Good morning, and welcome to the first Asia Links of the week
Chinese cities ease covid restrictions following nationwide protests (FT, WSJ, Bloomberg)
Beijing city government denies rumours that covid controls set to be scrapped (Caixin)
How covid lockdowns in Xinjiang trapped millions for months on end (SCMP)
Fears of deadly infection surge as China drops zero-covid policy (Guardian)
Manufacturing orders from China down 40% in demand collapse (CNBC)
Three members of Hong Kong June 4 vigil group to face trial without jury (SCMP)
Magnitude 6.7 quake hits off Tonga (Reuters)
2,000 people evacuated after Indonesia’s Mount Semeru erupts (BBC, Jakarta Post, Guardian)
Kim adopts trappings of royalty as he presents ‘princess’ to North Korea (FT)
Canada and China prepare to open COP15 biodiversity summit despite rifts (Guardian)
Delegation of Australian MPs to visit Taiwan (Taipei Times)
The WTO has published its World Trade Statistical Review 2022
Covid has shaken the Chinese social tradeoff between freedom and prosperous stability (NYTimes)
Nouriel Roubini, never an optimist, predicts a stagflationary debt crisis (Project Syndicate)
The curious case of the purpling of street lamps (Business Insider)