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In this episode of The Restricted Handling Podcast, we break down a packed 24 hours in China policy, military posture, and global leverage plays. If you are tracking US-China relations, Taiwan security, rare earth supply chains, or Indo-Pacific military balance, this is the one to queue up. 

We start with the big picture. The Trump-Xi summit scheduled for March 31 through April 2 is still on track, but the environment around it is tightening. China’s rare earth export controls are biting harder than expected. US aerospace and semiconductor firms are now reporting worsening shortages of yttrium and scandium. Prices are spiking. Production lines are pausing. And the US still has zero domestic scandium production. This is not theoretical trade friction. It is industrial leverage in real time. 

Then we pivot to what may be the most dramatic story inside China right now. Xi Jinping’s purge of the People’s Liberation Army has removed more than 100 senior officers since 2022. Former vice chairmen of the Central Military Commission are gone. The Joint Staff chief is gone. The Rocket Force leadership has been gutted. Roughly half of senior PLA billets have been affected. That is not routine anti-corruption work. That is structural reshaping of the command system. 

But here is the twist. While leadership churn continues, China’s military modernization is not slowing down. Satellite imagery shows strong indicators that the Type 004 aircraft carrier under construction at Dalian is nuclear powered. That would put China in a very small club globally. At the same time, late 2025 Red Sword exercises involved roughly 200 aircraft across a massive training area. Analysts estimate China could soon produce up to 300 fourth and fifth generation fighters annually. The hardware pipeline is alive and well. 

We also cover Taiwan’s latest air and naval tracking data, Japan’s decision to deploy new air defense systems to Yonaguni Island near Taiwan, Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz pressing Beijing on trade imbalances and Ukraine, and the arrest of a former US F-35 pilot accused of training Chinese military aviators. 

Add in a Chinese-linked global hacking campaign, rare earth pressure ahead of high-level diplomacy, and expanding Indo-Pacific military deployments, and you have a week that feels anything but quiet. 

If you want sharp, fast-moving analysis on China military modernization, US-China trade tensions, Taiwan Strait security, rare earth supply chain risks, and Indo-Pacific geopolitics, this episode delivers. 

👉 Subscribe to The Restricted Handling Podcast 

https://www.restrictedhandling.com/ 

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