Rare earths; US-Taiwan; Tomorrow Group bank seized; Peking U crackdown

Hi everyone, the downside of long weekends is I find myself way behind. Today’s newsletter is a long one, apologies but there is a lot going on.

Some things on my radar:

• China looks to be seriously considering using rare earth export restrictions as a countermeasure against the US, based on comments Tuesday out of the NDRC;

• The propaganda rhetoric against the US shows no signs of waning, the key messaging appears to be, unsurprisingly, that China is the innocent victim of American bullying and hegemony in furtherance of America’s plot to thwart China’s rise, all while China remains open to the world and is now the responsible power;

• It is a week until the 30th anniversary of the June 4th massacre, expect a slower Internet in China and a lot of twitchy security workers until it has passed;

• The next leg down in US-China relations may come on June 4th if, as I understand, US Vice President Pence will deliver another speech on China, and this one may be even fierier than the one he gave last …