Plus: No photos please
IN TODAY’S EDITION
1️⃣ Why China is heading to the moon |
2️⃣ Our first non-EU/US chief of Interpol? |
3️⃣ Aviation rule of the day |
Hi Intriguer. China’s lunar exploration probe, ‘Chang E’, was named after a Chinese moon deity. In some versions of the ancient myth, Chang E (much like Pandora) was a mortal who was overcome by curiosity and took some elixir pills she wasn’t meant to take. For her sins, Chang E floated up to the moon, where she lived out her days without her husband, who was unable to visit from Earth.
If myths were to be believed, Chang E would’ve had plenty of visitors in recent years, including from another Chinese lunar mission which just returned to Earth after collecting samples from the dark side of the Moon.
We’ve got more on that in our top story today.
Assange officially walks free.
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has just touched down in his native Australia after entering a deal with the US that saw him plead guilty to one count of espionage. He entered that plea earlier this morning (Wednesday) in a US court on a remote Pacific island, chosen because Assange opposed entering continental USA. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been calling for Assange’s release since before his Labour party took power in 2022.
ICC issues warrants for two top Russian officials.
Prosecutors at the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) have accused former defence minister Sergei Shoigu and current military chief of staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov of war crimes in Ukraine. The court says the two are at least partially responsible for “missile strikes carried out by the Russian armed forces against the Ukrainian electric infrastructure”. The ICC has also previously issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Kenya police open fire as protesters storm parliament.
At least five are now dead after police opened fire as thousands of protestors tried to storm parliament, setting part of it ablaze. They were protesting the final passing of a controversial bill to raise more taxes and reduce Kenya’s debt, but which critics say will only serve to exacerbate the cost of living crisis. President Ruto has described the protests as “treasonous”.
UN-backed report says Gaza situation “catastrophic“, though cites “probable improvement in nutrition status”.
The report says “a high risk of famine persists as long as conflict continues, and humanitarian access is restricted”. It also notes that “the available evidence does not indicate that famine is currently occurring”, following scaled-up aid and water responses in April and May.
Volkswagen to invest $5B in US EV-maker.
The German auto giant’s investment will help Rivian roll out its planned new (and cheaper) SUVs from 2026, using an automotive software platform to be developed via their new joint venture. Rivian shares climbed by 50% in after-hours trading once the news broke.
TOP STORY
China’s lunar probe returns to Earth
We like to think Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ was blasting when the Chang’e 6 lunar probe touched down in Inner Mongolia yesterday (Tuesday), carrying the first-ever samples of matter from the far side of the moon.
China’s space agency launched the Chang’e 6 back on May 3 from China’s tropical Hainan Island. It then landed on the far side of the moon (without line-of-sight comms) a month later, kicking off a space-aged game of hot potato:
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A lunar rover spent three days drilling and collecting lunar samples
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That rover then transferred the goodies to an ascender module, which took off and began orbiting the moon
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That ascender module then linked up with the orbiter module and passed on the lunar dust and rocks
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Finally, the orbiter passed the goods to an atmospheric re-entry module, which landed safely back in China yesterday.
While the mission lasted 53 days, China has actually been working on its lunar exploration project since 2004. And it’s now got two goals left: i) a planned robotic outpost near the Moon’s south pole, to test key technologies for ii) astronauts to land there by 2030.
Now, you might recall that US astronauts set foot on the Moon more than half a century ago, and NASA repeated the feat another five times until 1972. But the Moon is now hot again:
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India scored the world’s first soft-landing on the Moon’s south pole last year
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Japan scored the world’s first ‘pinpoint’ lunar landing in January
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China has now brought back the first darkside samples
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A US company scored the first private robotic landing in February
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Russia says it wants to land its first astronauts on the Moon within a decade (though it crashed a probe there last year), and
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The US itself is planning to land astronauts on the moon again in 2026
So why is the Moon so hot right now? The Chang’e mission has a few different aims:
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At home
When China first kicked off its lunar program two decades ago, the wind was in the country’s sails: double-digit annual growth, the Beijing Olympics around the corner, and a sense of inevitability around its rise as a global player.
But that 2004 decision is now paying dividends in a very different China: growth has slowed right back, investor sentiment has soured, youth unemployment is at record highs, and several of China’s neighbours and trading partners have been spooked by President Xi Jinping’s more forceful approach.
So against that gloomy backdrop, this week’s lunar feat has presented China’s ruling communist party with some much-needed front-page fodder. For Xi and his party, that coverage alone has probably made the mission worthwhile.
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Abroad
Landing on the Moon is also the geopolitical equivalent of telling your mates you just climbed Everest. It earns you bragging rights, and elevates your status as someone with the necessary calves / technological prowess to get there.
Xi spelled it out himself, describing the Chang’e 6 mission as a “landmark achievement in our country’s efforts at becoming a space and technological power”.
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Up above
China also says it’ll share these new darkside samples with the international scientific community, though it hasn’t specified any deets yet.
Scientists are hoping this new lunar dust will help answer all sorts of questions about how planets form, what the early solar system looked like, and whether the Moon might have sources of ice for a future human presence.
So there are plenty of reasons why China and others are now looking back to the heavens.
INTRIGUE’S TAKE
The People’s Republic has run some interesting branding exercises over the years. Under former leader Hu Jintao, China said it was undergoing a ‘peaceful rise’, though it rebranded in 2004 as a peaceful ‘development’ after concluding that the word ‘rise’ suggested China was a threat to the status quo.
But even the roots of that initial ‘peaceful rise’ slogan are interesting: the term was coined by Zheng Bijian, an influential government advisor. And subsequent research suggests it was part of a Ministry of State Security influence operation aimed at smoothing global perceptions of China’s growth.
Still, parallel research elsewhere has also long reminded us that, even when speaking to the rest of the world, the party’s audience is still fundamentally domestic, in support of social and political stability at home.
That’s why the results can seem so discombobulating abroad: one day China is promising to share its scientific bounty with the world as a responsible power; the next day, it’s threatening Philippine sailors with axes in defiance of an international ruling on maritime boundaries.
Back home, those two messages might seem less discordant: they both point to Xi and his own preferred slogan, "the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation".
Also worth noting:
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Only five powers have ever successfully landed unmanned missions on the moon: the Soviet Union, the US, China, India, and Japan (in that order). Only one has landed humans there (the US).
MEANWHILE, ELSEWHERE…
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🇲🇳 Mongolia: Mongolians are heading to the polls on Friday for the country’s parliamentary elections, in a race that saw an opposition figure killed during a rare bout of campaign violence last week. The ruling party is expected to hold onto its majority, which it’s enjoyed since 2016.
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🇬🇧 United Kingdom: King Charles III is hosting Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako in London this week on a state visit, the British monarch’s first since announcing his cancer diagnosis in February. Japan’s emperor, an apolitical figure, has left Downing Street off his agenda to steer clear of the UK’s July 4th elections.
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🇻🇳 Vietnam: Local automaker VinFast has released a new $9.2k 10-foot-long electric mini-SUV in hopes of driving sales across Asia. This regional pivot comes after the car company’s US foray last year – including US sales, manufacturing, and a Nasdaq listing – failed to meet initial investor hopes.
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🇧🇷 Brazil: Brazilian police official Valdecy Urquiza is closer to becoming Interpol’s next chief after the organisation’s board chose him as its preferred candidate yesterday (Tuesday). If selected on November 7th, the 43-year-old (and Interpol’s current VP for the Americas) would be the body’s first leader from outside Europe and the US.
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🇦🇪 UAE: The United Arab Emirates has mediated a prisoner of war exchange between Russia and Ukraine, facilitating the return of 90 POWs to their respective countries. It’s the UAE foreign ministry’s fifth mediation between the two nations this year.
EXTRA INTRIGUE
The Intrigue job board is back! Here are some job listings we thought you might like:
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Cultural Programs Curator @ Goethe Institut in Washington DC
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Senior Director, Business Development @ Global Citizen in NYC
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Global Debt Capital Markets Analyst @ JPMorgan Chase in London
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Ethics Director @ Mercy Corps in Congo
AVIATION RULE OF THE DAY
Take note all you photo-snapping, social-sharing, smoothie-sipping, jet-setting influencers.
If you’re visiting China, the perks of a window seat to catch your last glimpse of the Shanghai skyline or Quanzhou’s seaside might be a thing of the past. That’s because China's Ministry of State Security (MSS) just dropped a new rule (🇨🇳): passengers must now keep their window shades down during take-off and landing at any airports used by both civilians and the military (that’s a third of China’s ~250 airports).
The MSS acknowledged last year that posting photos of military assets is “a cool hobby”, but asked local enthusiasts to cut it out, after Western analysts started openly using local passenger pics to track progress for China’s third aircraft carrier.
DAILY POLL
What do you think about these Moon missions? |
Yesterday’s poll: Will Iran's elections shake up the country?
⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 👍 Yes, voters want change (5%)
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ❌ No, the supreme leader has final say (94%)
⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ ✍️ Other (write in!) (1%)
[Editor’s note: This might be our most lopsided result ever?]
Your two cents:
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❌ A.S: “Presidential elections in Iran are about as impactful as rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.”
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❌ E.K.H: “An election won't, but a bloody succession crisis might.”
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✍️ R.J: “No, but this may be one of the last elections we see in Iran with the supreme leader having total control. The younger generation that is coming up is more shaped by the brutality of the Iran regime (especially in the context of the Iraq-Iran war) than it is by the revolution and overthrow of the Shah. Combined with a poor economy and the ayatollah's age, we will start to see his absolute power start to slip.”
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