International
Apple Daily: HK pro-democracy paper could 'shut within days'. Mark Simon, an advisor to the paper’s jailed founder Jimmy Lai, warned that the tabloid could "do nothing while none of its bank accounts are functioning" after authorities froze HK$18m ($2.3m; £1.64m) of assets owned by three companies linked to Apple Daily. BBC, The Guardian, The Times, Al Jazeera, 21 June
Germany’s Armin Laschet warns against cold war with China. Armin Laschet, frontrunner to become Germany’s next chancellor, has warned of the dangers of a new cold war against China, agreeing with Angela Merkel that Beijing was as much a partner as a systemic rival. In a wide-ranging interview with the FT, Laschet suggested many in Europe were sceptical of Biden’s hawkish attitude to China. FT, 21 June
English councils to review CCTV contracts with Chinese firm amid human rights concerns. Research carried out by the China Research Group has revealed that at least £1,000,000 of Hikvision equipment was procured by local councils over the past two years. The Chinese company was blacklisted by the US Department of Commerce in 2019 for being implicated in human rights violations in Xinjiang. Sunday Telegraph, 20 June
Top Chinese spy ‘defects to US to spill Wuhan lab secrets’. Mainstream newspapers have picked up on reports that Dong Jingwei, the deputy minister for state security in Beijing, is rumoured to have arrived in the US in February and possibly handed the intelligence agencies information backing the theory that coronavirus escaped from a laboratory. The Times, Independent, ABC, 19 June
Australia takes China to WTO over its trade sanctions on Australian wines. Australia is lodging a formal complaint with the World Trade Organization over China imposing anti-dumping duties on Australian wine exports, the federal government announced on Saturday. The Guardian, Reuters, Al Jazeera, 19 June
Boohoo to grow its own cotton in Pakistan. The company said the move will allow it “complete traceability” on the source of its cotton amid Western concerns about the mass production of the raw material in Xinjiang. The Telegraph, 20 June
Taiwanese staff to leave Hong Kong office in ‘one China’ row. Taiwanese staff working at the island’s representative office in Hong Kong will begin leaving the city after the government there demanded its officials sign a document supporting Beijing’s claim to Taiwan. Reuters, Al Jazeera, 20 June
MEPs push Brussels to follow Biden on Taiwan trade. Politico reports that some EU lawmakers are fed up with the European Commission’s reluctance to start an investment deal with Taiwan out of fear of provoking Beijing. Politico, 20 June
New Ambassador Zheng Zeguang holds first meetings in London with China-Britain Business Council and 48 Group. Chinese Embassy, 19 June
China tells its nationals to leave Afghanistan urgently as violence spirals. SCMP, 21 June
China focus
China says 1 billion COVID vaccine doses administered. Authorities have set an ambitious target of fully vaccinating 40 percent of the country’s nearly 1.4 billion people by the end of this month. BBC, CNN, CGTN, Al Jazeera, 20 June
Xi stresses drawing strength from CCP history to forge ahead. Visiting an exhibition on CCP history in Beijing, Xi said that efforts should be made to educate and guide Party members and officials to stay true to the original aspiration and founding mission of the Party. Xinhua, 18 June
LinkedIn blocks profiles from view in China if sensitive topics mentioned. The Guardian, 18 June
Economy & tech
Norway says China was behind major hacker attack. Norway’s police secret service said this week that APT31, a cyber-espionage group operating on behalf of China, was responsible for a 2018 breach of the government’s IT network. The Record, 18 June
How China is targeting Big Tech. The country’s previously dormant antitrust regulators are fighting for power to discipline the sector, driven by public anger. FT, 18 June
Chinese apps could face subpoenas, bans under Biden order. Al Jazeera, 17 June
China’s cryptocurrency crackdown intensifies as Sichuan province orders a stop to mining operations. SCMP, Reuters, Bloomberg, FT, 19 June
Live streaming is now the best-paying job for fresh Chinese graduates amid a shifting economy. SCMP, 19 June
Longer reads & opinion
Opinion: China links pose a threat to academic freedom in Britain. China Research Group chair Tom Tugendhat writes about the dangers of British universities’ over-reliance on China for students, funding and research partnerships. FT, 19 June
The Big Read: Behind the scenes at China TV: soft power and state propaganda. Insiders describe the political interference in the English-language channel CGTN, which has fallen foul of western regulators. FT, 19 June
Is China’s Belt and Road Initiative Slowing Down? We need to find new ways to measure the outputs and outcomes of the BRI, Hong Zhang argues. The BRI should be seen as an all-out drive to build political, institutional, social, industrial, and financial ties with countries around the world. The People’s Map of Global China, 21 June
Comment: Taiwan is ill prepared for China’s harassment. Once the Taiwanese and their friends come to believe the island is indefensible, Beijing has won, argues Edward Lucas. The Times, 21 June
Comment: The US’s greatest danger isn’t China. It’s much closer to home. The Observer, 20 June
Digital Art or Visual Propaganda? China’s New Wave of Online Political Satire. Political, patriotic art mocking Western leaders is welcomed by social media users and propagated by Chinese officials. What’s On Weibo, 19 June
Remembering those who returned. Chinese emigration is often framed as a unidirectional search for freedom and prosperity elsewhere. For most migrants, the dream was always to return home. Lin Ting. Sixth Tone, 16 June
Xi’s Rewriting of History Won’t Stay in China. WSJ, 20 June