The forthcoming warning is the latest effort by the Trump administration to blame China for being the source of the pandemic and exploiting its aftermath. While Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reiterated on Sunday that there was “a significant amount of evidence” that the coronavirus had emerged from a Chinese laboratory, a recent German intelligence assessment has reportedly cast doubt on that claim. Germany’s BND reportedly asked members of the U.S.-led “Five Eyes” intelligence alliance – the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand – for evidence to support the accusation. None supported Pompeo’s claim. The BND concluded that the U.S. accusations were a deliberate attempt to divert public attention away from President Donald Trump’s “own failures.”

Separately, the United States and Britain issued a joint warning last week that “health care bodies, pharmaceutical companies, academia, medical research organizations, and local governments” had been targeted. While it named no specific countries or targets, the wording was the kind used to describe the most active cyberoperators: Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea. However, according to private security firms, more than a dozen countries have redeployed military and intelligence hackers to glean whatever they can about other nations’ virus responses. These include U.S. allies like South Korea and nations that do not typically stand out for their cyber capabilities, such as Vietnam. New York Times,

The protests at ten malls and in the working-class district of Mong Kok came on the heels of physical clashes (Guardian) between pro-Beijing and pro-democracy lawmakers in Hong Kong’s legislature on Friday. Police cited a ban on mass gatherings and used pepper spray on protesters and reporters in Mong Kok. Continuing the government’s hard line against the movement, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam vowed to overhaul school curriculums (Guardian) that she said fuel the protests and allow students to be “poisoned.”

“The current pandemic has distracted international observers from Hong Kong’s struggle and left many local residents fearful of crowds. Chinese authorities know it,” Jeffrey Wasserstrom writes for Foreign Affairs.