2026 Issue 40

Nikkei Asia reveals that of the 20 major global cities, Shanghai has the highest office vacancy rate of nearly one quarter.  The PRC’s commercial hub continues to suffer from the country’s broader economic stagnation and underperformance, even as the country dumps ever more exports on to the global market.

Martin Purbrick uncovers how PRC intelligence services use a variety of research organizations, consultancies, and foundations as operation cover to hide their espionage across the globe.  This is particularly important as U.S. universities are fighting in court to keep foreign donors from places like the PRC confidential.

Robert Manning and Nick Hawkins describe how the PRC is becoming a formidable rival in space and space technology to the United States.  The PRC’s mastery of electronics manufacturing and other advanced commercial industries has given it an advantage that the Soviet Union never possessed.

In a Jamestown Foundation report, Jonah Reisboard describes how the Chinese Communist Party subverts and manipulates religion in the PRC to primarily serve the interests of the Party.  While Article 36 of the PRC’s Constitution formally guarantees Chinese citizens freedom of religious belief, that so-called “freedom” is narrowly confined to religion that is under the complete control of the CCP.

In perhaps the least surprising news of the week, Bloomberg reveals that a major PRC artificial intelligence company has long-standing ties to the PRC Ministry of State Security and has help them develop tools for surveillance and manipulation.