Editor’s note for Tuesday, June 22, 2021

My thoughts today:

China will prolong its COVID-19 border restrictions “for at least another year,” according to the Wall Street Journal, out of concern for “a pair of events that officials are eager to have go off without a hitch next year: the Winter Olympics in February and a once-a-decade power transition within the ruling Chinese Communist Party toward the end of the year,” when Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 is expected to be given another term in office.

So people wanting face time with friends and family in China from abroad will have to rely on WeChat, which is now completely legal again for American users: The U.S. Commerce Department has formally rescinded “a list of prohibited transactions with TikTok and WeChat that were issued in September as the Trump administration sought to block new U.S. downloads of both Chinese-owned apps.”

One person who will go back to China soon is Beijing’s man in Washington, D.C., Ambassador Cuī Tiānkǎi 崔天凯, who is retiring from his post, per the embassy (in Chinese).

Our word of the day is reveal the mask of hypocrisy (戳穿虚伪面具 chuōchuān xūwèi miànjù)  — see our top story today for details.

—Jeremy Goldkorn, Editor-in-Chief