I suppose to distinguish between the state and the people, although you're right they're not consistent about it.

One simple reason is that there are 2 Chinas, but only 1 Japan. The specificity adds clarity, especially with a global audience. It’s very hard to misinterpret “PRC”, while “Chinese” is more ambiguous. And obviously you want to be more careful with negative statements like “Chinese Hackers” than positive ones like “Japanese (state) Partners.

1. What are the 2 Chinas?

2. Re being more careful with negative statements -- they are clearly unable to do so consistently, see below:

[1] Look at the very clear headlines featuring "Iranian Government-Sponsored APT Actors" in https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/cybersecurity-advisories/aa... and "Iranian State Actor" in https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/cybersecurity-advisories/aa...

[2] Again, look at the very clear headlines featuring "Russian State-Sponsored" in https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/cybersecurity-advisories/aa...

Why are they not equally 'careful' here? Why are they not using the country's "official" names such as IRI (Islamic Republic of Iran) or RF (Russian Federation)?

Note that I'm not even going into the rabbit hole of "PRC-Linked" vs "Iranian Government-Sponsored" -- although that is perfectly worth questioning also, because if you go into the actual article on Iran, they weasel out by saying "likely Iranian government-sponsored APT", whereas here it's only "PRC-linked" because we do not know for sure.

> 1. What are the 2 Chinas?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan

> Republic of China

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China

> People's Republic of China

"The United States has a longstanding one China policy, which is guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the three U.S.-China Joint Communiques, and the Six Assurances."

https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-taiwan/

FTA: People’s Republic of China (PRC)-linked cyber actors known as BlackTech

I think that is the lingua franca used when referring to China.

If it were part of the lingua franca, "PRC" would be as easily recognizable as saying "US" or even "NZ" -- on the street or in the boardroom. Do you really think that is the case?

I think PRC is more easily recognizable than NZ, yes, but I'm willing to surmise that NZ means New Zealand.

Completely uneducated here but it would make most sense if there’s a press line running for separating out the PRC from other “Chinas” out there which are better aligned with American geopolitical interests. (Or, at least, to illustrate such a perspective to the public at large)