NPC countdown; More PLA officers out; US-China; DeepSeek; Xi Thought on Diplomacy
Today’s top items:
1. 2026 GDP Target - We will learn the target at the upcoming NPC meeting that starts next Thursday. All signs are it will be set again at “around 5%” or “4.5-5%”.
2. NPC confirms at least 9 more PLA officers out - The 21st session of the 14th National People’s Congress Standing Committee, meeting to finalize procedural details ahead of next week’s NPC meeting, removed nine PLA officers as deputies. Several of those officers had been “missing” and assumed purged. The nine are:
Bian Ruifeng 边瑞峰 Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission
Wang Donghai 王东海 National Defense Mobilization Department of the Central Military Commission
Li Qiaoming 李桥铭 Ground Forces
Ding Laifu 丁来富 Ground Forces
Shen Jinlong 沈金龙 Navy
Qin Shengxiang 秦生祥 Navy
Yu Zhongfu 于忠福 Air Force
Yang Guang 杨光 Rocket Force
Li Wei 李伟 Information Support Force
The purges will continue until morale improves…
3. Prep for Xi-Trump summit - The South China Morning Post reports, unsurprisingly, that “Trump-Xi…