Valentin Weber
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weberv.bsky.social
Valentin Weber
@weberv.bsky.social
Senior Cyber Research Fellow @dgap.org | Biweekly brief on China's technological control at home & influence abroad: https://chinatechnosphere.substack.com
Pinned
🚨 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
China: Technosphere | Valentin Weber | Substack
China: Technosphere provides a biweekly (or so) deep-dive into China's control at home and influence abroad. Click to read China: Technosphere, by Valentin Weber, a Substack publication. Launched 7 da...
chinatechnosphere.substack.com
Part II of my analysis on China’s Lianyungang Forum is out. It breaks down how the Forum’s Global Public Security Index pushes China’s security agenda, using biased rankings based on a survey by Dataway, a firm tied to UFWD work on Xinjiang/Tibet.

chinatechnosphere.substack.com/p/lianyungan...
Lianyungang: China's Blueprint for an Alternative Global Security Architecture (Part II)
China: Technosphere provides a biweekly deep-dive into China’s technological control at home and influence abroad.
chinatechnosphere.substack.com
November 26, 2025 at 9:19 AM
Reposted by Valentin Weber
Just as China’s approach to cyber operations has developed, so has its counter-attribution strategy. Western attribution strategies haven’t kept pace, argues @weberv.bsky.social in his latest for Binding Hook: bindinghook.com/chinas-attri...
China’s attribution strategy has changed; it’s time for us to catch up
To effectively counter Chinese efforts, Western countries and their partners must adapt by expanding joint attribution, broadening global audiences, and pre-empting disinformation narratives.
bindinghook.com
November 18, 2025 at 7:08 AM
Reposted by Valentin Weber
„Sicherheit ist kein Zustand, sondern ein Prozess“, so Bundesminister der Verteidigung Boris Pistorius in seiner Videobotschaft anlässlich unserer Zentrumseröffnung. Sein Wunsch an das Zentrum ist es, „einen Raum für kritische & faktenfokussierte Debatten“ anzubieten.
November 17, 2025 at 4:31 PM
The Lianyungang Forum is #China's blueprint for an alternative global #security architecture. The Forum has been taking place since 2015 and gathers hundreds of #police and government officials from across the world in China. Here is my analysis of it 👇 chinatechnosphere.substack.com/p/lianyungan...
Lianyungang: China's Blueprint for an Alternative Global Security Architecture (Part I)
China: Technosphere provides a biweekly deep-dive into China’s technological control at home and influence abroad.
chinatechnosphere.substack.com
November 12, 2025 at 11:08 AM
In our new @dgap.org memo, Maria Pericàs Riera and I lay out what #Europe should do to mitigate the risks emanating from connected vehicles.

dgap.org/en/research/...
Connected Vehicle Cybersecurity: The EU Must Consider Non-technical Risk Factors
Assessing the trustworthiness of the country of origin of battery management systems is especially important for overall system security.
dgap.org
November 5, 2025 at 11:20 AM
Soon you’ll watch horror movies and go to Halloween parties. But real horror is out there. Chinese “smart prisons” show tech control at its peak—and the same monitoring systems are spreading to elderly care and military sites worldwide. #Surveillance

chinatechnosphere.substack.com/p/you-might-...
You Might be Already Wearing Chinese Smart Prison Technology
China: Technosphere provides a biweekly deep-dive into China’s technological control at home and influence abroad.
chinatechnosphere.substack.com
October 29, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Few at IBM may have anticipated that introducing the concept of smart cities to China would eventually lead to the emergence of smart military camps (智慧军营). Yet, that is precisely what happened.

open.substack.com/pub/chinatec...
The American Origins of China's Smart Military Camps
China: Technosphere provides a biweekly deep-dive into China’s technological control at home and influence abroad.
open.substack.com
October 15, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Reposted by Valentin Weber
„Die jüngsten Cyberangriffe auf 🇪🇺 Flughäfen sind eine erneute Mahnung: 🇩🇪 muss unabhängiger von 🇺🇸 & 🇨🇳 Technologie werden“, schreibt @weberv.bsky.social im Handelsblatt- Gastbeitrag. Er skizizziert darin vier Ansätze für mehr technologische Souveränität. 📰👇
Handelsblatt
www.handelsblatt.com
October 14, 2025 at 7:56 AM
Reposted by Valentin Weber
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...
October 2, 2025 at 12:00 PM
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...
Project MUSE - China's AI-Powered Surveillance State
muse.jhu.edu
October 1, 2025 at 12:06 PM
October 1, 2025 at 8:26 AM
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-...
September 17, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Reposted by Valentin Weber
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...
The Case for Berlin Supplying Arms to Taipei
Taiwan is struggling with the effects of late and insufficient US weapons deliveries, which are making it more vulnerable. It would be in Germany’s interest to step in.
ip-quarterly.com
September 5, 2025 at 9:04 AM
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...
September 5, 2025 at 7:26 AM
📢 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...
Welcome to China: Technosphere
This week: How China monitors its borders
chinatechnosphere.substack.com
September 3, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Reposted by Valentin Weber
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.
Aktive Cyberabwehr: Von der Wirkung zur Toolbox
Die neue Bundesregierung will in dieser Legislaturperiode den Grundstein für eine erweiterte aktive Cyberabwehr legen. Entscheidend bei diesem Prozess ist, zunächst die angestrebte Wirkung klar zu ben...
dgap.org
August 28, 2025 at 8:56 AM
🚨 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
China: Technosphere | Valentin Weber | Substack
China: Technosphere provides a biweekly (or so) deep-dive into China's control at home and influence abroad. Click to read China: Technosphere, by Valentin Weber, a Substack publication. Launched 7 da...
chinatechnosphere.substack.com
August 26, 2025 at 12:00 PM
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
A Lack of Action in UN Cyber Discussions Is Partly the Fault of the West
In July, the UN’s Open-ended Working Group (OEWG) on cybersecurity successfully concluded five years of negotiations by agreeing on the Global Mechanism, a permanent body that will address issues of i...
dgap.org
July 16, 2025 at 12:39 PM
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.
July 11, 2025 at 12:12 PM
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.
July 10, 2025 at 1:26 PM
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.
July 8, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Reposted by Valentin Weber
„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.
Chinas Privatunternehmen unter „Xiconomics“
Während chinesische Tech-Konzerne betonen, unabhängig zu agieren, hat der Parteistaat Mechanismen wie Parteizellen, „Golden Shares“ oder extralegale Druckmittel etabliert, die eine solche Unabhängigke...
dgap.org
May 20, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Reposted by Valentin Weber
“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.
China's next-level AI could overtake US: new report
Scientists in China are racing to build next-level "artificial general intelligence" that is infused with Chinese Communist Party values.
www.newsweek.com
May 22, 2025 at 8:08 AM
Reposted by Valentin Weber
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
Securing Connected Vehicles: European Perspectives on ICT Risks in the Automotive Sector
YouTube video by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik e.V.
youtube.com
May 21, 2025 at 8:09 AM
Reposted by Valentin Weber
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
May 21, 2025 at 8:09 AM