The Chinese Communist Party is dreaming an authoritarian techno-dream that is a democrat’s nightmare: ever more fine-grained state control made possible by using AI networks to pry and spy everywhere. But human unpredictability remains a force the party-state cannot tame. muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/a...

My essay "China's AI-Powered Surveillance State" is out today in @jodemocracy.bsky.social. #AI may boost CCP control, but human unpredictability remains its Achilles' heel. Read it here (free until Oct 30): muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl...

Issue #2 of China: Technosphere is out 🎯 Read the full post to find out what the #BRI Cybersecurity Strategy is about what China's motives are as well as how Anxinsec and Huawei cooperate to build a Silk Road Technology Ecosystem. 👇 substack.com/home/post/p-...

New: @aylinmatle.bsky.social & @weberv.bsky.social argue that it would be in Germany’s interests to supply arms to Taiwan, as it struggles with the effects of late and insufficient US deliveries. ip-quarterly.com/en/case-berl...

Our new article w @aylinmatle.bsky.social "The Case for Berlin Supplying Arms to Taipei" was published in the @ipq.bsky.social. Taiwan is struggling with the effects of insufficient and late US #weapons deliveries. It would be in the interest of Germany to step in. ip-quarterly.com/en/case-berl...

📢 China: Technosphere Just Launched 📢 The first issue of my new biweekly Substack brief explores #China's border surveillance infrastructure that can detect #submarines as well as fleeing #dissidents. chinatechnosphere.substack.com/p/welcome-to...

In ihrem Memo setzen sich unser Senior Research Fellow @weberv.bsky.social & Ferdinand Gehringer von der KAS mit der aktiven Cyberabwehr in 🇩🇪 auseinander. Sie empfehlen der Bundesregierung, eine Reaktionstoolbox zu entwickeln, die geeignete Maßnahmen bündelt und deren Chancen & Risiken aufzeigt.

🚨 Launching Sept 3 China:Technosphere, my new biweekly brief — built for those interested in understanding how China controls at home and influences abroad. At the intersection of national security and technology.🔔Subscribe now to get the first issue: chinatechnosphere.substack.com/welcome

My latest @dgap.org memo was published today. Incation in #UN cyber discussions is primarily to blame on Russian behavior that obstructs progress, but it is also partly due to a #Western tendency to make broad statements in #plenary sessions. dgap.org/en/node/42456

The chair of the #UN #OEWG on cybersec circulated the final report for delegations to decide on today. Chances for consensus are better, but he might have made too little to accommodate concerns regarding the thin provisions on international law. This could derail the process in its final hours.

Yesterday night the chair of the #OEWG on international #cybersecurity circulated a revised draft of the final #report. The report has shrunk from 59 to 30 pages, increasing the chances of adoption. There are improvements but, the language potentially leading to a #treaty needs to be weakened.

It is the final week of UN #OEWG discussions on int #cybersecurity. Points of disagreement remain on new norms vs implementing existing ones and the shape of the future mechanism, which put a final consensus report in peril. It will require a great portion of diplomatic acumen to overcome them.

„Der weitreichende Einfluss der Kommunistischen Partei Chinas auf 🇨🇳 Unternehmen ist in 🇩🇪 weitgehend unbekannt“, so Associate Fellow @kavocabo.bsky.social. Im Memo erläutert er, wie Parteizellen und Golden Shares die Wirtschaft kontrollieren & was 🇪🇺 tun sollte.

“Social governance is a euphemism for social control. Achieving social control is a central theme of #China 's AGI pursuit. The closer 🇨🇳 gets to reaching AGI, the higher are its chances of preserving regime security”, our #cyber expert @weberv.bsky.social told @newsweek.com.

You can now re-watch the full discussion that was opened by welcoming remarks of our Otto-Wolff director Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff on our YouTube channel! 📺👇/2

Yesterday afternoon, we hosted an event on the cybersecurity challenges of connected vehicles. Together with diplomats, policymakers & experts from 🇩🇪, 🇫🇷 & 🇬🇧, our expert @weberv.bsky.social discussed 🇪🇺perspectives on ICT Risks in the automotive sector. /1

Next Tuesday we will discuss the #cybersecurity of #connected vehicles with reps from #Germany, #UK and #France. Join us at @dgap.org or online for a timely discussion. More info at: dgap.org/en/events/se... Register at: [email protected]

Join us on 20 May in Berlin for an event on the cybersecurity challenges of connected vehicles. Together with diplomats, policymakers & experts from 🇩🇪, 🇬🇧 & 🇫🇷, @weberv.bsky.social will discuss how cooperation can contribute to shaping a broader 🇪🇺 strategy. All details & registration: buff.ly/bXo4Ucz

China’s DeepSeek AI is revolutionising repression, argues @weberv.bsky.social: making it smarter, cheaper, and more scalable. The CCP’s latest #genAI tool automates #surveillance and decision-making, posing a global threat to democracy:

🇩🇪 ist bei der Absicherung seiner Systeme für das Quantenzeitalter ein internationaler Vorreiter - zumindest auf dem Papier. Der @tspbackground.bsky.social Cybersicherheit fasst exklusiv die Ergebnisse einer neuen Analyse unserer Expert*innen @weberv.bsky.social & Maria Pericàs zusammen. /1

My article w Maria Pericàs is out. It shows that Germany is among the most ambitious & desired bilateral partners in developing quantum tech. We recommend the new Digital Ministry to establish a Quantum Benchmarking Initiative for European companies to propel innovation. dgap.org/en/research/...

I'm very much looking forward to joining next week's @hooverinstitution.bsky.social event on "Digital Authoritarianism and Strategies to Promote a Democratic Digital Future" with Beth Kerley, Charles Mok, Christopher Walker and Larry Diamond. Online registration: stanford.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Missed our DGAP Morning Briefing on Germany’s new coalition? Watch the full recording now: expert insights on foreign policy, migration, defense, climate & tech from Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff, Victoria Rietig, @aylinmatle.bsky.social, Tim Bosch & Valentin Weber. youtu.be/VlWh_VyKlAg?...

Looking forward to analyzing the technology aspects of the freshly published German coalition treaty with my colleagues tomorrow morning. Sign-up link is in the comments

It was a real pleasure to speak about #China as a risen cyber power at the @virtualroutes.bsky.social colloquium w Zoë van Doren yesterday. Thanks to thought-provoking comments from @euben.bsky.social and great chairing by Lena Riecke & @partomirzaei.bsky.social.

Join us for the next session of the Colloquium series next week! 👇 ⏰ April 2, 16:00-17:00 CET 💡 @weberv.bsky.social, Zoë van Doren & @euben.bsky.social 💭 China’s Expanding Cyber Playbook: Espionage, Fear, and Influence in East Asia Read more & sign up: virtual-routes.org/event/chinas...

“DeepSeek has massive potential to enhance 🇨🇳’s already pervasive surveillance state & it will bring the CCP closer than ever to its goal of possessing an automated, autonomous & scientific tool for repressing its people”, writes #tech expert @weberv.bsky.social in @jodemocracy.bsky.social.

Important follow-up to our reporting about corruption allegations against Huawei lobbyists dropped last night. Investigators believe that at least one senior Chinese executive knew about the illicit money flows. Did the company cover up the corrupt acts? #HuaweiGate www.ftm.eu/articles/hua...

Last week China accused Taiwan of cyber ops. CN does not provide any real evidence and does not mention its own disruptive and destructive cyber activities against TW. For more background on the role of cyber in a potential conflict read my @cfr.org blogpost from 2022. www.cfr.org/blog/taiwans...

🚨My piece for the @jodemocracy.bsky.social was published today. #DeepSeek makes surveillance tech smarter&cheaper.This'll allow the CCP to stay in power longer, and propel Chinese #AIsurveillance exports across the world—to the detriment of global freedom. www.journalofdemocracy.org/online-exclu...

Cybercriminals have long been an immensely useful foreign policy tool for the 🇷🇺 state. “They create revenue and cause economic disruption in the West,” our #cyber expert @weberv.bsky.social told @newlinesmag.bsky.social.

Does Russia represent a threat to the US? For years, it has been understood that the answer is absolutely yes. Please read our story on how the Trump administration is abandoning that assessment and retreating in a dangerous fight www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

China’s homegrown tech boosts global #surveillance, social controls www.rfa.org/english/chin...

#Syria is no longer part of the #Russian like-minded group in #UN cybersecurity discussions. It may be temporary, but at least for now, this strengthens the #French -led action-oriented proposal for a future UN body on cyber issues. The current OEWG concludes its work this year.

UN cyber discussion have rarely been as heated as this week. Flashpoints: US-China, Ukraine-Russia, ROK-DPRK, Israel-Iran. China and the US accuse each other of pre-positioning in networks. Rather than accusing each other of such actions they should stop doing it, as I have argued previously.

This is the age of data-driven authoritarianism. #Emerging technologies, from consumer devices that infer our innermost thoughts to #quantum computers that will compromise encryption, threaten to expand its global power and reach. My new report for the National Endowment for Democracy is out 👇

Yesterday China published a statement on the future of UN cyber discussions. While it does not mention a Russian proposed convention it is nevertheless very concerning. China wants to focus on dull plenary discussions rather than effective in depth discussions. docs-library.unoda.org/Open-Ended_W...

🥁 Virtual Routes Colloquium is back with the Spring/Summer (February-May 2025) session calendar, featuring @mhajneam.bsky.social, @sanstis.bsky.social, @weberv.bsky.social, Zoë van Doren, and Pieter Wolters! Read more and sign up: virtual-routes.org/initiatives/...

In seinem Memo zur #BTW2025 argumentiert unser #Tech-Experte @weberv.bsky.social, dass #Cyberabwehr gegen 🇨🇳 & 🇷🇺 Cyberaggressionen nicht ausreicht. Vielmehr sollte #Deutschland versuchen, zukünftige Cyberangriffe mit geoökonomischen & diplomatischen Mitteln zu unterbinden. /4

In meinem neuen @dgap.org Memo argumentiere ich, dass #Cyberabwehr gegen Chinas und Russlands Cyberaggressionen nicht ausreicht. Vielmehr sollte #Deutschland versuchen, zukünftige Cyberangriffe mit geoökonomischen und diplomatischen Mitteln zu unterbinden. dgap.org/de/forschung...

As Donald Trump takes office again, Elon Musk goes from speaking for six companies to speaking for a $27 trillion economy. @weberv.bsky.social asks, how should Europe deal with Trump’s oligarch-in-chief? ip-quarterly.com/en/how-europ...

It was a pleasure to speak with Laurent Berbon from @lexpress.bsky.social. Rather than being a challenge, Europe can profit from Musk’s short-termism, disregard for alliances, trusted relationships and bullying of international partners. www.lexpress.fr/idees-et-deb...

„Die 🇺🇸 Gesellschaft & Politik ist bei der TikTok-Frage tief gespalten“, so #Tech -Experte @weberv.bsky.social gegenüber dem @tspbackground.bsky.social "Digitalisierung & KI". Der designierte 🇺🇸-Präsident #Trump nutze das #TikTok -Verbot als etwas, was er in der Hand hat, um mit 🇨🇳 etwas auszuhandeln.

Our winter issue is here, featuring contributions from @henninghoff.bsky.social @jantechau.bsky.social Sławomir Sierakowski @josephdeweck.bsky.social‬ @nicolange.bsky.social @weberv.bsky.social @helenalegarda.bsky.social @rebeccawire.bsky.social & more! Check it out ip-quarterly.com/en/winter-20...

In his contribution for @ipq.bsky.social, our Senior Research Fellow @weberv.bsky.social analyses Elon #Musk's worldview and foreign policy positions, urging that 🇪🇺 must focus on accumulating tech power in response to his rise in 🇺🇸 politics. /2

🇨🇳is becoming increasingly sophisticated in obscuring its #cyber ops and it is dedicating increasing resources to counter democratic attribution statements through #disinformation. Our paper with C.K. Chen for @fnfreiheit.bsky.social #CyCraftTechnology, @dgap.org shop.freiheit.org#!/Publikatio...

The @ceccgov.bsky.social Annual Report (2024), released last week, cites a report on #surveillance in Tibet I wrote with @choekyitenzin.bsky.social for @turquoiseroof.org 🙏 www.cecc.gov/publications... (p.235-36) see sections on tech-enhanced authoritarianism, and on #Tibet

When Donald Trump takes office (again), Elon Musk—the oligarch-in-chief—will go from speaking for six companies to speaking for a $27 trillion economy. In response, Europe needs to concentrate on accumulating tech power, @weberv.bsky.social writes. ip-quarterly.com/en/how-europ...

My new piece for Internationale Politik Quarterly is out. As Donald #Trump takes office again, tech billionaire Elon #Musk will go from speaking for six companies to speaking for a $27 trillion economy. In response, Europe needs to concentrate on accumulating tech power.