Matt Brazil

Matt Brazil is a former US Army officer, diplomat, corporate security investigator, and adjunct professor of modern Chinese history. He spent most of my career in East and South Asia. He is the co-author of Chinese Communist Espionage, An Intelligence Primer. He is a contributing editor at SpyTalk.co and a Research Fellow with the China Program at The Jamestown Foundation in Washington, DC.

September 29, 2026

Sri Lanka

What Sri Lanka’s Easter Judgment Finally Reveals

Sri Lanka’s September 22, 2026 Easter Sunday judgment marks a decisive legal reckoning with one of the country’s deadliest terrorist attacks, convicting 15 of 24 defendants after an extensive examination of thousands

Geopolitics/Human Rights/Judiciary

Exclusive: Inside Sri Lanka’s Easter Plot — Read the Full TAB Judgment

The 22 September 2026 Trial-at-Bar judgment provides a detailed account of the alleged network behind Sri Lanka’s 2019 Easter Sunday attacks, tracing the prosecution’s case from ideological indoctrination and recruitment to weapons, explosives, logistical support and the coordinated suicide bombings

September 29, 2026

Bluffing Is Not Diplomacy

Editor's Choice/Geopolitics

Sri Lanka has every right to speak forcefully on Palestine and international justice. But moral authority abroad cannot substitute for diplomatic precision at home.

Sri Lanka and China Deepen Indian Ocean Policy Dialogue

Events/Sri Lanka

The Pathfinder Foundation and the China Center for South Asian Studies (CCSAS) at Sichuan University launched the Colombo Maritime Dialogue 2026 Report at a

Did China Really Lose a Nuclear Submarine?

October 13, 2023

Defence

One of the challenges of reporting on China, for the media and intelligence agencies alike, is sifting through the constant river of mis- and disinformation stimulated by the habitual secrecy of the Chinese Communist

Japan’s Spy Buildup Hits Snags and Obstacles

June 29, 2023

Columns/Defence

Japan’s efforts to re-arm in response to escalating threats from China and North Korea are well-known. Less understood are controversial efforts by some in Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to reestablish

Brussels: Hideaway of Espionage

September 1, 2022

Defence/Diplomacy

Conjure up a list of cities considered world capitals of espionage. Those featured in movies and television, with their romantic atmosphere and scenery, include Vienna, Budapest, Berlin, London, Cairo, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong