June 30th, 2025

USCSSO @GWU
7 hours ago
4 min read

Overview

This week, we discuss an alleged plot against the Taiwanese Vice President and a newfound innovation in the Chinese electric vehicle field.

Diplomacy

China Accused of Plotting Traffic Crash With Taiwan’s Vice-President

By Contributor Kenny Li

Recent Czech Republic intelligence alleges that Chinese officials planned to crash into Taiwan Vice President Hsiao Bi-Khim's motorcade during her March 2024 Czech visit.

President Lai Ching-Te and Vice President Hsiao Bi-Khim, who first took office in May 2024, have consistently defended Taiwan’s sovereignty. (via Newsweek)

Climatic Tensions: The Security Information Service, the Czech Republic's intelligence agency, this week released a report detailing China’s alleged plan to tailgate and collide with Taiwan’s then-Vice President-elect, Hsiao Bi-Khim. The report alleges that when Hsiao visited Prague in March 2024, two months before her inauguration, Chinese officials from the Prague embassy had spied on her meetings and schedule and even ran a red light to match the motorcade's speed. Neither Czech nor Taiwanese officials have classified it as an assassination ploy; Jan Pejšek, the intelligence spokesperson, accused China of violating the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and summoned China’s ambassador. Vice President Hsiao thanked Prague and accused China of intimidation. China spokesperson Guo Jiakun mentioned China’s commitment to follow international and regional law, but doubled down by accusing the Czech Republic of violating the One-China policy and being “provoked” by separatist forces.

Diplomatic History: The Czech Republic and Taiwan maintain a strong, unofficial diplomatic relationship. Under Czechoslovakia (First Republic), in 1918, the Czechs established diplomatic relations with the Republic of China. After the Chinese Civil War and therefore the Nazi Germany occupation of Czhecoslokavia, the Czechs then reestablished new diplomatic relations in 1949 with the Chinese Communist Party. On the first day of 1993, Czechoslovakia dissolved into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and on the same day, China established diplomatic relations with the Czechs. Like the United States, establishing Chinese relations has a preliminary requirement to commit to the One-China policy. While the Czech Republic does not have official relations with Taiwan, it has established representative offices and is one of Taiwan’s main export partners. In recent years, China has grown increasingly frustrated, accusing the Czech Republic of ignoring its diplomatic terms and will pay a heavy price for supporting “anti-China” forces.

Expected Growing Tensions: Similar to the University of Michigan pathogen incident earlier this month, Chinese public statements have long emphasized a commitment to abide by international laws, while at the same time accusing governments of manipulation and creating hysteria. In recent years, China has consistently sought to imitate Taiwan by sending dozens of military ships to circle the island. The willingness to crash into Vice President Hsiao’s motorcade echoes a growing slew of tactics that Xi Jinping has employed. He has nullified the potential crimes committed by insinuating that the bigger crimes are committed by agitators of the China-Taiwan conflict. Whether it be the Czech Republic or the United States, China has remained persistent in reserving the right to use force if countries decide to interfere in what the mainland considers their “domestic and internal” affairs.

Technology

China’s “Low-Altitude Economy” Gets the Greenlight

By President Ryan Szafran

With the clear go ahead from the country’s legislators, the private sector is surging to create the vehicles of tomorrow.

In March of 2025, legislators cleared eVTOL vehicles for commercial use in China. (via South China Morning Post)

Take Out, Take Off: While China is known for its prowess in today’s advanced technologies such as EVs and chipmaking, some of the country’s innovators are turning their eyes towards the technologies of tomorrow. The “Low-Altitude Economy” is taking off with innovations in electric vertical take off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles and drone delivery systems. For some office workers in China, queueing up at a designated drone-port to receive your lunch is no new sight. In 2024, the delivery company Meituan completed more than 200,000 deliveries. Beyond consumer-oriented adoption, drones are also being utilized in disaster relief, urban firefighting, and spread of pesticides over farmland. By the end of 2024, China reached more than 2.2 million registrations for civilian drones nationwide.

Flying Cars: More ambitious manufacturers have advanced their programs eVTOL vehicles, designed to transport passengers over short distances either to replace the traditional commute, or for tourism. In March of this year, the first production licenses were issued to XPeng Aeroht, a subsidiary of the EV maker XPeng. They expect their manufacturing facilities to be complete by the third quarter of 2025, and deliveries of their first models by 2026. Other makers such as EHang have also started putting their aircraft in the skies with a small scope media campaign aimed at demonstrating their new airframe to journalists, influencers, and investors.

Greenlight for Take Off: This surge in innovation is the direct result of encouragement from the nation's legislators. In 2024, Premier Li Qiang declared that the low-altitude economy will become an engine for growth; receiving the designation as a strategic emerging industry alongside quantum computing and artificial intelligence.. Following this declaration in an annual economic agenda-setting report, local governments from major cities like Shenzhen to the smaller Mianyang in Sichuan province are granting airspace rights to companies for commercial purposes. To support this burgeoning industry, universities have begun offering degrees in “low-altitude” technologies. Amid the futuristic hype, experts warn that the country will have to catch-up in terms of regulation, certification, and infrastructure to realize this transition