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Mark Parker Young @markparkeryoung.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

of the CMC as an institution is very uncertain. We shouldn't assume that it will return to the same role it played previously. This is from my November piece on the political and operational fallout from purges -- I think it holds up well: markparkeryoung.substack.com/p/a-central-...

markparkeryoung.substack.com

A Central Military Commission Built For War - Against The PLA

Political control at the expense of operational capabilities

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Mark Parker Young @markparkeryoung.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

Until I'm able to write about the latest PLA purges, I've updated this chart showing the CMC's span of control during Xi's tenure. His reorganizations stretched the CMC and then his purges broke it. It was a fundamentally different organization even before the latest purge, and now the future

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Mark Parker Young @markparkeryoung.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

I posted a machine translation of recently-released footage of the trial of Xu Qinxian, the 38th Group Army Commander who balked at orders to use force in 1989. The footage provides new insight into a crucial episode in the history of China and the CCP. markparkeryoung.substack.com/p/the-trial-...

markparkeryoung.substack.com

The Trial of Major General Xu Qinxian: Machine Translation

A 6-hour video from the trial of PLA Major General Xu Qinxian (徐勤先), Commander of the 38th Group Army during the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, was publicized by the group Human Rights in China in...

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Mark Parker Young @markparkeryoung.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

Xi's military purges and reorganizations have reinforced his control over the PLA at the expense of its operational capabilities. I wrote about the new Central Military Commission and what it indicates about Xi's priorities and willingness to use force: markparkeryoung.substack.com/p/a-central-...

markparkeryoung.substack.com

A Central Military Commission Built For War - Against The PLA

Political control at the expense of operational capabilities

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Mark Parker Young @markparkeryoung.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

The underlying CNCERT report explicitly references Triangulation and lists alleged IOCs: mp.weixin.qq.com/s/XPjT0BVOJP...

mp.weixin.qq.com

关于国家授时中心遭受美国国家安全局网络攻击事件的技术分析报告

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Mark Parker Young @markparkeryoung.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

I would strongly recommend Jonathon Sine's review essay on Breakneck, which is itself a brilliant analysis of China: www.cogitations.co/p/litigation... and secondarily his much shorter review of Apple in China: x.com/JonathonPSin... (no, these were not paid endorsements, they're just great! 😄)

cogitations.co

Litigation Nation, Engineering Empire

A review of Dan Wang's new book Breakneck

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Holly Snape @hollysnapewang.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

Delighted that Joseph Torigian (@josephtorigian.bsky.social) will be joining us in Glasgow for our Scottish Centre for China Research seminar series. Join us! Wed 8 Oct 4pm UK time To join online register via link at: www.gla.ac.uk/research/az/...

gla.ac.uk

The Party's Interests Come First: The Life of Xi Zhongxun, Father of Xi Jinping

Seminar by Dr Joseph Torigian, American University in Washington & University of Michigan, 8 October 2025

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Mark Parker Young @markparkeryoung.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

It's a testament to the intensity of recent PLA purges that another wave came and went with little attention from English-langauge media, but the latest moves show the depth of disarray engulfing the high command. My take on what the latest moves mean: markparkeryoung.net/posts/fresh-...

markparkeryoung.net

⭐️ Another Round of Purges Exposes Political Upheaval in PLA

The damage spreads

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Dake Kang @dakekang.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

Hello everyone, I am now also on Substack. Bit of an experiment for me, but I suspect people who follow me might like that format better: substack.com/@dakekang

substack.com

Dake Kang | Substack

Investigative journalist in Beijing

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Mark Parker Young @markparkeryoung.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

@jonathonpsine.bsky.social has written an absolutely phenomenal review of Dan Wang's "Breakneck." This is one of my favorite single essays about China today. www.cogitations.co/p/litigation...

cogitations.co

Litigation Nation, Engineering Empire

A review of Dan Wang's new book Breakneck

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Mark Parker Young @markparkeryoung.bsky.social · 26/07/2025

Both parts of this ChinaTalk interview are well worth listening to - deep insights on the nature of the system that remains very relevant today. My own thoughts from April on the latest purges: markparkeryoung.net/posts/turmoi...

markparkeryoung.net

⭐️ Turmoil In The High Command Creates Political And Operational Disruptions

Xi has purged half the Central Military Commission

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Mark Parker Young @markparkeryoung.bsky.social · 26/07/2025

considerations that are only fully understood by the top leader." Xi Jinping was masterful at calibrating the scope and scale of purges between 2012-17 as he consolidated power. The latest round of purges has seemed more haphazard, although less dangerous for Xi than those of his first five years.

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Mark Parker Young @markparkeryoung.bsky.social · 26/07/2025

This two part interview about Xi Zhongxun is a fantastic vantage point on elite politics in China. One point by Joseph that is as true today as ever: "...how far a purge goes, who’s included in the purge, [and] how the purge is characterized, is an art form that is shaped by a myriad of different

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Gerard DiPippo @gdp1985.bsky.social · 20/07/2025

Facing U.S. tariffs, China’s exports to the U.S. are down—while exports to Southeast Asia are up. Is that trade diversion and potential transshipment? My estimate: at most 34% of the increased PRC exports to SE Asia in Q2 could reflect trade diverted from the United States.

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Mark Parker Young @markparkeryoung.bsky.social · 06/07/2025

I was going to write something about why certain types of "Xi Jinping is facing pushback" rumors are fundamentally flawed, but it's basically covered in the "faulty factionalism" section of this essay from a couple years ago: asiasociety.org/policy-insti...

asiasociety.org

2022, Xi Jinping’s Annus Horribilis: Or is it?

ASPI's Center for China Analysis Senior Fellow Christopher Johnson writes about Xi Jinping's challenges in 2022 and how he is still predicted to continue as China's top leader after the 20th Party Con...

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Mark Parker Young @markparkeryoung.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

I wouldn't be surprised if it also gets taken down from the Internet Archive.

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Mark Parker Young @markparkeryoung.bsky.social · 18/04/2025

China's military high command is in the midst of extraordinary upheaval, and Xi Jinping has purged half the uniformed members of the Central Military Commission little more than two years after choosing them. My deep dive on why it's happening and what it means: markparkeryoung.net/posts/turmoi...

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Gerard DiPippo @gdp1985.bsky.social · 12/04/2025

I would interpret the US tariff exemptions primarily as an attempt to mitigate the impact on electronics and consumers more than as a signal of a US-China deal. The exempted categories cover about 22% of US imports from China. content.govdelivery.com/bulletins/gd...

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Mark Parker Young @markparkeryoung.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

but I think there's also a substantial risk of misinterpretation. I appreciated the careful nuance in the reporting, which relayed the fact that Wang's comments were "indirect and somewhat ambiguous." It would've been easy to gloss over that.

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Mark Parker Young @markparkeryoung.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

functional as opposed to regional departments are also more likely to generate misinterpretations of political dynamics from participants on both sides, IMO. It's certainly possible that there may have been a change in Beijing's talking points about Volt Typhoon that was reflected in this dialogue,

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Mark Parker Young @markparkeryoung.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

this specific channel as a particularly important one. Wang is a mid-level official at MFA, and the fact that he was leading the dialog (with no mention of representation from the PLA), suggests China was mostly going through the motions on cyber issues. Diplomatic engagements led by

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Mark Parker Young @markparkeryoung.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

This is an interesting account of how Volt Typhoon came up in a bilateral cyber dialog. I would be wary of assuming that Wang's comments here reflected a high level decision in Beijing to signal Washington. I'm a bit skeptical because Beijing probably did not view www.wsj.com/politics/nat...

wsj.com

Exclusive | In Secret Meeting, China Acknowledged Role in U.S. Infrastructure Hacks

A senior Chinese official linked intrusions to escalating U.S. support for Taiwan.

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Rhodes Cartography @thinkinginspace.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

Was getting a spike in traffic on the other site for this simple tool, so reposting here. In case you have a need for maps like these... www.mapspam.net/MetOrtho.html

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Mark Parker Young @markparkeryoung.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

Good context here on South China Morning Post science and technology reporting, which helped spark concern about this patent: www.pekingnology.com/p/some-troub...

pekingnology.com

Some Troubled Science Reporting at South China Morning Post

A review of the SCMP's recent cable-cutting blockbuster and 8 other science stories in the past year.

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Mark Parker Young @markparkeryoung.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

Excellent indictment of science reporting at South China Morning Post by @zichen.bsky.social. My approach is to read SCMP reporting on Chinese politics, even given the severe constraints on it, but disregard all science reports, including on cybersecurity. www.pekingnology.com/p/some-troub...

pekingnology.com

Some Troubled Science Reporting at South China Morning Post

A review of the SCMP's recent cable-cutting blockbuster and 8 other science stories in the past year.

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Gerard DiPippo @gdp1985.bsky.social · 30/03/2025

Which US industries are most exposed to the China market? Looking at US majority-owned foreign affiliates, the answer is wholesale trade, computers & electronics, chemicals & pharma, autos, and semiconductors. This could matter for US-China talks and potential PRC retaliation to US tariffs.

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Gerard DiPippo @gdp1985.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

Taiwan is nervous. With good reason. Jude Blanchette and I discuss in our new RAND Commentary. www.rand.org/pubs/comment...

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Jonathon P Sine @jonathonpsine.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

Han Dynasty and Roman Empire. We like to say "all roads lead to Rome" but it is much more accurate to say "all roads lead to Chang'an." Han Dynasty road network was radial, whereas the Roman road network was mesh-like.

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China Media Project @chinamediaproject.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

Hundreds of gigabytes of data from an unsecured server expose how China is using artificial intelligence to automate the surveillance of online discourse, with a sophisticated classification system prioritizing military, social, and political content. chinamediaproject.org/2025/03/24/c...

chinamediaproject.org

China’s AI Content Dragnet - China Media Project

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Mark Parker Young @markparkeryoung.bsky.social · 19/03/2025

Outstanding interview with a young censor.

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Oleg Shakirov @shakirov2036.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

Big day for Chinese threat intel MSS outs 4 alleged members of Taiwan's Information, Communications & Electronic Force Command, links them to cyber attacks QiAnXin & Antiy release 2 separate reports on Taiwan-linked APT-Q-20/APT-C-01/GreenSpot/PoisonVine 🧵w/ links & details

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Rhodes Cartography @thinkinginspace.bsky.social · 15/03/2025

Thinking about maritime security? Needs more maps... www.state.gov/g7-foreign-m...

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Kim Zetter @kimzetter.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

I'll be teaching a 6-week graduate-level night course at Georgetown University in May-June called Cyber Operations. We'll look at ways that nations project power in cyberspace - their motives, methods, and impact. Looking forward to meeting students in the School of Foreign Service master's program

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Mark Parker Young @markparkeryoung.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

I kind of thought that these predictions had petered out but Tyler Cowen (who I otherwise agree with about some other AI issues) triggered me: marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevo...

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Mark Parker Young @markparkeryoung.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

Predictions that AI could undermine the Chinese government's societal monitoring and control remind me of predictions in the 90s that the internet would do the same thing. I think it'll very likely be the opposite.

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Mark Parker Young @markparkeryoung.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

One of the best discussions of the uneven impact of AI on the future of warfare that I've heard/read.

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Mark Parker Young @markparkeryoung.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

Fascinating article. The CCP will have to grapple with how to manage the increasingly strong emotional attachments people will form with AI systems, as is the case for every government and society. I think there are both risks and opportunities from Beijing's point of view.

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Gerard DiPippo @gdp1985.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

China's retaliation to the new 20% US tariffs: - 10-15% tariffs on US ag imports - 10 US firms on Unreliable Entities List - 15 US firms on export control list (Illumina maybe most affected) - No product-specific export controls Less than proportional response.

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Dakota @dakotaindc.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

The number of companies providing vulnerabilities to China’s MSS has ballooned to 324, up from 151 in 2023! Most new companies are currently Tier 3. China’s ecosystem of vuln suppliers is frothy.

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Matthew Green @matthewdgreen.bsky.social · 01/03/2025

One of the things I’ve come to appreciate being with privacy folks this week is how unique Signal is at this moment. I know it’s maybe a cliche at this point, but it needs to be said.

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Mark Parker Young @markparkeryoung.bsky.social · 01/03/2025

Thank you very much, comrade rando. I think the venn diagram of people who are interested in back issues of China News Analysis, and people who use cuckoo sandbox, is pretty small! 🫡

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Mark Parker Young @markparkeryoung.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

If you end up downloading those files and they look usable, please let me know and I'll grab them myself

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Mark Parker Young @markparkeryoung.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

There is a purported digital version available here. I would advise caution with these files and absolutely cannot vouch for them, but if you're looking for a lead, here you go! web.archive.org/web/20220228... You could also ask Anthony Edwards: www.chinatalk.media/p/lessons-fr...

chinatalk.media

Lessons from the Ultimate China Watcher: László Ladány

“I’m trying to think of who might agree with that sentiment and support a warming of relations. One doesn’t easily come to mind, but I’ll think it through further!”

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Mark Parker Young @markparkeryoung.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

could centralize the implementation of blocking outside users from accessing resources within China, as opposed to having the resource owners do that themselves when it's relevant?

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Mark Parker Young @markparkeryoung.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

That actually gets to something I don't understand. Why is the DNS injection bidirectional, instead of just affecting requests from China? I would think that a tighter focus would make the system less susceptible to analysis and attack. I guess the benefit to the bidirectional aspect is that it

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Mark Parker Young @markparkeryoung.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

Researchers analyzed a memory disclosure vulnerability in the Great Firewall for two years. I'm always impressed at the technical ingenuity of researchers who probe the architecture of this system. gfw.report/publications...

gfw.report

Wallbleed: A Memory Disclosure Vulnerability in the Great Firewall of China

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