructure as part of its Volt Typhoon cyberespionage campaign and could try turning the lights off in a small American city or creating havoc for a day in the banking system.

A trade war may well be devastating for China as well as for America. But economic forecasters think a recession is far more likely in the United States than in China. And Xi may now have a scapegoat for his economic underperformance, calling on his citizens to resist what he will portray as one more chapter in a two-century history of Western bullying. All in all, Xi may be better positioned to ride out a downturn than Trump.

There’s nothing wrong with picking the right fight and taking a stand, and China’s trade policies are a legitimate target. But Trump’s campaign seems destined to fracture our alliances and magnify American weakness. He is taking a tariff to a gunfight.

A version of this article appears in print on April 20, 2025, Section SR, Page 2 of the New York edition with the headline: The Trade War With China Will Get Uglier. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper |

 

[ADevilYouKhow]

China's Giant Land-Based Carrier Mockup Grows In Size, Now Resembles Ford Class

The full-size aircraft carrier test facility in Wuhan is now a better approximation of China’s latest and future flattop designs. The modified land-based aircraft carrier test facility should be a better approximation of China’s latest and future flattop designs.

www.twz.com

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

Cambodia welcomes Japanese navy ships to naval base that US suspects is for China's special use

Two Japanese naval ships have docked at Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base, whose recently completed Chinese-funded upgrade has heightened U.S. concerns that it will be used as a strategic outpost for China’s navy in the Gulf of Thailand.

apnews.com

Cambodia: 2 Japanese warships dock at Chinese-renovated base

The Japanese embassy in Phnom Penh said that the visit is ‘a historically significant event’ that would ‘enhance trust and confidence’.

www.scmp.com

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

China seizes disputed reef near Philippines' key military outpost

Read more

newsukraine.rbc.ua

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

Taiwan cracks down on holders of Chinese ID amid fears over propaganda and espionage

Expulsion of people holding a Chinese passport or ID card prompts debate over identity, loyalty and freedom

www.theguardian.com

Taiwan cracks down on holders of Chinese ID amid fears over propaganda and espionage
Expulsion of people holding a Chinese passport or ID card prompts debate over identity, loyalty and freedom

Helen Davidson
Chinese influencer Liu Zhenya is escorted by police and immigration officers, as she complies with Taiwan's legal order to leave Taiwan
Chinese influencer Liu Zhenya is escorted by police and immigration officers as she complies with Taiwan's legal order to leave Taiwan. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
Taiwan has launched a crackdown on holders of illegal Chinese identity documents, revoking the Taiwanese status of more than 20 people and putting tens of thousands of Chinese-born residents under scrutiny.

Under Taiwan law it is illegal for Taiwanese people to hold Chinese identity documents. In the past decade, hundreds of people have had their Taiwanese papers or passports cancelled for also holding Chinese ID, effectively revoking their citizenship.

But a renewed hunt for dual ID-holders has drawn controversy after the public expulsion of three women and threats to the permanent residencies of more than 10,000 Chinese-born people, including many who had built lives and families in Taiwan over decades.

The campaign has sparked a nationwide debate about identity, loyalty and how to balance the island’s treasured political freedoms with its national security.

The current furore began in December, with an online documentary revealing local Chinese authorities were secretly offering Chinese IDs to Taiwanese people.

Taiwan’s mainland affairs council (MAC) denounced the scheme as “part of China’s evil united front work that attempts to … create an illusion that it has authority over the nation”.

The documentary identified three recipients who had moved to the Chinese province of Fujian and applied for Chinese identity cards.

Su Shih-er was one of the three. He chose the coastal province for its large Taiwanese community and generous government subsidies for entrepreneurs opening “local” businesses. Soon after arriving, Su learned he could apply for a Chinese identity card.

“I thought it’d be more convenient for my company, so I applied,” he told the Guardian.

What Su did was illegal under Taiwanese law, although he disputes this. To get his Chinese ID card, Su was legally required to have Chinese household registration (known as “hukou”), which is barred under Taiwan’s cross-strait relations act, alongside Chinese passports.

Su, who is still in China, said there are “loads” of Taiwanese with Fujian IDs, and that he felt “like a victim of their political games”.

‘A unique dilemma’

Tensions between Taiwan and China are dangerously high. China’s Communist party (CCP) government claims Taiwan as a province and is preparing to take it militarily if it can’t convince or coerce it to peacefully “unify”. Espionage and infiltration by pro-CCP actors – including from Taiwan’s society, government, and military – are real and ongoing dangers.

But there are still close ties between the two territories. Figures from 2022 show about 170,000 Taiwanese living in China. About 380,000 Chinese-born people live in Taiwan, many married to Taiwanese people, and about half of them hold permanent residency.

In March Taiwan’s president, Lai Ching-te, announced new measures to counter China’s malign efforts, which included increased scrutiny of cross-strait travel and resettlement.

In March, three Chinese-born women were accused of using their popular social media accounts to advocate for a hostile Chinese takeover of Taiwan. Taiwan revoked their residency visas and they were forced to leave Taiwan, as well as their Taiwanese husbands and children.

The opposition accused the government of deporting people without due process for views it didn’t like. A statement signed by dozens of local academics said President Lai was “rapidly compressing the space for free speech”.

But government figures said the posts were essentially enemy war propaganda, exempt from free-speech protection. Premier Cho Jung-tai told reporters: “There are limits to freedom of speech, and the limits are the country’s survival.” The deportations also seemed to have social support, and at a press conference held by one of the women, a crowd chanted “go home!”.

People and cars in Taipei
People and cars in Taipei Photograph: Ann Wang/Reuters
The case highlighted “the unique dilemma of Taiwan’s existence”, wrote two local academics, Michelle Kuo and Albert Wu.

“Imagine a world where an ally of China expels a Taiwanese immigrant for advocating Taiwanese independence. We would fight to the death for that person to stay in the country,” said Wu and Kuo.

But, they added: “Taiwan is under exceptional threat. Can we apply human rights principles around family unity and freedom of speech when facing such a massive danger?”

‘My mother has become an international football’

The Taiwan government’s next move proved even more controversial. As it became clear the number of people holding or seeking Chinese IDs was larger than anticipated, authorities decided to sweep the island.

“If the identities of the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are not clearly distinguished, it will affect the national security and social stability of our country,” it said.

In March the MAC sent questionnaires to public sector workers, university employees and military personnel, asking them if they ever held Chinese ID. The MAC described the survey as an opportunity to “demonstrate their loyalty”.

Then, earlier this month, the National Immigration Agency (NIA) began contacting more than 10,000 Chinese-born spouses in Taiwan, claiming they had never provided proof they had given up their Chinese hukou – a requirement for permanent residency.

Social media filled with angry posts from affected people and their families, saying they felt targeted and suddenly unwelcome. Among them were people who had moved to Taiwan decades ago, before such proof was required.

Rescinding hukou can only be done in person, in China. Some commenters pointed to the case of Li Yanhe, a Chinese-born, Taiwan-based publisher of critical books about the CCP. In 2023 Li was arrested in Shanghai, reportedly there to rescind his hukou. Convicted of unspecified acts of “inciting secession”, he remains in a Chinese jail.

One woman posted to Threads a recording of a call between her mother and the NIA. Her mother told the NIA agent she had given proof to another agency when she arrived 22 years ago. But the agent said they had no record, and threatened to strip her Taiwanese rights and residency if she failed to cooperate.

“My mother has become an international football,” her daughter posted.

In another case, a woman said her mother – who had lived her for 33 years – had also received a demand for proof.

“My mother has a Taiwanese ID card, a Taiwanese passport and has paid labour insurance and health insurance and taxes for more than 30 years. She is a Taiwanese!” the woman said.

The MAC deputy head, Liang Wen-chieh, said last week they were demonstrating “utmost leniency towards such individuals”. But amid an outcry the government announced case-by-case exemptions, including for people who are elderly, haven’t returned to China in more than 10 years, or feared persecution if they did.

The new campaign has so far resulted in at least 19 people being stripped of Taiwanese papers – and citizenship if they held it – for having Chinese ID.

The NIA, told the Guardian those who cancelled their Chinese hukou could apply for permission to “restore their [Taiwan] status” and come back.

But critics worry that the crackdown is only further dividing Taiwan’s already fractious society.

“It is obvious that a negative impact is to tear Taiwan apart and push people to the opposite side, which is of no benefit to Taiwan’s security,” said Prof Liu Mei-jun, of Taiwan’s national Chengchi university.

During the furore over the deported influencers, academics Kuo and Wu warned that the government “may have inadvertently handed Beijing an easy propaganda victory”.

China’s state media has already seized on the cases, accusing Taiwan’s ruling DPP of “tearing families apart”. The Taiwan Affairs Office accused the DPP of bullying, and only applying the idea of “freedom” to those who supported Taiwan independence.

The Guardian’s conversations with people in or close to the government have revealed a perplexity over the backlash, and a belief that any concerns are outweighed by the need to address any vulnerability China could exploit.

“More than 360,000 Chinese spouses live in Taiwan today,” Kuo and Wu wrote in their essay. “While they may appear to be a demographic minority, their family networks make up a significant portion of society – one the government now risks alienating.”

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

China, Philippines raise rival flags on disputed South China Sea sandbank

Beijing and Manila trade accusations over activities near Sandy Cay during joint US-Philippines military drills.

www.rfa.org

China, Philippines raise rival flags on disputed South China Sea sandbank​

Beijing and Manila trade accusations over activities near Sandy Cay during joint US-Philippines military drills.​

Philippines Coast Guard personnel unfurl a flag on a disputed isle in the South China Sea on April 27, 2025, top, following Chinese state media reporting that the Chinese Coast Guard had landed on the sandbank two weeks earlier. (Philippines Coast Guard; Chinese State Media)
TAIPEI, Taiwan – China and the Philippines have staged rival flag-raising displays on a contested sandbank in the South China Sea, further escalating tensions between the two nations.
The standoff occurred at Sandy Cay, near the Philippines’ outpost of Thitu Island, right when the U.S. and the Philippines launched their annual “Balikatan” military drills, which for the first time include an integrated air and missile defense simulation.

Philippines Coast Guard’s personnel unfurling a flag on a disputed isle in the South China Sea on April 27, 2025. (Philippines Coast Guard via X)
Sandy Cay holds strategic value because its 12-nautical-mile territorial zone under international law overlaps with the area around Thitu Island, a key site for Manila to monitor Chinese activity in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
The latest flare-up appears to have started on Thursday, after Chinese state media reported that the Chinese Coast Guard had landed on the sandbank two weeks earlier, hoisted a national flag, and “exercised sovereign jurisdiction.”
“Since 2024, the Philippines has made multiple attempts to send vessels near Chinese-held features in the South China Sea to monitor what it describes as artificial island-building activities,” the state-run broadcaster CCTV reported on Saturday. It published a photograph of five black-clad people standing on the uninhabited reef as a dark inflatable boat bobbed in the nearby water.
In response, the Philippines Coast Guard spokesperson Jay Tarriela said on Sunday that its navy, coast guard and police personnel had deployed to Sandy Cay in four rubber boats and had “observed the illegal presence” of a Chinese Coast Guard vessel and seven Chinese maritime militia vessels.
“This operation reflects the unwavering dedication and commitment of the Philippine government to uphold the country’s sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea,” said Tarriela, who posted footage of the Philippine flag being displayed.

Chinese state media released a photo of coast guard officers on the disputed reef. (CCTV)
The term “West Philippine Sea” is used by the Philippines to refer to parts of the South China Sea that it claims, although the designation is disputed by China.
William Yang, a senior analyst for Northeast Asia at the International Crisis Group, said China is showcasing both its ability and determination to assert its territorial claims throughout the South China Sea.
China and the Philippines have long been locked in a territorial dispute over parts of the South China Sea, a vital waterway rich in resources and trade routes.
Beijing claims nearly the entire sea under its “nine-dash line,” a claim rejected by an international tribunal in 2016, which ruled in favor of the Philippines.
Despite the ruling, China has continued to assert its presence through patrols, island-building, and militarization, while the Philippines has sought to defend its claims through diplomatic protests and military partnerships.
“It serves as a warning to the Philippines and other claimant states in the region that any attempt to undermine Chinese territorial integrity will be met with resolute and strong Chinese responses,” Yang told Radio Free Asia.
Huang Tsung-ting, an associate research fellow with Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research, believes China has recently adopted a more defensive posture toward the Philippines in the South China Sea.
“Compared to 2023 to the first half of 2024, when China escalated tensions in the South China Sea and attempted to seize islands and reefs as a way to pressure the U.S. and the Philippines diplomatically, its current approach is more defensive and passive,” said Huang.
The latest dispute between two nations came as the U.S. and Philippines forces are conducting annual Balikatan exercises, which Beijing has condemned as “provocative.”
The flag raise was “a calculative move by Beijing to show Washington and Manila that it has the ability to establish presence anywhere they want in the South China Sea and that Beijing is not going to back down in the face of the increased cooperation between the U.S. and the Philippines,” International Crisis Group’s Yang said.
Video: Explained — Google Maps now displays "West Philippine Sea" in South China Sea (Produced by Oliver Zhou/RFA)
While visiting Manila last month, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Washington was “doubling down” on its alliance with the country and was committed to rebuilding deterrence against China.
Huang shares a similar view.
“Even though the number of U.S. troops participating in this year’s Balikatan exercise seems slightly lower – by about 2,000 compared to last year – the overall posture of cooperation still looks strong enough to cause concern for China,” he said.
Edited by Taejun Kang and Stephen Wright.

Summary​

The article describes a recent escalation of tensions between China and the Philippines over a disputed sandbank in the South China Sea. The article highlights that the Chinese Coast Guard landed on the sandbank, hoisted a national flag, and claimed sovereignty over the area. The article also mentions that the Philippines responded by deploying its navy, coast guard, and police personnel to the area to assert its own claims.

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

The US Is Already Losing the New Cold War to China

Of all today’s crises and conflicts, the US-China rivalry will most fundamentally remake our world. A contest between the two top powers will shape the international system and the lives of people everywhere. At best, it will be a long, tense struggle — a “New Cold War” — lasting many years. At...

www.aei.org

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

New Views Of China's Next Generation Fighters

We are seeing increasingly detailed imagery of Beijing's two new stealth fighter designs as other potential curious fighter-like objects have emerged out of China.

www.twz.com

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]