International
Zoom apologises for blocking meeting of Chinese pro-democrats at request of Beijing, but says it will agree to block users from China. “Going forward Zoom will not allow requests from the Chinese government to impact anyone outside of mainland China. Zoom is developing technology over the next several days that will enable us to remove or block at the participant level based on geography.” On Sinocism, Bill Bishop lists difficult questions he says Zoom should face over the incident. Guardian, Quartz, Sinocism, Zoom blog, 11 July
Twitter deletes 170,000 accounts linked to China influence campaign. Their content focused on Covid-19 and the protests in Hong Kong and over George Floyd in the US. Guardian, 12 June
Apple Pulls Pocket Casts From App Store at China’s Request. Apple removed podcast apps Pocket Casts and Castro from its App Store in China at the request of the Cyberspace Administration of China, the apps’ developers said this week. “We believe podcasting is and should remain an open medium, free of government censorship,” Pocket Casts wrote on Twitter. “As such we won’t be censoring podcast content at their request.” The developers said that Apple contacted them on behalf of the Chinese regulator and that the app was removed two days later. Bloomberg, Twitter, 11 June
China and the U.S. about to enter an 'information winter'. Censorship, journalist expulsions and escalating hostilities raise the risks of miscalculation for Washington and Beijing. Politico, 11 June
China annexes 60 square km of India in Ladakh as simmering tensions erupt between two superpowers. Telegraph, 12 June
Mike Pompeo’s appearance with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong certain to anger China. Both will address Copenhagen Democracy Summit next week. SCMP, 11 June
China’s massive Hainan free-trade port plan raises questions over global trading rules compliance. A possible alternative to Hong Kong mooted by China is facing concerns that its trading arrangements will be "inconsistent with the WTO spirit and principle that trade and customs legal rules shall be administered and applied consistently and uniformly throughout a customs territory.” This according to Zhaokang Jiang, an expert on Chinese customs and managing partner of GSC Potomac, a trade consultancy. SCMP, 11 June
Beijing faces outcry after premier admits 40% of population struggles.China is facing a public outcry over its claim that Beijing had “basically won” the war against poverty after Premier Li Keqiang admitted that more than two-fifths of the population made less than $140 a month. FT, 11 June
US’ naval build-up in the Indo-Pacific seen as warning to Beijing. AP, 12 June
Taiwan fires off missile test to simulate asymmetric warfare against mainland China. SCMP, 12 June
Hong Kong
Police disperse children protesting against the political sacking of their music teacher for allowing them to sing “Glory to Hong Kong”. RTHK, 11 July
Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai faces charges for June 4 vigil. Nikkei, 11 June
Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, offers refuge to Hong Kong finance workers. Nikkei, 11 June
Hong Kong government hits back at UK six-month report calling it “inaccurate and biased”. Reuters, 12 June & RTHK, 12 June, Global Times, 12 June
The Hong Kong protests - one year on. AP, 12 June & SCMP, 11 June & HKFP, 11 June, BBC, 12 June
Martin Lee: ‘Hong Kong takeover is start of China grand plan’. The Times, 12 June
Economy/tech
Huawei avoidance strategy is paying off for UK's O2. Light Reading, 11 June
Australian uni continuing work on Chinese plane linked to espionage claims. “Monash University is pushing ahead with a plan to help a Chinese state-owned company build its new commercial passenger airliner, despite concerns within the federal government some of the designs have been stolen as part of a global espionage campaign.” Sydney Morning Herald, 11 June
A legal fight over the ownership of US assets threatens to embarrass the Chinese Communist party. The FT looks at the fight over Anbang Hotels and the role of competing families within Communist elites, including the family of the late Communist party leader Deng Xiaoping. Ownership of the firm is disputed. “The politics behind Anbang got very complicated for Xi Jinping, mainly because there are other powerful families with interests in the company” says a source in the firm. FT, 12 June
China’s Trillion-Dollar Campaign Fuels a Tech Race With the US. Beijing plans to spend $1.4 trillion in the next five years in sectors including 5G, artificial intelligence and data centres. WSJ, 11 June
Huawei bid to move production to China faces supplier resistance. Japanese, Taiwanese and Korean firms are concerned about the geopolitical risks. Nikkei, 10 June
Despite trade tensions, Australian iron ore and coal and liquefied natural gas export to China is on the rise. CNBC, 11 June
US invests billions in semiconductor industry in effort to counter growing influence of China. The US Semiconductor Industry Association praised the introduction in Congress of the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors for America Act (CHIPS for America Act). New York Times, Reuters, SIA, 11 June
Longer reads and opinions
The Economist on the difficulty of forming an EU stance on China. Economist, 12 June
Deutschlandfunk runs a long piece on multilateralism and Europe’s politioning bwtween China and the US. It quotes analyst Mikko Huotari warning the problem for the EU is not China’s cultivation of eastern Europe through the “17+1 group”, but the ambiguous position of Germany: “If we have no clarity, for example on the Huawei question, we cannot expect the Poles to position themselves differently on the Silk Road.” Deutschlandfunk, 5 June
Elites in Beijing see America in decline, hastened by Trump. “Chinese netizens mockingly call him Chuan Jianguo, or “Build-up-the-country Trump”. Their joke, that he is a double-agent wrecking America to make China strong, prompts lines like “Comrade Chuan Jianguo, don’t blow your cover!” The Economist, 11 June
How the World Is Responding to a Changing China. Carnegie Institute, 10 June
Hand-Wringing for Hong Kong: What else can the EU do? CER, 11 June
Hong Kong and Britain’s China Reset. The Diplomat, 11 June
Powers, Norms, and Institutions The Future of the Indo-Pacific from a Southeast Asia Perspective. CSIS, 9 June
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