Taiwan; WTO; Li Shangfu; US-China; E-Bikes
Are you getting excited as I am for the Two Sessions? The CPPCC meeting starts Sunday March 3rd, the NPC meeting starts Monday March 4th.
Xi has been in the news several times since the New Year Holiday ended just over a week ago, but we have not seen a picture of him in the People’s Daily or video of him on CCTV since February 9th. The Tuesday February 27th People’s Daily still has no photo of him. He has remained out of public for long periods before, but I can’t remember this long a period other than around the annual August Beidaihe holiday.
Summary of today’s Essential Eight:
Taiwan - As discussed in last Friday’s newsletter, the Taiwan Affairs Work Conference met last week and the readout had some interesting divergences from the 2023 readout. It reads to me as more forward leaning and impatient, but we will have to wait for more details to come out beyond just the short readout. Perhaps we will learn more at the upcoming NPC meeting? Meanwhile, the PRC does appear to be using th…