DIGITAL SURVEILLANCE TARGETS "FIVE POISONS"
China has built an extensive digital surveillance system across Tibet, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, and Hong Kong, targeting ethnic minorities and political dissidents that it calls the "Five Poisons": Tibetan independence activists, Uyghur separatists, Taiwan independence advocates, Falun Gong practitioners, and pro-democracy supporters. An extensive analysis of over 300,000 official procurement records reveals how the Ministry of Public Security uses automated non-Han ethnicity detection, facial recognition, and intrusive community-monitoring campaigns to eliminate surveillance gaps. The French company Thales received over $10 million in contracts to supply fingerprint and palm print ID systems to Hong Kong police following the passage of the 2020 National Security Law. Moreover, the same capabilities that China is using at home it is also exporting to expand transnational repression. (Newsweek, October 28, 2026)
CHINA EYES EXPORT CONTROLS ON SOLAR-POWER MANUFACTURING TECH
The Ministry of Commerce has proposed new export controls on a dozen solar-manufacturing technologies, framing the restrictions as related to national security. The policy seeks to stem the outflow of high-value manufacturing know-how, banning technology transfers for thin wafers, high-efficiency perovskite, tandem cells, and fluidized-bed polysilicon while restricting advanced cell manufacturing. Leveraging its market dominance, China's efforts to curb the sale of advanced solar-panel manufacturing technologies threaten plans by American firms such as Tesla to expand production in the U.S. Export restrictions aim to "guard against the risks of technologies from running out of control or being improperly disseminated," the ministry said. (Reuters, October 18, 2026)
CONVICTIONS EXPOSE DECADE-LONG MSS SURVEILLANCE OF U.S. NAVY
Federal courts in Oakland, CA, sentenced Ministry of State Security (MSS) agents Liren "Ryan" Lai and Chen Yuance to 30 months in prison and three years of supervised release for a decade-long espionage operation targeting U.S. national security assets. Recruited by Lai to handle MSS assignments, Chen directed tradecraft operations across the Bay Area — testing covert communications equipment in San Francisco and executing cash "dead drops," including $10,000 hidden in a locker and $20,000 in a vehicle. The operation collected surveillance footage of the Bremerton Naval Base in Washington state, recordings of recruits and active-duty personnel in Southern California, and data collection on Navy employees. The convictions highlight China's reliance on low-tech payments and covert tradecraft within U.S. borders to collect intelligence on U.S. military installations and personnel. (SF Gate, November 4, 2026)
NEW PRC LAW AIMS TO HUNT DOWN CORRUPT OFFICIALS OVERSEAS
Beijing has instituted a new cross-border corruption law giving authorities the power to pursue fugitive officials and their ill-gotten assets overseas. To strengthen Xi Jinping's ongoing crackdown on corruption, the law establishes a reporting system for public officials' bank deposits and investments and calls for using AI and big data to gather and analyze information on suspects and their overseas asset transfers. It creates an early warning system and new accountability measures to prevent officials from escaping abroad or moving assets overseas. The law empowers authorities to demand foreign companies provide information for graft cases, but bars foreign law enforcement from conducting anti-corruption investigations in China. (Nikkei Asia, November 7, 2026)
CHINESE AIRLINES FACE LOSSES AMID HIGH FUEL COSTS AND LOW DEMAND
China's top state carriers — Air China, China Eastern, and China Southern — face full-year net losses following steep earnings drops. In Q3, Air China's net profit fell 92.6% to 270.6 million yuan ($40.6 million), China Eastern dropped 98.2% to 64 million yuan, and China Southern swung from a net profit of 3.84 billion yuan last year to a loss of 609 million yuan. Surging jet fuel costs and unhedged energy exposure, coupled with weak domestic consumer demand and intense high-speed rail competition, have crushed profit margins. To control costs amid high jet fuel prices and soft demand, domestic carriers are increasing the number of flying hours per plane. (Channel NewsAsia, November 2, 2026)
Want these sent to your inbox?
Subscribe
