China News - 25 May 2021

International

‘A matter of time’: New Zealand’s foreign minister warns China ‘storm’ could be coming. “We cannot ignore, obviously, what’s happening in Australia with their relationship with China. And if they are close to an eye of the storm or in the eye of the storm, we’ve got to legitimately ask ourselves – it may only be a matter of time before the storm gets closer to us,” Nanaia Mahuta told the Guardian. The Guardian, 24 May

Beijing to expand Hong Kong office with two new departments focusing on national security and propaganda. Yang Guang, one of the spokesmen for the HKMAO who previously hosted press conferences hitting out at Hong Kong’s anti-government protests in 2019, is expected to head the department tasked with managing media outlets and public opinion in the city. SCMP, 25 May

China’s Tibet Communist Party chief targets religion and separatism. The Communist Party’s top official in Tibet has called for greater stress on Chinese elements in religion and a further crackdown on “separatism” as the party marks 70 years of control of the region. SCMP, 25 May

UK reaction to ‘lab leak’ Covid report from US. Downing Street has said that “all possible theories” about the origin of the coronavirus must be investigated amid concerns that it may have escaped from a laboratory in China. The Times, 25 May

BBC owes Chinese people sincere apology: FM spokesperson. Attacks on the BBC continue - A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has no sense of right and wrong, and follows no principles. Xinhua, 25 May

Dubai arrests, to deport teen wanted in China over border clash comments: report. Wang Jingyu, 19, who has been living in the US, was arrested in Dubai’s airport on May 4 and had been detained there since then over comments made on China’s fatal border clash with India last year. Apple Daily, 22 May

Covid vaccine hesitancy could see Hong Kong throw away millions of doses. Only 2.1 million doses have been administered. The Guardian, 25 May

China says ‘isolated incidents’ won’t stop cooperation with Central and Eastern Europe after Lithuania quits ‘17+1’. SCMP, 25 May

Economy & tech

New report says Beijing ‘flooded’ Taiwan with coronavirus disinformation. Chinese government-backed disinformation amplified discord prior to Taiwan's elections and spread COVID-19-related disinformation aimed at delegitimizing Taiwan's democratic government and improving Beijing's image, a new report finds. Axios, 25 May

Global metal prices fall as China further warns against price hikes. Global prices for industrial metals have fallen after Chinese authorities warned commodity companies in the country over pushing up prices. BBC, 25 May

China needs allies, not isolation, to solve its chip shortage. The chip industry is globalised, which means it is impossible nowadays for any country to go it alone. FT, 25 May

Longer reads & opinion

The secret deportations: how Britain betrayed the Chinese men who served the country in the war. From late 1945, hundreds of them who had settled in Liverpool suddenly disappeared. The Guardian, 25 May

Human rights in China: activists say sensationalist reports on Xinjiang do more harm than good. SCMP, 24 May

Comment: Did the virus escape from a lab? Scientists are no longer immune to the idea. The Times, 25 May

China’s ‘wolf-warrior’ diplomats raise hackles around the world. The World at Five in The Times, 25 May