CHINESE INFLUENCE OPERATIONS: From The Diplomat, a look at Beijing’s influence and “interference” operations:

Foreign influence operations – which can be broadly defined as the coordinated utilization of capabilities to affect changes in the perceptions, practices, and policies of foreign target audiences – in and of themselves are neither new nor not unique to China. But growing concern about aspects of the Chinese state and its broader conduct, as well as a series of recent incidents which have spotlighted the more illicit and coercive aspects of alleged influence operations – be it election interference, the bribing of key influencers, or the manipulation of media environments – have contributed to increasing the spotlight on this subject. The focus on Chinese influence operations is also occurring amid a confluence of broader trends, including intensifying major power competition…

The article mentions “permissive conditions” Beijing exploits. No kidding. Those conditions also make it easier to conduct intelligence operations. My Creators Syndicate column last week focused on China’s pervasive spying and used the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston as a telling example.