Daily Drop (1192)
11-30-25
Sunday, Nov 30, 2025 // (IG): BB // GITHUB // SN R&D
From Mao to Xi: China’s Century-Long Playbook to Reclaim Global Power
Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF): A sweeping historical analysis by Navroop Singh and Himja Parekh traces China’s transformation from a fractured post-imperial state to a tech-driven geopolitical challenger under Xi Jinping. The piece connects early CCP survival—shaped by Soviet military aid, U.S. diplomatic missteps, and internal factionalism—to the strategic and ideological consolidation now defining China’s 21st-century ambitions. Xi’s regime, framed as a continuation of Maoist control with modern tools, is repositioning China as a central force in a multipolar world through global influence campaigns, hard-tech investments, and assertive military modernization—all aimed at rewriting the post-WWII order.
Analyst Comments: The authors convincingly argue that Xi’s China has returned to centralized authoritarianism, now powered by surveillance capitalism, digital infrastructure, and strategic tech decoupling. This informs nearly every cyber policy move Beijing makes today, from export controls on rare earths to aggressive data localization laws and global standards-setting via the Digital Silk Road. The CCP’s roots in intelligence warfare, counter-infiltration, and narrative control during the civil war era still echo in its approach to information operations and technological statecraft.
READ THE STORY: Niti Shastra
From Civil War to Cyber Superpower: China’s Long March to Global Dominance
Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF): A sweeping historical analysis by Navroop Singh and Himja Parekh traces China’s transformation from a fractured post-imperial state to a tech-driven geopolitical challenger under Xi Jinping. The piece connects early CCP survival—shaped by Soviet military aid, U.S. diplomatic missteps, and internal factionalism—to the strategic and ideological consolidation now defining China’s 21st-century ambitions. Xi’s regime, framed as a continuation of Maoist control with modern tools, is repositioning China as a central force in a multipolar world through global influence campaigns, hard-tech investments, and assertive military modernization—all aimed at rewriting the post-WWII order.
Analyst Comments: The authors convincingly argue that Xi’s China has returned to centralized authoritarianism, now powered by surveillance capitalism, digital infrastructure, and strategic tech decoupling. This informs nearly every cyber policy move Beijing makes today, from export controls on rare earths to aggressive data localization laws and global standards-setting via the Digital Silk Road. The CCP’s roots in intelligence warfare, counter-infiltration, and narrative control during the civil war era still echo in its approach to information operations and technological statecraft.
READ THE STORY: Big Mouth
Undersea Cables Emerge as Frontline in U.S.-China Tech Cold War
Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF): A new cyber-geopolitical front is unfolding beneath the oceans, where over 99% of global internet traffic flows through fragile, undersea fiber-optic cables. The U.S. and China are now locked in a high-stakes struggle to control these routes—especially cable landing points—transforming this invisible infrastructure into a battlefield for digital sovereignty, surveillance, and influence. The endgame isn’t cable ownership—it’s who dictates the rules of global data exchange.
Analyst Comments: Citing sources such as the FCC, CSIS, and the Stanford Cyber Policy Center, the report highlights how the U.S. is leveraging its regulatory muscle to block cables that touch Chinese territory—e.g., by vetoing a Hong Kong-U.S. cable segment. Meanwhile, China’s Digital Silk Road initiative is rapidly expanding cheaper, state-backed cable projects across Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Nations in these regions are increasingly forced to align with one side or the other, threatening the neutrality of internet governance. The bigger issue: this fragmentation could break the universal internet into region-locked ecosystems with conflicting standards and limited interoperability.
READ THE STORY: X
