State Capture or Mind Capture? China's Spy Strategy on 3 Continents
From The Little Red Podcast by Graeme Smith and Louisa Lim
March 5, 2026 · 56 min
About this episode
The episode discusses China's evolving espionage strategies and cognitive warfare tactics across three continents.
Britain is the latest country to be plunged into yet another espionage scandal after an MP’s husband was arrested on suspicion of spying for China. Beijing’s long been known for its ‘thousand grains of sand’ strategy relying on amateur intelligence collectors, but it’s now increasingly employing cognitive warfare to shape public opinion. This month, we analyse changes to China’s spying ground game on three continents. Louisa is joined by former Australian diplomat Sam Guthrie who’s the author of The Peak , a spy thriller set in Australia and China, national security expert Dennis Molinaro, the author of Under Assault: Interference and Espionage in China's Secret War Against Canada , and human rights activist Lyndon Lee, who has been targeted by Chinese agents in the UK. Image: c/- Sergeant Paul Shaw LBIPP/MOD, under Open Government License version 1. Union and Chinese flags together. Transcripts available at: https://ciw.anu.edu.au/podcasts/little-red-podcast See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
People in this episode
Host: Louisa Lim
Guests: Sam Guthrie, Dennis Molinaro, Lyndon Lee
Topics covered
- espionage
- China
- cognitive warfare
- national security
- intelligence
- public opinion
Keywords
- espionage
- China
- cognitive warfare
- intelligence
- public opinion
- national security
- Sam Guthrie
- Dennis Molinaro
- Lyndon Lee
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: China, Britain
Books & works: The Peak, Under Assault: Interference and Espionage in China's Secret War Against Canada
More episodes of The Little Red Podcast
- Lightning Strikes: China’s Robot Revolution · May 6, 2026 · 51 min
- China Rules: Autocracy for sale · April 21, 2026 · 49 min
- Little Red Podcast x Face Off · March 31, 2026 · 34 min
- Bad Apple? How the World’s Greatest Company Changed Chinese Tech · January 7, 2026 · 49 min
- Education Nation: China’s Exam Fetish · December 8, 2025 · 48 min
- The Lead Goose: China’s AI Embrace · November 4, 2025 · 53 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Little Red Podcast podcast page.