China’s blunt message

China is flexing its military might before Taiwan’s elections [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( China is flexing its military might around Taiwan again as campaigning for the presidency on the democratically run island starts to heat up. The People’s Liberation Army sent 32 warplanes into sensitive areas around Taiwan today. That was the most since April, when Beijing ordered large-scale military drills in the area to show its displeasure with President Tsai Ing-wen meeting House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in the US. While the PLA flies jets near Taiwan nearly every day, the size of the latest sortie is likely intended to send a message to Taipei about its contacts with foreign officials. Key Reading: [China Warplanes Make Biggest Taiwan Incursion in Three Months]( [TikTok Content Under Scrutiny With Taiwan Election Heating Up]( [China Slams Bulgari For Not Showing Taiwan As Part of Country]( [Taiwan Candidate Says Its Presidents Should Visit White House]( Tsai’s government has recently received groups of lawmakers from the US and Canada, part of her efforts to raise Taiwan’s profile abroad. She’s also dispatched officials to Japan and Germany. That strategy frustrates Beijing, which regards Taiwan as part of China and sees the contacts as interference in its internal affairs. While candidates for Taiwan’s January election are staking out their positions on dealing with China, the government has to contend with a rising tide of misleading information about candidates on social media outlets like TikTok, which said it has policies in place to “prevent misuse of the platform.” Officials in Taipei have been warning about “large-scale” operations from China that seek to interfere with voting. TikTok presents an added concern for Taiwan given its Chinese ownership, which has prompted Taiwanese officials, like the US, to ban it from government devices. China’s military threats and disinformation efforts mean that the months before the election will be volatile ones for Taiwan’s voters. Their choice between a ruling party that includes many independence advocates and others that favor closer engagement with China will set the tone for the relationship between Beijing and Taipei in the coming years and will surely help shape US-China ties too. — [Philip Glamann]( Taiwanese troops fire a US-made Stinger missile during a military exercise on July 4. Photographer: I-Hwa Cheng/Bloomberg Listen to our [Twitter Space discussion]( at 8am ET (2pm CET) today on NATO and its long-term future. And if you are enjoying this newsletter, sign up [here](. Global Headlines President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he’ll “fight” for more security [guarantees]( for Ukraine from allies as Group of Seven countries announce today they’ll hold individual negotiations to offer bilateral commitments to boost Kyiv’s defense capabilities and deter Russia. The declaration on the sidelines of NATO’s summit in Lithuania follows the alliance’s agreement on measures to deepen ties with Kyiv as well as long-term support for Ukraine to join the bloc. - US President Joe Biden will cast the NATO summit as a successful result of his global [engagement]( in a speech today. - Read our [rolling coverage]( of the latest developments at the NATO summit. A hacking group based in China intent on [conducting espionage]( breached a series of email accounts linked to government agencies in Western Europe, according to Microsoft. The company said a group it identified as Storm-0558 was able to remain undetected for a month after gaining access to email data from around 25 organizations in mid-May. North Korea test-fired a suspected [long-range ballistic missile]( designed to deliver a nuclear strike on the US after warning Washington of “shocking” consequences for flying spy planes that Pyongyang claimed violated its airspace. Japan’s Defense Ministry said the missile was an ICBM that reached an altitude of about 6,000 kilometers (3,730 miles). Donald Trump suffered a blow in E. Jean Carroll’s remaining lawsuit against him after the US Justice Department reversed an opinion that sought to protect the former president from the case. The new opinion all but assures the matter will [go to trial]( in January after it determined Trump no longer qualifies for government-employee immunity and can be sued for remarks he made about Carroll while he was president in 2019. - Republican efforts to restrict voting have sparked a [backlash]( among people with disabilities, hurting the party’s appeal to a key group of swing voters. A voter arrives to a polling location in Phoenix, Arizona. Photographer: Caitlin O'Hara/Bloomberg Best of Bloomberg Opinion - [Spain’s Political Storm Stirs Separatists: Rachel Sanderson]( - [The Ruble’s Fall Points to Pain, Not Collapse: Leonid Bershidsky]( - [The World Needs a Climate Marshall Plan: David Fickling]( Fresh tumult is brewing for Pita Limjaroenrat. Thailand’s election body has decided to seek a [court ruling]( on whether the progressive politician, who led his pro-democracy coalition to victory, should be disqualified for holding shares in a media company when he applied to run for office — a breach of election rules. If the Constitutional Court acts on the request it could scupper Pita’s chances of contesting the prime ministerial election set for tomorrow. Explainers You Can Use - [Why Israel Is Bitterly Split by a Judiciary Overhaul]( - [What It Takes to Join NATO, a Club Refreshed by Putin]( - [Chinese City’s Roads to Nowhere Show Depth of Stimulus Challenge]( Police in Peru are [mobilizing]( nationwide in anticipation of a repeat of violent protests from earlier this year demanding the resignation of President Dina Boluarte. Around 50 people died in what was the country’s worst social unrest in decades, and the government has struggled to restart the economy since. Organizers are calling for demonstrators to gather in Lima from July 19. Riot police take position during a demonstration against Boluarte on Feb. 9 in Lima. Photographer: Ernesto Benavides/AFP/Getty Images 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 - Polluters such as Thames Water Utilities that befoul UK rivers and seas [will face unlimited penalties]( and tougher sanctions, according to new government legislation announced today. - Vladimir Medeyko, the long-serving leader of Russian Wikipedia editors, has set up a [Kremlin-compliant]( rival site. - China’s Zijin Mining Group is in advanced talks to [build a plant in Argentina]( that will turn some of the nation’s huge lithium reserves into cathodes used to make electric-vehicle batteries. - Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said [the fight against inflation]( trumps the need to cut UK taxes, signaling British voters are unlikely to benefit from a sizable pre-election giveaway. - Elon Musk will hold an event broadcast on Twitter Spaces today [focused on artificial intelligence]( with two prominent US House lawmakers. And finally ... As in many industries, artificial intelligence is poised to increase the productivity of political workers, and probably eliminate more than a few of their jobs. More [ominously](, AI holds the potential to supercharge the dissemination of misinformation in political campaigns through “deep fakes,” bogus pictures and videos that will soon be indistinguishable from real ones, enabling bad actors to literally put words in their opponents’ mouths. In fact, as Emily Birnbaum and Laura Davison report, it’s already happening. A video ad from the Republican National Committee included AI-generated images of fictional social unrest. Source: RNC YouTube channel 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 Balance of Power newsletter. 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