WORLD ROUNDUP – 7-13 APRIL 2025Chinese Hackers Are Getting Bigger, Better and Stealthier | Israel’s Expansionism Is a Danger to Others—and Itself | A Trump-Putin Alliance, for All to See | Fanning the Flames of Conflict, and more
CHINA WATCH
· Chinese Military Views of Low Earth Orbit
· More Than Just Chips: Chinese Threats and Trump Tariffs Could Disrupt Lots of “Made in Taiwan” Imports − Disappointing US Builders, Cyclists and Golfers Alike
· Chinese Barges and Taiwan Strait Drills Are About Global Power Projection − Not Just a Potential Invasion
· Cybersecurity Professor Faced China-Funding Inquiry Before Disappearing, Sources Say
· Secret Pentagon memo on China, Homeland Has Heritage Fingerprints
· Chinese Hackers Are Getting Bigger, Better and Stealthier
· Taiwan’s Biggest Limitation in Defense Isn’t Spending, It’s Late Deliveries from U.S. Defense Companies
MIDDLE EAST
· What Are Uyghurs Doing in Syria?
· Surprisingly, the Lebanon-Israel Cease-Fire Is Holding
· Stopping Iran’s Nuclear Program Requires U.S.-Israel Unity
· Israel’s Expansionism Is a Danger to Others—and Itself
· Syrian Christians: Debating the Past, Worry for the Future
THE LONG VIEW
· Nuclear Deterrence: Can Britain and France Take on America’s Role in Defending Europe Against Russian Aggression?
· A Trump-Putin Alliance, for All to See
· Russia’s Reach
· The Case for a U.S.-UK Tech Alliance
· Fanning the Flames of Conflict
MORE PICKS
· Tariffs Can Actually Work—if Only Trump Understood How
· How Will Russia Reconstitute Its Military After the Ukraine Conflict?
· Trump’s U.S.A.I.D. Cuts Hobble Earthquake Response in Myanmar
· A Way Out of the DRC’s Proxy War
· A Continent-Wide Blind Spot Revisited by Joe Bruhl
CHINA WATCH
Chinese Military Views of Low Earth Orbit (Howard Wang, Jackson Smith, Cristina L. Garafola, RAND)
Proliferated constellations in low earth orbit (LEO) have demonstrated significant battlefield utility in the Russia-Ukraine war and are likely to continue serving as an important component of space power in wartime. How Chinese leaders view these continued developments will have important implications for managing military escalation in space.
More Than Just Chips: Chinese Threats and Trump Tariffs Could Disrupt Lots of “Made in Taiwan” Imports − Disappointing US Builders, Cyclists and Golfers Alike (Jay L. Zagorsky, The Conversation)
What would the United States stand to lose economically if its current access to the Taiwanese market were upended or totally restricted?
This seemingly theoretical question about the longtime U.S. trading partner has taken on more relevance in the past several weeks. First, longtime fears about a potential Chinese invasion of the island – which Beijing claims as its own – were magnified as China increased military pressure by sending patrols, firing live ammunition nearby, practicing blockading the island and even publicly revealing the existence of new barges that might be used in an invasion. If China uses force, Taiwan’s manufacturing capacity could be destroyed.
Chinese Barges and Taiwan Strait Drills Are About Global Power Projection − Not Just a Potential Invasion (Colin Flint, The Conversation)
Is China intent on a D-Day style invasion of Taiwan?
Certainly that has been the tone of some of the reporting following the emergence of photos and videos depicting massive new Chinese barges designed for land-to-sea military operations. The fact that China launched a two-day military drill in the Taiwan Strait on April 1, 2025, has only intensified such fears.
To me, the curious thing regarding these musings about a potential war involving China, which has one of the world’s most advanced militaries, is that it is supported by reference to technology first used some 80 years ago – specifically, the Mulberry Harbours, floating piers that allowed Allies to deploy land vehicles onto the beaches at Normandy on June 6, 1944.
As an expert on the history and geopolitics of the Mulberry Harbours, I believe using the World War II example obscures far more than it clarifies with regard to the geopolitical situation today. Indeed, while the new Chinese ships may be operationally similar to their historical forebears, the strategic situation in China and Taiwan is far different.
