Hunting for spies

Chinese authorities are clamping down on leaking. [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( For decades, China promised foreign investors it was opening up. Now, Beijing looks intent on closing down some channels. Authorities are intensifying a drive to curb leaking, placing “expert networks” at the center of its anti-espionage campaign launched this month. Key Reading: [Xi Upends the Secretive World of $10,000-an-Hour China Experts]( [China App Trains Government Workers on Keeping State Secrets]( [Why China Isn’t Providing Enough Jobs for Its Young]( [China’s New US Envoy Says Relations Face ‘Serious’ Challenges]( One of the country’s major players stands accused of encouraging its freelance consultants to divulge state secrets and accepting projects from companies with close ties to foreign intelligence agencies. It’s easy to see why the industry — once lauded as critical to the development of China’s financial markets — might now be raising concerns. Access to ex-government officials, experts in sensitive subjects and patchy regulatory oversight made the sector a prime target for scrutiny. But rising competition with the US and its allies has changed the stakes for President Xi Jinping. Tightening control over information has become a priority. That’s evident at government agencies, universities and state-owned enterprises where institutions are stepping up training on how to safeguard state secrets, including via an app called Baomiguan — or Views on Secret Keeping. The shift in priorities is a blow to investors and multinationals facing greater obstacles to understanding one of the world’s most opaque economies. After years of wooing foreign capital, authorities are asking if they had inadvertently exposed too much. For now, the message is clear: National security trumps economic growth. — [Rebecca Choong Wilkins]( WATCH: China’s crackdown on espionage has its first big target. “Expert networks” are a key tool for foreign investors in the country.Source: Bloomberg Listen to our [Twitter Space discussion]( today at 8am ET (1pm London) on what is next for India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he chairs the Group of 20. Check out the latest [Washington Edition newsletter](. You can [sign up]( now to get it in your inbox every weekday. And if you are enjoying this newsletter, sign up [here](. Global Headlines US Republicans and the White House are [at an impasse]( in talks to avert a first-ever US default, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and one of his chief negotiators said. No more meetings are planned, increasing the likelihood the House and Senate both vote on any deal next week, hours before the June 1 date by which Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the US could run out of cash. Elon Musk’s plan to host Ron DeSantis’ 2024 presidential campaign announcement on Twitter today underscores the social network’s shift toward a [more partisan approach]( to political discourse. The embrace of a national candidate resembles implicit support and opens the company up to a potential quarrel with one of its biggest advertisers, Walt Disney, which is engaged in an escalating dispute with Florida’s Republican governor. After more than three years, the global Covid emergency is officially over. Yet it’s still killing at least one person every four minutes as vaccine rates plunge, putting vulnerable people and under-immunized countries at risk. While Covid remained the [third-biggest killer]( in the US last year behind heart disease and cancer, politicians aren’t pushing for ways to reduce the harm. Pakistan is considering banning Imran Khan’s political party, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said in a televised address, deepening the already [tense standoff]( between the former premier and the country’s government and powerful military. The past few weeks have seen a sweeping government [crackdown]( on the party. Several top leaders are in prison and many have already quit. Best of Bloomberg Opinion - [One Answer to Biden’s Immigration Crisis? Jobs: Editorial]( - [The Kremlin Offers A Trump-Putin Ticket For 2024: Andreas Kluth]( - [The Tory Party Has Turned Into a Clown Show: Adrian Wooldridge]( Few world leaders are publicly lashing out at central bankers more than Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Yet his feud with governor Roberto Campos Neto points to a growing risk across the global economy. 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Tune in to Bloomberg TV’s Balance of Power at 5pm to 6pm ET weekdays with Washington correspondents [Annmarie Hordern]( and [Joe Mathieu](. You can watch and listen on Bloomberg channels and online [here](. News to Note - Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, delivered a [scathing critique]( of the outcome of President Vladimir Putin’s war goals in Ukraine. - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s [popularity remains strong]( despite his party’s loss in a crucial state ballot, but his main rival Rahul Gandhi is gaining ground ahead of the 2024 national election. - Turkey’s main opposition leader [won the endorsement]( of a small nationalist party that could help him close the gap with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Sunday’s runoff election. - Public confidence in the US Supreme Court slid amid a [flurry of ethics controversies](, including revelations a Republican megadonor gave Justice Clarence Thomas luxury vacations, according to a new Marquette Law School Poll. - An opposition coalition that aims to end the South African ruling party’s three-decade hold on power [is taking shape]( ahead of national elections next year. And finally ... Extracted from branches of acacia trees growing in Sudan’s savanna, [gum arabic]( is a natural emulsifier, making it a key ingredient in the manufacture of cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and everything from Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts breakfast pastries to PepsiCo sodas. The North African nation usually accounts for about two-thirds of world supplies, but exports of the substance have ground to a halt since a conflict between rival military factions erupted last month, raising fears of a global shortage. Freshly harvested gum arabic sap in Sudan. Photographer: Ashraf Shazly/AFP/Getty Images Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Bloomberg Politics newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, [sign up here]( to get it in your inbox. 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