Britain believes that China would negotiate the release of the imprisoned Hong Kong newspaper owner, Jimmy Lai - but only if he agrees to be silent. Exclusive in The Times by Richard Spencer and me. www.thetimes.com/world/asia/a...

Friend of Monocle Richard Lloyd Parry (@dicklp.bsky.social) is this week’s guest on #MeetTheWriters with @georginagodwin.bsky.social on monocle.com podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/m...

Arbitrariness of choosing Kurds as a target & triviality of many of the complaints against them suggests that ill-feeling towards foreigners is a proxy for deeper & more complex insecurities about a future of economic & military insecurity (£) www.thetimes.com/world/asia/a... By @dicklp.bsky.social

Uncomfortable truth for all Japanese leaders: within narrow circle of policy, freedom of action is tightly constrained by stark geopolitical facts. Biggest problems are structural, functions of geography and demography, and they are grave. (£) www.thetimes.com/comment/colu... By @dicklp.bsky.social

🔺EXCLUSIVE: Mishcon de Reya, the London law firm that was once solicitor for Princess Diana, handled a multimillion-pound property purchase for the man subsequently accused of heading up the world’s most successful organised crime group