As a Technocracy, China is prosecuting its campaign for global domination through the use of technology, data collection and the application of artificial intelligence. It has been working its campaign since at least 1978, and the results are just now catching the attention of intelligence agencies.
Technocrat engineers in all first-world nations are in a private competition with each other to see who can develop the most advanced technology for killing their fellow citizens. It is doubtful that they consider massive numbers of dead humans in their equations.
As a Technocracy, Chinese Technocrats want no competition for societal influence, especially churches and Christianity, which they believe is fantasy and myth. China's draconian surveillance system will make for easy management of this new policy.
Technocrats in China have been in a hotly contested technological arms race for at least 20 years now. The introduction of the 'rail gun' on warships will change the face of warfare for decades to come; just read this article to understand its capabilities. US military Technocrats will certainly answer the challenge with their own version of a 'supergun'.
Why would Technocrats want to rip holes in outer space? Because they can. China is a Technocracy that believes the answer to everything is found in science and only science. Super-lasers have application in weather modification, terrestrial warfare and space warfare, and China can be expected to dominate all three.
China's repressive Technocracy is now reaching outside of its own borders to bully any corporation or travel site that refers to Taiwan, Tibet or Hong Kong as sovereign countries. Western companies are bowing down to China in full compliance. China would not get away with this except that they exert tremendous trade pressure throughout the whole planet, so non-compliance would be met with financial loss.
Those who don't understand that China is a Technocracy will not understand why it has a major initiative to indoctrinate American students with Technocrat philosophy. Chinese state-run schools in America would have been unthinkable thirty years ago, but they are commonplace today, and few are raising any alarm.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has predicted that whoever wins the race for AI 'will become the ruler of the world.' As the world's largest Technocracy, China is racing to dominate AI in every category.
China, the world's biggest and most established Technocracy, has all but achieved a totally cashless state by implementing digital e-payment systems via smart phones. Coupled with ubiquitous camera surveillance and identification, China will soon have its thumb on an electronic gulag from which there is no escape, relief or appeal.
China's clear intent is to build a police state with 100% total surveillance, where every citizen is tracked, monitored and analyzed around the clock. AI is applied to issue a 'social score' to everyone based on pliability and obedience. Their motto “keeping trust is glorious” is mirrored by the harsh effects of "breaking trust" and being isolated and restricted from normal societal necessities. In short, their Internet has become their gulag.