CCP's Remote Control

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Global Recap
October 30, 2025 • Read in: 11 minutes

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First up: a concerning tech vulnerability indicating that China may be able to remotely access European buses.

🇳🇴 NORWAY
Oslo Flags Bus Risk

Yutong-made bus

Oslo’s transit agency Ruter just said some of its Chinese-made electric buses let outside actors reach deep into the vehicle’s brain through a remote-update software channel.

  • Discovery: Ruter tested two e-bus models this summer in Oslo. The Chinese bus, built by Yutong, had a SIM card that let the manufacturer push remote software. On the other hand, the Dutch bus, from VDL, did not expose that pathway.

  • Vulnerability: That SIM-based update door could let the original manufacturer, or anyone who compromises that supply chain, take control of the vehicle while it is operating.

  • Response: Ruter says it is building a digital firewall to sit between the fleet and outside networks so the buses do not chat with unknown servers.

  • Scale: Ruter runs about 300 Chinese e-buses in and around Oslo, and it is not yet clear which of those, if any, carry the same remote-access setup.

📌 Context: European cities have rushed to electrify public transport, often buying from Chinese manufacturers because of price and availability. That procurement logic did not originally treat buses as IT endpoints. Now it has to.

🇺🇸 UNITED STATES
Trump Orders Nuke Tests

US President Trump

Right before sitting down with Xi, Trump said the US will match rivals by restarting nuclear tests right away. Analysts believe this was designed to put pressure on China coming into the meeting.

  • Order: In a Truth Social post, he said he told the Department of War to begin testing on an equal basis with other nuclear powers and to do it "immediately."

  • Trigger: He cited Russia’s recent trials, including a Burevestnik-type cruise missile that Moscow said flew about 8,700 miles (14,001 km) and stayed airborne for roughly 15 hours, and he said China will reach US levels within five years.

  • Messaging: Speaking to reporters on Air Force One earlier in the week, he warned Vladimir Putin that the US has a nuclear submarine "right off their shores," adding that Washington is not "playing games."

  • Next Step: He hinted that more penalties on Russia could follow, telling reporters, "You’ll find out."

📌 Context: Since the late Cold War, Washington has relied mostly on simulations and life-extension work instead of full-scale explosions, while Moscow and Beijing have tested and advertised new delivery systems. Restarting real-world tests would signal that the US is willing to reenter a more visible, competitive nuclear cycle.

🇨🇳🇺🇸 CHINA-US
Trump-Xi Summit

Then came the Trump-Xi summit. After a 1-hour, 40-minute sit-down with Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea, Donald Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that the U.S. will lower tariffs on Chinese goods from 57% to 47%.

He called the meeting “amazing,” saying Beijing agreed to step up efforts on fentanyl control and ease restrictions on rare earth exports. But what few are talking about is the chip issue, which it could be the most consequential part of the conversation.

Key Takeaways

  • Setting: The two leaders met on the sidelines of APEC in South Korea, their first face-to-face encounter since Osaka in 2019.

  • Trade: Trump said the rare earth dispute is “settled,” noting that the new agreement will last one year and then be extended. This follows China’s abrupt decision to ban exports that may be used in foreign military or semiconductor industries.

  • Security: Trump claimed Taiwan “did not come up,” a notable omission given Xi’s insistence that it is a core national issue.

  • Diplomacy: Trump announced plans to visit China in April, with Xi to visit the U.S. afterward—an apparent effort by both sides to stabilize relations and pause the economic confrontation while addressing broader strategic tensions.

The Overlooked Story: Chips

Here’s where it gets interesting. For investors paying attention, Nvidia’s latest available graphics chip, Blackwell, is designed in the US and manufactured by TSMC in Taiwan. These advanced GPUs are the backbone of AI development.

  • Before the meeting, analysts worried Trump might permit Nvidia to sell Blackwell chips to China, which many forecast, could undermine the US’s technological edge in AI.

  • This is because critics believe that Trump is more motivated by dealmaking and revenue than by maintaining that edge.

However, when asked directly whether Nvidia would be allowed to export Blackwell to China, Trump replied:

“We’re not talking about the Blackwell ... But a lot of chips, you know, a lot of the chips. And that’s good for us.”

How these over-the-table understandings translate into policy will become clearer in the coming weeks. But for now, chips may be the quiet linchpin of this new Trump–Xi dynamic.

🇰🇷 SOUTH KOREA
Nuclear Sub Build: Approved

US President Trump (left) and South Korean President Lee (right)

Trump just told South Korea that it can build a nuclear-powered sub and he even posted about the submarine on Truth Social. This happened in Gyeongju on 29 Oct 2025, just before the APEC summit.

  • Presidents: US president Trump met South Korean president Lee in Gyeongju and they framed it as part of a broader investment and shipbuilding deal that Trump said was "pretty much" finalized.

  • Tech: South Korea can already build advanced ships, but nuclear propulsion is the missing piece and Trump did not say where the reactor or fuel tech will come from, which matters because the US has shared this only with the UK since the 1950s and more recently with Australia under AUKUS.

  • Location: Trump said the boat will be built "in the Philadelphia shipyards," which puts US industry inside a Korean capability upgrade and signals that Washington wants to capture the manufacturing even while Seoul gets the platform.

  • Security: Lee told Trump that Seoul is not asking for nuclear-armed boats, only nuclear-propelled ones, because diesel-electric subs cannot stay underwater long enough to shadow North Korean or Chinese submarines in the region.

  • Warning: Arms Control Association head Daryl Kimball said this kind of transfer triggers nonproliferation headaches because naval reactors usually use highly enriched uranium and the IAEA would need a tighter safeguard regime to keep the fuel from becoming weapons material.

📌 Context: South Korean presidents have wanted nuclear-powered subs for years to track North Korea, but Washington kept saying no. Trump just cracked that door open in the middle of a wider US move to give close partners nuclear propulsion know-how, first with AUKUS and now apparently with Seoul.

💭 Interesting: And if you’ve been a longtime Global Recap reader, you might remember when I covered the tinfoil theories around South Korean President–turned–dictator Park Chung-hee, who was assassinated under circumstances some believe involved CIA ties. Officially, his killer is “known to have” wanted to end Park’s dictatorship, but many still question the timing. Park was reportedly pursuing nuclear technology despite strong US opposition when he was killed. So seeing nuclear being used by South Korean's military, decades later, feels like history rhyming.

🇺🇸 UNITED STATES
US to Trim Europe Troops

The US plans to shrink its troop presence on NATO’s eastern flank while insisting it is not ghosting the alliance but quite the opposite. Romania broke the news first, then US Army Europe in Germany tried to calm nerves.

  • How: The US will stop rotating a full brigade that had pieces spread across several NATO states, which means fewer American boots in places like Romania’s Mihail Kogalniceanu air base.

  • Numbers: Romania says it will keep about 1,000 US troops, down from roughly 1,700 in April 2025, so this is a slight trim, not a full exit.

  • Spin: US Army Europe called the move "a positive sign of increased European capability and responsibility," which seems to be a diplomatic way of saying that Europe is finally paying and manning more of its own defense.

  • Why: US officials reported confirmed that the US is working on pivoting to Asia while Europe carries more of its own weight without breaking NATO unity.

  • Quote: Italian Defense Minister Crosetto summed the situation up nicely. 👇🏼

"The US is concerned about competition with China, and Europe must generate its own defense."

🇮🇱 ISRAEL
Quick Update:
Israel Reinstates Truce

Israeli PM Netanyahu

Israel’s military said it would resume the Gaza ceasefire after carrying out retaliatory airstrikes on Hamas targets on Oct. 29, 2025. PM Netanyahu ordered the strikes after the army said Hamas killed an Israeli soldier in southern Gaza on Tuesday.

  • Trigger: The Israel Defense Forces said Hamas gunmen fired on troops in Israeli-controlled territory in southern Gaza on Oct. 28 and killed one soldier—a clear breach of the ongoing ceasefire terms.

  • Response: Netanyahu said he ordered "forceful" strikes and the military hit what it called 30 Hamas terrorists in Gaza. However, Palestinian authorities claim that more than 100 people were killed in Israel’s latest round of retaliatory strikes.