RH 10.6.25 | China: Spies, Satellites, Stealth Jets & Sanctions Games

Buckle up — this episode of The Restricted Handling Podcast dives straight into China’s latest global power plays, and it’s a wild mix of espionage, tech warfare, and high-flying ambition. From satellites hovering over Ukraine to secret oil deals with Iran, Beijing is rewriting the playbook for 21st-century power — and doing it with stealth (literally and figuratively).

We start with breaking developments in Ukraine, where Chinese reconnaissance satellites allegedly helped Russia refine its missile targets. That’s right — those “scientific research” satellites may have been moonlighting as battlefield scouts, feeding Moscow intel in real-time. It’s the kind of quiet cooperation that blurs the line between neutrality and alliance, and it could mark a new phase in how China engages in proxy conflicts.

Then, we head to the Persian Gulf to uncover Beijing’s covert financial choreography. You’ll hear how China built a hidden payment network to buy Iranian oil without ever touching the global banking system. The system involves a secretive financial entity called Chuxin, state-owned insurer Sinosure, and a cast of shell companies — all working to funnel billions through a “construction-for-crude” barter scheme. It’s economic espionage meets creative accounting, and it’s keeping Tehran afloat while giving China a front-row seat in the Middle East energy game.

From there, we fly to the Philippines — now ground zero in Beijing’s digital and human intelligence war. Chinese nationals have been arrested for espionage after allegedly using drones and LiDAR scanners to map U.S.-aligned military bases. At the same time, Chinese-funded social media operations are spreading pro-Beijing propaganda online, targeting Philippine audiences with fake accounts and influencer-style disinformation. It’s a hybrid war fought through Wi-Fi and whispers — and it’s turning Manila into one of the hottest pressure points in the Indo-Pacific.

But that’s not all. This episode also explores China’s internal machinery of control — from Xi Jinping’s latest white paper on “governing Xinjiang” to new reports exposing a massive digital surveillance network in Tibet. Combine that with China’s newest stealth fighters — the J-20 and J-35 — rolling off production lines, and it’s clear Beijing is building power on every front: military, economic, and digital.

If you want to understand how China’s playing the long game — from the skies above Ukraine to the firewalls of Tibet — this is the episode you can’t miss.