Beijing Breaks Cover: Why China Fears a Russian Defeat in Ukraine
China says that a Russian defeat in Ukraine would shift unwelcome U.S. attention to Beijing. The comment, at odds with Beijing’s public neutrality, underscore China’s quiet stake in the war's outcome
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the European Union’s top diplomat on Wednesday that Beijing did not want to see a Russian loss in Ukraine because it feared the United States would then shift its whole focus to Beijing, according to several people familiar with the exchange. The comment, to the EU’s Kaja Kallas, would confirm what many in Brussels believe to be Beijing’s position but jar with China’s public utterances. The foreign ministry regularly says China is “not a party” to the war. Some EU officials involved were surprised by the frankness of Wang’s remarks. However, Wang is said to have rejected the accusation that China was materially supporting Russia’s war effort, financially or militarily, insisting that if it was doing so, the conflict would have ended long ago. During a marathon four-hour debate on a wide range of geopolitical and commercial grievances, Wang was said to have given Kallas – the former Estonian prime minister who only late last year took up her role as the bloc’s de facto foreign affairs chief – several “history lessons and lectures”. - SCMP
Kyiv bore the brunt of a massive overnight Russian attack, which Ukrainian authorities said was the biggest yet of the war with 539 drones and 11 missiles. The State Emergency Service of Ukraine reported that one person was killed in Kyiv. Rescuers recovered the victim's body from the rubble of a destroyed building. More than 20 people were injured in the strikes, which hit civilian targets including a medical facility in the Ukrainian capital. RFE/RL Ukrainian Service correspondent Oleh Haliv visited a 5-story apartment building with shattered windows and an impact hole in a wall. The attacks on Kyiv underlined the message that Putin put to Trump in a roughly 1-hour phone call on July 3 that Moscow would not give up its aims in Ukraine. "I'm very disappointed with the conversation I had today with President Putin, because I don't think he's there, and I'm very disappointed," Trump said. "I'm just saying I don't think he's looking to stop, and that's too bad." Political analyst Alexandra Filippenko told Current Time: "This is probably the first time we’re hearing such an admission from Donald Trump, because usually it’s bravado, usually it’s a story about how everything went wonderfully." Zelenskyy said that his July 4 talks with Trump also covered "the capabilities of the defense industry," and "the possibilities of joint production."
Dutch and German intelligence agencies have gathered evidence of widespread Russian use of banned chemical weapons in Ukraine, including dropping a choking agent from drones to drive soldiers out of trenches so they can be shot, they said on Friday. Dutch Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans called for tougher sanctions against Moscow. “The main conclusion is that we can confirm Russia is intensifying its use of chemical weapons," he told Reuters. "This intensification is concerning because it is part of a trend we have been observing for several years now, where Russia's use of chemical weapons in this war is becoming more normalized, standardized, and widespread." Germany's BND foreign intelligence agency confirmed the findings, saying in a statement that it had obtained the evidence alongside its Dutch counterparts. The United States first accused Russia of using chloropicrin, a chemical compound more toxic than riot control agents and first used by Germany during World War One, in May last year. - Reuters
“Words don’t stop Russian missiles the way Patriot missile systems do.”
That’s what I told BBC World’s Matthew Amroliwala after news broke of Donald Trump’s separate phone calls with the leaders of Russia and Ukraine. I argued it’s time for European leaders to confront Vladimir Putin with real deterrence — not vague threats. That means sending German Taurus missiles to Ukraine and unlocking €190 billion in frozen Russian assets held in European banks.
US President Donald Trump said he may increase tariffs to levels above his “Liberation Day” duties, ramping up tensions days before a trade war reprieve expires. The White House will today send letters to about a dozen countries outlining their new tariff rates, and contact more in the coming days, with levies ranging from 10% to 70% — the latter figure being higher than any of Washington’s April duties. US tariff revenues skyrocketed to a record in May, new figures showed, the American economy has not yet suffered the stagflation many economists had warned of, and investors appear to have shrugged off downturn fears. Still, stocks fell and the dollar dropped following Trump’s remarks - Semafor
Meanwhile, Donald Trump has insisted his “Big Beautiful Bill” is “very popular” even though it is being hammered in the polls. The president was defending his spending bill just hours after it was passed by Congress. He was signing it into law later on Friday. Speaking after returning from his rally in Iowa, Trump was crowing about the benefits of his agenda legislation, which is forecast to add $3.4 trillion to the national debt of $36.2 trillion. He told reporters the bill’s popularity stems from it heralding the “biggest tax cuts in our country’s history.” He dismissed suggestions that the sprawling package was unpopular. ABC reported that Trump said the only poll on the matter was a “Democrat poll.” The legislation has been the subject of extensive polling by a wide range of reputable pollsters, with all data revealing poor approval levels. Last week, CNN highlighted a slew of polls on the bill from the Washington Post, Pew Research Centre, Fox News, Quinnipiac University, and the Kaiser Family Foundation, showing disastrous net approval ratings of -19, -20, -21, -26, and -29 percent, respectively. It’s not just pollsters who have critiqued the bill. Trump’s former key ally, Elon Musk, vehemently denounced the bill this week, describing it as a “disgusting abomination” packed with political pork that would destroy millions of American jobs and saddle the country with enormous debt - Daily Beast
Hamas announced it agreed to release Israeli-American Idan Alexander and the bodies of four dual nationals as it demands Israel enter the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire. Shortly after, Hamas said it sent a negotiating team to Cairo to continue talks, as US envoy Witkoff proposed a “bridge” to extend the ceasefire. Israeli forces launch more attacks on Gaza, killing at least two children in Gaza City and Beit Lahiya, as Israel’s total blockade on all aid into the Strip enters its 13th day. UN experts say Israel has carried out “genocidal acts” against Palestinians by systematically destroying women’s healthcare facilities during its war on Gaza and using sexual violence as a war strategy - Al Jazeera
A critical UK RAF base housing F-35 fighter jets is protected by a 150 cm fence, reveals The Telegraph. The publication discovered vulnerabilities at two other bases, which the pro-Palestinian organization Palestine Action has targeted for potential attacks. According to The Telegraph, in some cases, the runways are protected by hedges, wooden fences, or, in some instances, are unprotected entirely - Nexta
An unidentified North Korean man crossed the heavily fortified land border separating the two Koreas and is in South Korean custody, the South's military said Friday. The South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the military identified and tracked the individual near the central-west section of the military demarcation line and conducted a "guiding operation" before taking the person into custody Thursday night. It said authorities plan to investigate the border crossing and did not immediately say whether they view the incident as a defection attempt. The Joint Chiefs said it notified the U.S.-led United Nations Command about the incident and had not detected any immediate signs of unusual military activity by the North - NPR
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