CHINA TRAINS RUSSIAN TROOPS FIGHTING IN UKRAINE – EU
"The Chinese military has been training Russian military personnel to fight in Ukraine," EU High Representative Kaja Kallas said after a meeting of foreign ministers in Luxembourg. Late last year, under a secret pact hammered out between Beijing and Moscow, the PLA covertly trained more than 200 Russian military personnel in drone warfare with a focus on supporting operations in Ukraine. Despite Beijing's denials and claims of neutrality in the Ukraine conflict, Chinese firms continue to provide Moscow dual-use technologies and offer a vital economic lifeline to the Kremlin. The EU has so far sanctioned Chinese drone component manufacturer Shenzhen Minghuaxin and chemical supplier Xinxiang Richful, as well as two Hong Kong-based shipping firms facilitating Russian oil exports. (Bloomberg, June 15, 2026)
BEIJING DEFENDS GLOBAL ENFORCEMENT OF NEW ETHNIC UNITY LAW
China's Ministry of Justice has defended the global reach of its new Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law, asserting that Beijing has a legitimate right to hold overseas individuals and organizations liable for violating it. Passed by the National People's Congress back in March and set to come into force on July 1st, the law formalizes longstanding policies to promote Mandarin as the language of education, official business and public spaces and criminalizes actions deemed to undermine ethnic harmony or incite separatism. Many fear the extraterritorial clause in the law creates a legal pretext to expand transnational repression against exiled minority advocates, including Uyghurs and Tibetans. (Hong Kong Free Press, June 24, 2026)
UK JAILS TWO FOR AIDING PRC TRANSNATIONAL REPRESSION
A London court has sentenced UK-PRC nationals Chi Leung "Peter" Wai and Chung Biu "Bill" Yuen to 10 and 8 years in prison, respectively, for assisting PRC intelligence. Wai, a former UK police officer and Border Force official, helped track Hong Kong pro-democracy dissidents and monitor British politicians. Yuen, an official at the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London, served as Wai's liaison to Chinese intelligence. The scheme was a "shadow policing operation" to apprehend overseas activists with bounties placed on them by the CPC-controlled Hong Kong government. A third co-defendant, Matthew Trickett, died by suspected suicide after charges were filed. "If you are working on behalf of a foreign state [we will] bring the full force of the National Security Act upon you," said Helen Flanagan, Head of Counter Terrorism Policing London. (BBC, June 18, 2026)
FOUR PLA WARSHIPS CONFROUNT PHILIPPINE FRIGATE
Four PLA warships confronted a Philippine Navy frigate near the disputed Scarborough Shoal. During the hours-long standoff, a PLA Southern Theatre Command frigate shadowed the Philippine vessel while personnel exchanged radio warnings over disputed airspace and sovereignty. A Chinese military aircraft flew overhead, buzzing a Philippine Navy helicopter. The stand-off occurred as the Philippine Navy wrapped up its three-month "Salaknib 2026" joint military exercises with the U.S., Japan, New Zealand, and Australia. The deployment represents a tactical shift from using coast guard and maritime militia assets toward a direct escalation using the PLA Navy. (South China Morning Post, June 23, 2026)
AS CONSUMER SPENDING FALLS, EXPORTS STOKE INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT
Fixed-asset investment in China shrunk 4.1% between January and May, while retail sales fell 0.6% year-over-year in May – the first consumer spending decline since the end of zero-Covid restrictions in December 2022. The drop reflects weak domestic demand and a persistent property slump. Meanwhile, industrial output grew 4.5%, buoyed by a nearly 20% surge in exports driven by overseas demand for green energy and AI products.
This economic bifurcation is undermining relations with Europe, whose trade deficit with China hit a record €1 billion in May. China's growing trade surplus has led to warnings that the EU is facing a "China Shock 2.0," repeating the American experience of de-industrialization after China joined the World Trade Organization. "We are really suffering so much, and the politicians are going in completely the wrong direction, and they don't realize how much the Chinese are destroying the industrial backbone of Europe," said Alexander Julius, president of Eurometal, a trade organization representing buyers of steel products. (Wall Street Journal, June 15, 2026; The Guardian, June 15, 2026)
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