China

On 26 June, a small, single-engine plane carrying only the pilot crashed into the CITIC Tower, the Chinese capital’s tallest skyscraper, injuring 13 people. But within hours, information on social media disappeared, something that usually happens with accidents of this kind in China, giving rises to speculation that is not likely to find an answer.

June in China is the month of the Gaokao (the university entrance exam) and the Zhongkao (the secondary school entrance exam), with the usual mobilisation of families anxious about their children’s future. But the structural limitations of China’s current economic system, with 320 million ‘flexible’ workers, are turning yesterday’s dreams into a mere struggle for survival.

Thanks to massive investments in solar, wind, and nuclear power, China has topped four billion kilowatts of installed capacity, 1.7 times that of the United States and the European Union combined. And it is working to have a system operational by 2030 that will allow millions of idled electric vehicles to return energy to the grid to meet peak demand.

In Wuhan, a call for teachers to turn up at dawn to inspect vegetables for school canteens sparked a protest. But among the non-teaching tasks assigned to teachers is also the requirement to ‘like’ posts from public accounts on social media. Meanwhile, an increasing number of schools are turning to the ready-meal market, which the Party has identified as one of the key sectors to be promoted in the economy.

Pope Leo XIV yesterday spoke about the great Italian patron saint of migrants, who dreamt of going on a mission to the East like Saint Francis Xavier. After her death, her fellow sisters fulfilled this dream in Zhejiang and Henan until its forced closure under Mao. Nevertheless, it still continues through the Scalabrinian family who chose her as their patron in Asia.

With the People's Republic of China missing from the tournament for 24 years, the "card master" has become a celebrity among fans. He is the only Chinese tasked with refereeing a World Cup match, but also an ambassador for giants like Lenovo and Hinsense. Tomorrow evening, he will referee the Ecuador-Curaçao match, with two Chinese assistants.

In a speech to the foreign press, the Taiwanese leader hailed 30 years of democracy on the island, starting with the 1996 elections. He urged the US to unfreeze the US$ 14 billion arms sale, which has already been approved by Congress. Opposition leader Cheng Li-wun, just back from a visit to the United States, said that Trump’s position on his return from Beijing is “fairly consistent” with that of her party.

While Leo XIV raises the question of freedom in the age of data science, China's National Religious Affairs Administration publishes an article about a new computing centre at Southeast University tasked with using generative artificial intelligence to uncover (and ban) any ideas that diverge from what the Party wants religions to say.

The Middle Corridor is reshaping the region’s geopolitical landscape, offering participating countries a historic opportunity to free themselves once and for all from their role as ‘transit appendages’ to Moscow and become independent players.

Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed his Myanmar counterpart, Min Aung Hlaing, to whom he has reiterated China’s support. The visit coincides with the recent arrest of a leading scholar of China-Myanmar relations and the release by an ethnic militia of 200 POWs captured during fighting along the border.

Since the start of the year, a special pastoral team set up by Cardinal Chow has been active, dedicated to ministering to the thousands of Mandarin-speaking people who have arrived in the city in recent years. The team leader, Fr Bruno Lepeu, told the Sunday Examiner: “Friendship and care rooted in God’s love”. Of particular significance are the initiatives for young cross-border students and the parents of children attending Catholic schools.

Once classified by the Communist Party as “spiritual pollution”, this genre now generates billions of yuan in revenue and has become part of the state's cultural promotion strategy, within a clear geopolitical vision. "The Wandering Earth" and "The Three-Body Problem" are the most striking examples of Netflix phenomena. But in the background, tensions have also emerged between artistic forms and the new computing power deployed by propaganda.