Author Archive

Thomas Corbett

Research analyst, BluePath Labs

Thomas Corbett is a research analyst with BluePath Labs. His areas of focus include Chinese foreign relations, emerging technology, and Indo-Pacific security studies.
Ideas

China claims breakthroughs in autonomous vehicles

If Chinese companies succeed in solidifying their dominance of the autonomous vehicle and LiDAR markets, the security implications are profound.

Threats

A new breakthrough could deepen US troops' dependence on Chinese batteries

The Qingdao Institute reports a new manufacturing technique that enables cells to charge quicker and age slower.

Science & Tech

China is building its own Starlink—even as questions surround Musk's constellation

A recent rocket launch lofted satellites for a Chinese service to mimic SpaceX, which was slammed this weekend by a top U.S. lawmaker.

Ideas

China is honing runway-repair teams

In a Pacific conflict, sustained air operations will turn on the ability to keep airfields open.

Ideas

China’s war planners are leaning harder on its militia

The PLA’s reserve auxiliary force dwarfs the regular military, but is understudied and too often overlooked.

Ideas

China’s New Conscription Rules Reveal Concerns

New sections on wartime drafts, punishment, and physical fitness offer a glimpse into PLA leaders’ minds.

Ideas

Chinese Breakthroughs Bring Quantum Tools Closer to Practicality

Still, concerns of a Chinese “quantum supremacy” should be softened by the realities and difficulties of this new space.

Ideas

China Is Eating Russia’s Lunch in the Defense Market

The script has flipped in the countries’ traditional defense-industrial relationship.

Ideas

China ‘Colonizes’ Space with Its First Rice Harvest

The cultivation of food in orbit is part of a larger push by the Chinese space program toward a lunar base.

Ideas

How the West May Have Helped Build China’s Spy Balloons

Beijing has long pursued aerostat technology, even enlisting French and American firms to help.

Ideas

Putin’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week Looks Even Worse Through a China Lens

A series of meetings reveal how Beijing is stealing Russia’s influence even in its own backyard.

Ideas

China’s ‘Particle Beam Cannon’ Is a Nuclear-Power Breakthrough

It promises to recycle spent nuclear fuel, making it cheaper and less dangerous—and moving Beijing toward energy independence.

Ideas

China May Have Just Taken the Lead in the Quantum Computing Race

China’s record-shattering processor is 1 million times faster than what Google achieved three years ago–but we are years from the finish line.

Ideas

What Is China Learning from the Ukraine War?

From battlefield concepts to geopolitics, Beijing is sure to be watching with avid interest—and some chagrin.

Ideas

As Climate Change Threatens China, PLA Is Missing in Action

China’s military will have to reckon with a new security environment. When will it start?

Ideas

China’s Fusion Research Is Heating Up

The EAST reactor in Hefei broke records last month as it edges toward the sustained stellar temperatures needed to generate fusion energy.