China Watch: PRC Activity Tracker

Chinese hackers tracked as 'UAT-7810' are developing LONGLEASH malware to expand their Operational Relay Box (ORB) network by targeting unpatched Ruckus routers and other internet-facing networking devices.

A U.S. Congressional committee has asked the owner of Washington’s NBA and NHL teams to cut ties with Alibaba, citing the Pentagon’s designation of the company as a Chinese military entity. The letter from Rep. John Moolenaar included a July 15 deadline and referenced Alibaba’s ongoing legal challenge against the Pentagon’s decision. The committee has previously scrutinized sports-related ties to Chinese companies, including Alibaba’s Olympic sponsorships.

China is using AI tools, including American ones like ChatGPT, to launch covert propaganda campaigns against U.S. AI infrastructure development. OpenAI identified a campaign where Chinese-linked users generated polarizing content about data centers, aiming to slow construction and tip the global AI race in China's favor. The article highlights China's broader use of AI for surveillance, repression, and targeted propaganda to advance its geopolitical interests.

Taiwanese authorities charged Li Hualun and Chen Mengsen for allegedly aiding China’s cyber spies by leasing LINE accounts to Xiamen Empress Information Technology Co. Ltd., enabling impersonation of ICIJ journalists to target officials, scholars, and activists. The attacks aimed to steal private information from groups of interest to the Chinese government, including Uyghur, Tibetan, and Hong Kong diaspora activists.

China's dominance in the fluorine value chain is highlighted as a potential source of geopolitical leverage, similar to its control over rare earths. The article suggests this control is an overlooked strategic advantage.

A Chinese lidar manufacturer blacklisted by the Pentagon is expanding its collaboration with Nvidia, making its sensors available on Nvidia's autonomous vehicle platform. This move has raised concerns among U.S. lawmakers and security researchers.

Hesai Technology, a Chinese lidar maker with ties to Nvidia, was blacklisted by the U.S. Department of Defense in 2024 as a national security threat. The department designated Hesai as a Chinese military entity.

Three men were convicted by a federal jury in Las Vegas for participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl.

Anthropic's Claude Code AI tool was found to contain a hidden tracking function that encoded user data based on time zones, which the company admitted was an experiment to combat unauthorized resellers and distillation attacks. The feature was removed after discovery by developer 'Thereallo' and subsequent public scrutiny, amid U.S. export controls and concerns over Chinese-linked AI distillation threats.

A suspected China-aligned threat activity cluster has been exploiting critical security flaws in Roundcube webmail software to target physics and engineering departments at U.S. and Canadian universities. The campaign uses now-patched vulnerabilities, including CVE-2024-42009, to steal credentials.

China conducted its first known launch of a strategic missile from a nuclear submarine. NATO chief Mark Rutte warned the alliance must remain vigilant about China’s military build-up, noting the growing connection between the Indo-Pacific and transatlantic regions.

China-aligned attackers exploited Roundcube vulnerabilities to breach U.S. and Canadian university networks, targeting physics and engineering departments to steal data and establish persistent access. The campaign, linked to the UNK_MassTraction cluster, used CVE-2024-42009 and CVE-2025-49113 to execute JavaScript and gain mailserver access via phishing emails.

Beijing hosted a movie screening of the film 'Dear You' for 150 foreign diplomats and their families from 74 embassies to help them 'better understand China'. The film, organized by the Chinese foreign ministry, was shot in the Teochew dialect of the Chaoshan region in Guangdong province and has sparked debate about propaganda in Southeast Asia.

Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong is scheduled for sentencing in September 2026 under a national security law for conspiring to collude with foreign forces. He was arrested in June 2025 and faces charges related to seeking foreign sanctions against Hong Kong or China between July 2020 and November 2020. Wong previously pleaded guilty in 2024 to a separate national security case and was sentenced to four years and eight months.

The US has accused China of nuclear proliferation following a ballistic missile test. China displayed submarine-launched ballistic missiles during a military parade in Beijing last September.

China's arms trade, despite questions about quality and reliability, is used strategically to create long-term military, economic, and political dependence in vulnerable states. A 2026 report by The Takshashila Institution highlights this as a central aspect of China's global influence strategy.

Taiwan has revived its 'anti-communist patriotic education' program for military academy graduates after 24 years, citing concerns over Beijing's infiltration attempts and recent espionage cases involving service members. The five-day compulsory course, starting July 1, restores the program's original name.

US-sanctioned 'teapot' refiner Hengli is leading a surge in China's petrochemical profits. The company's performance highlights a broader profit spike in the sector.

A US federal judge granted Alibaba a temporary reprieve to resume lobbying in the US, ordering the Pentagon to stop treating Alibaba as a Chinese military company until she reviews the constitutionality of a US law. The decision occurs amid heightened tensions between US AI firms and Chinese competitors over technology theft allegations.

China conducted a submarine missile test in the Pacific Ocean as Australia and Fiji finalized a defense agreement. The article examines the implications of this geopolitical development for Latin America.