Art of War 21

BD: What aspect of China's military modernization do you find most worrisome or remarkable? Davidson : The most profound change resulting from China's military modernization has been in its space capabilities.  Back in 2000 China only had 10 satellites in orbit, and this year it will launch more satellites than any other nation on the planet (emphasis added). That will greatly improve China's capabilities in terms of communications, surveillance, and offensive space systems possibly threatening our space assets. That represents a profound change. https://breakingdefense.com/2019/07/adm-davidson-china-assaults-international-order/

To this end, China's authoritarian leaders have successfully executed a series of centralized plans to lock up the global rare earths market. Rare earths are part of "Made in China 2025," an ambitious plan for China to undermine America's high-tech industry and economic leadership by institutionalizing unfair trade practices as a matter of policy. They are also highlighted in China's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016–2020) for science and technology, which envisions using rare earths to develop futuristic technologies that will fuel China's continued economic growth and  rapid military buildup .    https://nationalinterest.org/feature/what-rare-earths-tell-us-about-chinas-competitive-strategy-67507

"Obviously the system has not been working well. Voices that really reflect the mood of the public were not getting heard," said a government-affiliated adviser who asked to remain anonymous. "The central leadership wasn't alerted until the situation went out of control … There will surely be a revamp and overhaul of the system afterwards." The Communist Party's top unit on Hong Kong affairs – the Central Coordination Group for Hong Kong and Macau Affairs, led by Vice-Premier Han Zheng – has been collecting and consolidating reports and proposals from its frontline officers and now must formulate some options for discussion by the leadership. Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, left, with Chinese Vice-Premier Han Zheng, who also leads the Communist Party's top unit on Hong Kong affairs. Photo: Xinhua https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3019007/chinese-officials-scramble-deliver-new-hong-kong-strategy