10PB of Military Secrets Leaked! Xi Jinping's Military Industry Faces a Triple Crisis

Image of Chinese hackers infiltrating networks. (Generated by Grok AI)

[People News] In March 2026, the military industrial system of the Chinese Communist Party experienced a catastrophic leak of classified information. Hackers, using the alias 'FlamingChina', posted on the international dark web forum Breach Forums, claiming to have infiltrated the CCP's Tianjin supercomputing centre and obtained over 10PB (approximately 10 million GB) of extensive data. They are now sampling this data on Telegram/GitHub and auctioning it at low prices on the dark web.

What does 10 million GB represent? It is equivalent to 2.13 million DVDs of data. This data encompasses core simulations from the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, and the National University of Defense Technology, including aircraft missile structures, stealth aerodynamics, the damage effects of attacks on the U.S. military's HIMARS rocket system and aircraft carrier strike groups, missile launcher protection simulations, nuclear fusion simulations, bioinformatics, and even classified documents labeled 'Confidential for 10 years', containing the latest data timestamps from 2021 to 2025.

What kind of institution is the Tianjin National Supercomputing Centre? Public information shows that it is China’s first national-level supercomputing centre. It was officially approved in May 2009 by the Ministry of Science and Technology and jointly established by the Tianjin Binhai New Area and the National University of Defence Technology. Core systems such as Tianhe-1 and the prototype of Tianhe-3 were all developed and deployed by the National University of Defence Technology, making it a typical military-civil fusion project. The Tianjin Supercomputing Centre is jointly supervised by multiple authorities, including the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Cyberspace Administration of China, the National Internet Emergency Response Centre, the Equipment Development Department of the Central Military Commission, and the military’s secrecy system, with additional coordination from Tianjin local authorities. The data involved includes military-industrial information, making it a “national strategic asset” dual-use platform.

Such a high-level, military-related classified institution has reportedly been successfully hacked, resulting in a massive data leak. Ironically, the hackers had already posted about the breach on the dark web as early as February this year. The information is now widely circulating on overseas social media platforms. The hackers reportedly set a starting price of only about $3,750, with the full dataset going to the highest bidder. Samples have already been spread on GitHub and Telegram, and professionals have verified that the data closely matches the actual functions of the Tianjin Supercomputing Centre.

Strangely, more than a month has passed since the incident was exposed, yet Chinese authorities—including the Ministry of Science and Technology, the military, the Tianjin National Supercomputing Centre, and the Cyberspace Administration—have collectively remained silent. There has been no response, no denial, and no official report, as if all parties are pretending nothing happened.

The Tianjin National Supercomputing Centre is not an ordinary data centre. It serves as a flagship for China’s claim of “world-leading computing power” and supports military-industrial projects for more than 1,600 state-owned defence enterprises. That such a critical national asset could be so vulnerable raises serious questions about the narrative of technological self-reliance and military strength. Viewed within the framework of the Chinese system, this alleged data breach suggests that the military-industrial complex under Xi Jinping’s direct leadership may be facing a triple crisis: weak security infrastructure, entrenched corruption, and a crisis of loyalty.

The reality of security: shockingly low-level vulnerabilities

According to the hackers’ own account, the method of intrusion was surprisingly unsophisticated. For operational convenience, different systems within the supercomputing centre reportedly used the same set of usernames and passwords across computing nodes, with no physical separation between storage and computation. Once one node was compromised, the entire network became accessible. It was as if every safe in a bank used the same password—opening one meant opening them all.

Even more astonishing, the exfiltrated data was packaged as “normal scientific computing traffic,” making it indistinguishable from legitimate operations to intrusion detection systems. As much as 10 petabytes of data were allegedly transferred without triggering any alarms—an error so basic that even a low-end internet café would not make it.

Such rudimentary security practices are rare but not accidental. In China’s military-industrial sector, political loyalty has long been prioritised over professional expertise. Political officers are often promoted faster than technical specialists, resulting in non-experts leading experts. Those skilled in political manoeuvring and displays of loyalty tend to advance, while technical personnel adopt a passive attitude. Over time, technical standards and professional integrity deteriorate into mere formalities. Management becomes lax, and when problems arise, the consequences can be catastrophic.

In fact, this is not limited to the military. In recent years, data leaks within China’s system have occurred frequently. For example, in 2020, Weibo reportedly leaked personal data of 538 million users; in 2022, Shanghai exposed 48.5 million health code records; a database containing information on 1 billion residents from the Shanghai police was leaked; and in May 2025, data breaches involving WeChat and Alipay allegedly exposed 4 billion transaction records.

The corruption chain: from the Rocket Force to the supercomputing centre, insider leaks are hard to prevent

Power breeds corruption, and corruption breeds insiders who leak secrets. In cases of military intelligence leaks, internal oversight failures often play a significant role, sometimes even a decisive one. Looking back at the recent purge of the Rocket Force, three commanders—Wei Fenghe, Zhou Yaning, and Li Yuchao—as well as Equipment Department heads Li Shangfu and Zhang Zhenzhong, were removed from office. These cases reportedly involved procurement corruption, such as designated suppliers and fraudulent bidding, as well as the direct sale of missile data overseas. A 2022 U.S. military report on China’s Rocket Force listed base coordinates, missile types, and scandals such as water-filled missiles and malfunctioning silo covers—pointing to systemic corruption within the military.

Recently, three Chinese military experts—radar specialist Wu Manqing, missile guidance expert Wei Yiyin, and nuclear weapons engineer Zhao Xiangeng—were removed from the Chinese Academy of Engineering. In addition, Yang Wei, known as the “father of the J-20,” was reportedly removed from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Observers speculate that these former leading figures in the defence sector may be implicated in corruption cases. Over the past three years, senior executives from ten major state-owned defence enterprises have been taken down in the broader anti-corruption campaign.

Crisis of loyalty: the Zhang Youxia case leaves Xi Jinping in a difficult position

After a decade of anti-corruption efforts under Xi Jinping, the military has been one of the hardest-hit sectors. Over the past 14 years, more than 400 officers at the deputy corps level or above have been investigated. In 2025 alone, about 64 senior military officials were reportedly placed under investigation. At this year’s National People’s Congress, the absence of military delegates was particularly noticeable. By incomplete estimates, around 36 military representatives have been stripped of their positions over the past two years.

These figures far exceed those from the eras of Deng Xiaoping and Hu Jintao, and even surpass the total number of generals who fell during China’s wars and the Cultural Revolution. After the 20th Party Congress, there were originally 42 active full generals; now only four reportedly remain: Zhang Shengmin, Dong Jun, Yang Zhibin, and Han Shengyan. Xi Jinping has effectively purged the top ranks. In February this year, Xi Jinping reportedly ordered the sudden detention of Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia and member Liu Zhenli, triggering significant turmoil and resistance within the military. To date, there has been no clear unified support within the armed forces for the move against Zhang. His status as a CMC vice chairman remains listed on official websites, and his position as a National People’s Congress delegate has not been revoked.

Xi Jinping may have believed he successfully eliminated a major rival, but in reality, he may now be trapped in a difficult situation. Many within both the military and political systems are waiting for him to falter. Whether the massive data leak from the supercomputing centre involved internal assistance or deliberate facilitation by insiders targeting Xi Jinping cannot be ruled out.

The Tianjin Supercomputing Centre data leak could represent a strategic turning point, accelerating the decline of the Chinese Communist Party. Its “military advantage” may be exposed, technological self-reliance called into question, international isolation intensified, and internal trust eroded. The alleged 10 petabytes of data is not merely a hacker’s prize, but a revealing sample of systemic decay.

The seemingly powerful military machine that Xi Jinping has carefully built may already have been hollowed out by corruption, loyalty crises, and institutional stagnation. The breach of the supercomputing centre is not an isolated anomaly, but potentially a prelude to a broader systemic breakdown within China’s military structure.

(First published by People News) △