In this video, China espionage expert Nick Eftimiades and I mapped out the ever-shifting intelligence landscape under Xi Jinping.
“Xi Jinping has been the only leader in half a century that has been able to make changes and move things around within the [People’s Liberation Army],” he told me. “No other leader had the type of control over the PLA that he does.”
We discussed the latest China-related developments in the United States: The anticipated TikTok deal and how data may still be shared with China if parent company ByteDance owns less than 20%. How ICE’s raid on a Hyundai battery plant in Georgia, which led some 300 South Koreans to be arrested and deported, will be exploited by China’s propaganda arm. How Texas now has a hostile foreign adversaries unit in the state’s Department of Public Safety — potentially paving the way for more state-level efforts to counter China’s operations.
Nick has been monitoring China’s influence and intelligence operations for years. “I cataloged 778 United Front organizations just in the U.S.,” he said. “Currently active.”
On the foreign side, Nick said China’s recent military parade targeted “countries that are trying to decide between their alliances with the United States or with China.” And how China-based facilities that make precursors to fentanyl are a bargaining chip for Xi.
Much more in the video, and you can follow Nick’s work here.
