Welcome back to The Restricted Handling Podcast — your unfiltered daily briefing on the moves, motives, and mayhem shaping global power. In today’s episode, “RH 10.23.25 | China: Purges, Power Plays & Rare Earth Wars,” we’re diving deep into Beijing’s latest high-stakes maneuvers that have the world watching and Washington sweating. 

The episode opens with the fallout from Xi Jinping’s military purge, a political earthquake that continues to shake the foundations of China’s armed forces. We break down how Xi is clearing out his old guard — even loyalists from his Fujian days — to tighten control ahead of the CCP’s newly unveiled 15th Five-Year Plan. Think of it as a real-life political thriller: generals disappearing, airspace locked down, and a capital city buzzing with paranoia. 

Next up, we get into the details of China’s new five-year plan, officially adopted at the Fourth Plenum. It’s not just bureaucratic jargon — this blueprint sets the course for the world’s second-largest economy through 2030. The focus: tech self-reliance, high-end manufacturing, and full military modernization by 2027. Xi is betting big that homegrown innovation and Party loyalty can outmatch American sanctions and semiconductor controls. Spoiler: that plan’s already in motion. 

From Beijing’s conference halls, we shift to the battlefield — literal and digital. On the ground, Myanmar’s junta is roaring back with Chinese-supplied drones and aircraft, retaking key towns like Kyaukme and Hsipaw in a show of renewed strength. In the skies and seas, China’s refueling and resupply ops at Scarborough Shoal mark another quiet but bold escalation in the South China Sea — a move that lets Chinese Coast Guard ships stay indefinitely inside the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. 

Meanwhile, Taiwan’s Kinmen and Matsu islands are the next potential flashpoints. We break down how Beijing may use its new economic plan to claim “integration” over these strategically placed territories, just a stone’s throw from China’s Fujian coast. It’s economic warfare disguised as development — subtle, slow, and effective. 

We also unpack the rare earth showdown dominating global markets. China’s new export licensing system has the West scrambling, forcing Washington, Brussels, and Canberra to rethink supply chains. Vice Premier He Lifeng is heading to Malaysia for emergency trade talks with U.S. officials, hoping to cool things off before next week’s Trump–Xi summit. But with tariffs, blacklists, and retaliatory controls flying around, “cool” isn’t exactly the word of the week. 

And on the cyber front — the hits keep coming. Chinese hackers have exploited Microsoft’s “ToolShell” vulnerability, infiltrating telecom networks and government systems across Africa, South America, and the Middle East in record time. Forget spy thrillers — this is real-world cyber warfare unfolding live. 

If you want the latest intel on China’s political drama, economic warfare, and cyber operations — delivered with sharp analysis, high energy, and zero fluff — this is your episode. 

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