Chinese Communist officials are preparing to tighten their foreign and domestic security apparatus, according to state media leaks that hint at “paranoia” about dissident threats.

“They’re talking about cells of the party learning how to integrate intelligence and other national security work from attacks against the party at home and abroad,” the American Enterprise Institute’s Dan Blumenthal said. “It’s paranoia about what they view as their No. 1 threat, which is foreign forces helping hostile separatist Chinese forces.”