Chinese President Xi Jinping is struggling in his quest to combat corruption. The issue is so pervasive that U.S. analysts made it a focal point in an annual blue-chip study of the People's Liberation Army.
Why it matters: Shortcuts and self-dealing could slow China's plans to invade Taiwan, the biggest flashpoint between Beijing and Washington.
"For any military, this level of corruption would be a crisis," Christian Le Miere, the CEO of defense consultancy Arcipel, told me.
"When Xi first came to power, he could blame it on his predecessors. Now he is investigating corrupt officials that he himself promoted and installed."
The big picture: The X owner has used his social media platform to promote his own ideologies. Since gaining more influence in the incoming Trump administration, the billionaire CEO appears to be exercising that power over politics in the U.S. and abroad.
Top State Department officials visited Damascus on Friday and met with the leader of the opposition group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) Ahmad al-Sharaa, U.S. officials said.
Why it matters: It was the first public meeting between U.S. diplomats and al-Sharaa, who led the Syrian revolution that toppled the Assad regime.
