2023 Issue 19

After declaring “victory” over poverty in the PRC, the Chinese Communist Party censors videos and journalism that reveal the persistence of crushing poverty in the PRC; the U.S. Secretary of State calls on the international community to let Taiwan rejoin the World Health Assembly as an observer; Mexico’s president claims to have proof that the PRC is at the heart of the fentanyl smuggling crisis.

This week, the Canadian Government finally expelled a PRC diplomat involved in threatening the family of a Canadian Member of Parliament of Chinese descent.  The PRC immediately retaliated by expelling a Canadian diplomat and then blamed Canada.  The FBI arrested a Boston man involved in a similar ‘transnational repression’ campaign in coordination with PRC diplomats at their consulate in New York City.  The group is accused of targeting residents of Boston who were critical of the PRC.

Also, the PRC foreign minister vows to retaliate if EU members states sanction Chinese companies providing military support to Russia.  This leaves the question: will Europeans finally operationalize the toolkit for responding to coercion or will Beijing successfully intimidate member states.