Welcome back to The Restricted Handling Podcast! Today’s episode is a whirlwind tour through the latest power plays, digital showdowns, and economic turbulence coming out of Beijing and beyond. We’re breaking down the stories that matter for anyone tracking China’s moves on the global chessboard—and yes, there’s TikTok drama in the mix too.

Let’s start in Madrid, where U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng are squaring off in another round of U.S.–China trade talks. At stake? Tariffs, the future of TikTok in America, and whether the world’s two biggest economies can keep a fragile truce alive before a November deadline. TikTok’s divestiture clock runs out this week, but don’t hold your breath—Trump has already extended it three times, and expectations are high for yet another delay. But the sticking point isn’t just ownership—it’s that mysterious algorithm Beijing has locked up under export controls. Without it, TikTok isn’t TikTok.

Meanwhile, the energy game heats up. Washington is calling on allies to slap secondary tariffs on Russian oil purchases, but Beijing isn’t budging. Instead, it’s drawing a red line and promising retaliation if pressed, signaling China has no intention of letting Moscow’s lifeline get cut. Add in China’s latest probes into U.S. microchips, and we’ve got ourselves a tech-trade standoff that feels like Cold War 2.0—just with semiconductors instead of nukes.

But that’s not all. The PLA is stepping up pressure in every maritime theater—buzzing Taiwan with aircraft and ships, pushing a “nature reserve” on Scarborough Shoal, and sending coast guard cutters into Japanese waters near the Senkakus. It’s a full-court press in the East and South China Seas designed to normalize incursions and keep regional rivals off balance.

On top of that, cyber skirmishes are exploding into the open. The Salt Typhoon hacking campaign has been linked to China’s Ministry of State Security and the PLA, with reports suggesting it’s hoovered up massive amounts of civilian data across Australia and beyond. What began as espionage is now outright coercion, giving Beijing leverage in the digital domain while everyone else scrambles to play defense.

And then there’s Xiangshan Forum. Beijing is about to roll out the red carpet for its annual security summit, parading hypersonic weapons, drones, and nukes while railing against “hegemonism.” The U.S. is sending only a defense attaché, but expect plenty of signals, plenty of narratives, and plenty of chest-thumping from China’s side.

If you want the inside track on TikTok’s fate, U.S.–China trade brinkmanship, PLA maneuvers, and Beijing’s cyber toolkit, this episode delivers it all with a punchy, no-holds-barred breakdown.