Xi meets Lukashenko; Xi-Trump call soon?; Rare earths; Bill O'Reilly and China

Summary of today’s top items:

1. Xi meets with Belarus President in Zhongnanhai - The 1-minute 32-second report on the meeting was the top item on the Wednesday CCTV Evening News. Wang Yi was the most senior official to join Xi at the meeting. I believe the last time Lukashenko visited Beijing was in December 2023, and on that trip he met with Xi at the Diaoyutai Guest House. Cai Qi attended the 2023 meeting.

The report on the meeting is the top item in the June 5th People’s Daily:

According to Belarusian media Xi told Lukashenko that “A SCO summit will take place in Tianjin at the end of August. A little later, on 3 September, we will hold a parade to celebrate the victory of the global fight against fascism. I invite you to attend and will be glad to see you there.”

This meeting will probably not be enough to dispel the rumors I wrote about Tuesday. I remain skeptical about those rumors.

2. Will there be a Trump-Xi call soon? - I am hearing that there might actually be call this week, …