Documenting China’s Borderlands – Episode 9: On Edge: Security at China’s Borderlands

From the National Bureau of Asian Research, an Asia Insight miniseries exploring the geostrategic significance of China’s borderlands, led by Nadège Rolland, Distinguished Fellow for China Studies at NBR.

Episode Nine: On Edge: Security at China’s Borderlands

This ninth episode unpacks how the concept of “comprehensive national security” has been shaping China’s new security posture in its borderland regions. Understanding traditional and non-traditional security as deeply interwoven leads to greater latitude for security projection abroad. The conversation focuses on the evolution of China’s attempts to address security concerns in its proximate periphery and zooms in on its approach to addressing transnational organized crime.

With Carla P. Freeman (Johns Hopkins SAIS), Shibani Mathani (freelance investigative journalist, former Washington Post bureau chief), and Martin Thorley (Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime).

Materials cited or referenced in the recording

• Xi Jinping, 坚持总体国家安全观走中国特色国家安全道路 [Uphold the Holistic Approach to National Security and Follow the Path of National Security with Chinese Characteristics] (Remarks at the first meeting of the Central National Security Commission) April 16, 2014, https://cpc.people.com.cn/n/2014/0416/c64094-24900492.html.
• Xi Jinping, “New Asian Security Concept for New Progress in Security Cooperation” (Remarks at the Fourth Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia) May 21, 2014, https://www.mfa.gov.cn/eng/xw/zyjh/202405/t20240530_11340721.html.
• U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, “China’s Exploitation of Scam Centers in Southeast Asia,” July 18, 2025, https://www.uscc.gov/sites/default/files/2025-07/Chinas_Exploitation_of_Scam_Centers_in_Southeast_Asia.pdf.
• Martin Thorley, “Evolution of the State-Crime Nexus: Presenting Geocriminality,” Journal of Illicit Economies and Development 8 No.1, 2026.
• Martin Thorley, “A Changing Landscape: China’s New Model of Global Governance and its Impact on the Fight against Organized Crime,” GI-TOC, May 2024.
• Shibani Mahtani, Christian Shepherd, Pei-Lin Wu, “China Cultivated High-Rolling Crime Families Before Turning on Them,” The Washington Post, June 21, 2024.
• “How The Post Investigated Brutal Scam Compounds in Myanmar,” The Washington Post, June 18, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/world/how-the-post-investigated-brutal-scam-compounds-in-myanmar/2024/06/18/ddfc9500-fd68-4aee-ac17-e8871a334ed4_video.html.
• "Beyond Boundaries: The Chinese Party-State and Geocriminality in Southeast Asia," GI-TOC, June 2026 https://globalinitiative.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Beyond-boundaries-The-Chinese-party-state-and-geocriminality-in-South-East-Asia-GI-TOC-June-2026.pdf.

Additional Recommended Readings

• Carla Freeman, Bates Gill, and Alison McFarland, “China’s Global Security Initiative Takes Shape in Southeast and Central Asia,” USIP Special Report No.534, November 2024.
• Selina Ho, Xue Gong, Carla P. Freeman, “China’s Interventions in ‘Gray Special Economic Zones’ in Southeast Asia’s Borderlands,” Journal of Contemporary China 35, No.159, 2025.
• Shibani Mahtani, Christian Shepherd and Pei-Lin Wu, “China Cultivated High-Rolling Crime Families Before Turning on Them," The Washington Post, June 21, 2024.
• Simon Menet, “Policing Beyond Borders: China’s Law-Enforcement Expansion in the Mekong Region,” Borderlands, September 17, 2025.
• Wang Junsheng [王俊生] “Strategic Innovation in China’s Diplomacy Toward its Periphery in the New Era : Historical Lessons and Practical Direction,” [新时期中国周边外交战略创新： 历史镜鉴与务实方向] Journal of Renmin University No.1, 2026.
• Hoang Thi Ha, “China’s Statecraft through the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation: Building a Sino-Centric Regional Order,” Borderlands, November 13, 2025.
• Nadège Rolland (Ed.) “Securing the Belt and Road Initiative: China’s Evolving Military Engagement Along the Silk Roads,” NBR Special Report No.80, September 3, 2019.