China Policy Monitor No. 1586

LEAKED RUSSIAN DOCUMENTS REVEAL PLANS TO NUKE CHINA IF ATTACKED
Leaked Russian military documents reveal that the Kremlin is prepared to use tactical nuclear weapons in a conflict with China. The 29 secret files, which include war-gaming scenarios, show that Russia has reinforced its nuclear missiles along its border with China and has been training for various Chinese attack scenarios. Russian forces have rehearsed using nuclear weapons early in a Chinese invasion. In one such scenario, China uses fake protesters to clash with police in Russia's Far East and sends saboteurs to attack security infrastructure. Then Beijing boosts defense production and deploys PLA units along the Russian border. (Newsweek, February 29, 2024)

BEIJING REJECTS NEW SUBWAYS DUE TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT DEBT
The State Council has rejected the applications of several cities to build new subway lines due to high local government debt risks. The application for the second construction phase of the subway in Harbin, Heilongjiang was rejected because the city failed to meet the debt ratio requirements. The construction of new metro lines in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, which would require 30 billion yuan in new government debts, were also rejected, as was the third phase of the subway in Kunming, Yunnan. (Yicai, February 27, 2024)

CHINA EXPANDS STATE SECRETS LAW TO INCLUDE "WORK SECRETS"
For the first time since 2010, China has revised its law on state secrets to encompass more types of information. The revised law creates a broad new category of restricted information: "work secrets" at government and party bodies that are not state secrets but could "cause certain adverse effects if leaked." The change is the latest of more than twenty security laws that have either been passed or revised to strengthen state security. (Wall Street Journal, February 27, 2024)

U.S. TO REPLACE CHINA-MADE CRANES AT PORTS
To counter fears regarding the vulnerability of China-built cranes at U.S. ports, the Biden administration will invest $20 billion over the next five years to build cargo cranes in the U.S. Tapped from the $1 trillion infrastructure bill passed back in 2021, the money will support a U.S. subsidiary of Japan's Mitsui to produce the cranes in America. The Coast Guard will also establish cybersecurity requirements and standards for foreign-built cranes operating at U.S. ports. "These cranes, because they are essentially moving the large-scale containers in and out of port, if they were encrypted in a criminal attack, or rented or operated by an adversary, that could have real impact on our economy's movement of goods and our military's movement of goods through ports," says Anne Neuberger, U.S. deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology. (Wall Street Journal, February 21, 2024)

CANADIAN CHINESE SCIENTISTS LIED ABOUT PRC LINKS
Two scientists at a high-security infectious disease laboratory in Canada have lost their jobs after they failed to protect sensitive information and lied about their links with China. The scientists, Qiu Xiangguo and her husband Cheng Keding, were escorted out of Winnipeg's National Microbiology Laboratory in July 2019 and fired in January 2021. Investigators for Canadian intelligence found that they had lied about working for the PRC and that their loyalty "remains of grave concern." While employed there, the pair had allowed restricted visitors to work in laboratories unescorted and did not prevent the unauthorized removal of materials. (ABC, February 28, 2024)