Marking one hundred years since the founding of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), President Xi Jinping told a crowd of thousands (NYT) in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square that any foreign forces attempting to “bully, oppress, or enslave” the Chinese people would meet a “Great Wall of steel.”
 
Xi praised the party’s role (Nikkei) in creating a “moderately prosperous society” without absolute poverty, warned against Taiwanese independence, and said China opposes hegemonism and power politics. While Xi said Beijing maintains a “one country, two systems” approach to Hong Kong, a protest ban and heightened security (SCMP) in the city on the anniversary of its handover from British to Chinese rule reinforced Beijing’s increasing crackdown on dissent.

Jakarta announced new emergency measures (CNA), effective until July 20, to contain the spread of the coronavirus. On the islands of Java and Bali, malls will be closed, indoor dining banned, and nonessential employees required to work from home.

Myanmar’s military government released more than 2,200 detainees (Irrawaddy), most of whom had been charged for participating in protests against the junta, an official said. At least four thousand political detainees remain, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a human rights watchdog.
 
For the Net Politics blog, Eyako Heh looks at resistance amid the junta’s digital totalitarianism.
 
India: A survey by IHS Markit found that India’s manufacturing activity shrank (Reuters) for the first time in eleven months in June amid new pandemic-related restrictions.

Lebanon’s Parliament approved $556 million (Al-Monitor) in prepaid cash aid to half a million poor families after a reduction in fuel subsidies prompted nationwide protests (AFP).
 
Palestinian territories: Israel’s government announced that Jewish settlers will leave the site (NYT) of a new, unauthorized settlement in the occupied West Bank that Palestinians have protested against. The settlers’ homes will remain and be protected by soldiers.

The World Bank and U.S., French, and German government donor agencies announced $712 million in funding (Bloomberg) for the production of 500 million Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses through 2022 in a new South African manufacturing hub.
 
Sudan: Hundreds of people in the capital, Khartoum, protested International Monetary Fund–backed reforms (Al Jazeera) that would cut fuel subsidies and called for the transitional government to resign. Fifty-two police officers were reportedly wounded (Sudan Tribune).

A UN tribunal sentenced (NYT) two former high-ranking Serbian security officials to twelve years in prison for abetting war crimes in the Balkans conflicts of the 1990s. It is the closing case for the tribunal devoted to the conflicts and marks the first time top Serbian officials were linked to such crimes in neighboring countries.
 
CFR’s David J. Scheffer looks at the conviction of Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic, another perpetrator of atrocities during the Balkans conflicts.
 
UK: The European Commission and the United Kingdom agreed to postpone a ban (DW) on the sale of some meat products in Northern Ireland for three months, calling a temporary truce on a long-running dispute related to Brexit.

Lawmakers in Hidalgo voted to decriminalize elective abortion (Reuters) in the first twelve weeks of pregnancy, making Hidalgo the third Mexican state to take this step.
 
Haiti: In a new report, the Organization of American States recommended that Haitian President Jovenel Moise appoint a new prime minister (Miami Herald) and cabinet and that he take steps so the country can hold presidential, legislative, and local elections by December.
 
This photo essay looks at Haiti’s power struggle.

The House of Representatives voted 366-46 to repeal two authorizations (WSJ) for the use of military force in the Middle East, one related to the 1991 Gulf War and the other a 1957 authorization to counter “Communist aggression.”