We must soberly recognize that many factors weakening the Party’s advanced nature and harming its purity still exist; dangers that betray the original aspiration and mission and shake the Party’s foundations are growing unnoticed; the “four major tests” and “four dangers” facing the Party will exist for a long time; the situation in the fight against corruption remains grave and complex; and the task of eradicating the soil and conditions that breed corruption remains arduous and onerous.
必须清醒认识到，弱化党的先进性、损害党的纯洁性的因素大量存在，违背初心和使命、动摇党的根基的危险潜滋暗长，党面临的“四大考验”“四种危险”将长期存在，反腐败斗争形势仍然严峻复杂，铲除腐败滋生土壤和条件任务仍然艰巨繁重。- 10.27 Xinhua commentary
In this issue:
1. Fifth Plenum watch
2. Outrage over Mbappé calling Mao a dictator
3. Stock market keeps tanking
4. PRC population keeps falling
The Feed: Business, Economy and Trade - Politics and Law - Foreign and Defense Affairs - Taiwan - Tech and Media - Society, Arts, Sports, Culture and History - Energy, Environment, Science and Health
Today’s top items:
1. Fifth Plenum watch - There is no news out of the Plenum, just steady waves of propaganda about Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building and “full and rigorous Party self-governance”. This sections includes links to translation of several of those pieces from Tuesday if you really want to dive in. They are clearly building to something, though exactly what is not yet clear.
There is a long front page People’s Daily commentary by Ren Ping (任平), a collective byline of the People’s Daily Commentary Department. The commentary - Red-Tipped Shrubs and Red Apples—Drawing Inspiration from the Zhaojin Spirit, the Long March Spirit, and the Yan’an Spirit to Travel the New Long March Well 红梢林与红苹果——感悟照金精神、长征精神、延安精神，走好新的长征路 - mentions Xi’s father Xi Zhongxun four times in the context of the “Zhaojin Spirit”, which refers to the revolutionary ideals and practices associated with the Communist guerrilla base established around Zhaojin (照金), in present-day Tongchuan, Shaanxi Province, in the early 1930s by Communist revolutionaries including Liu Zhidan (刘志丹), Xie Zichang (谢子长), and Xi Zhongxun (习仲勋).
2. Outrage over Mbappé calling Mao a dictator - French football star Kylian Mbappé (姆巴佩), also famous for Internet memes portraying him as a dictator, found himself in a massive struggle session after a clip of him saying a few months ago that his favorite variant of that meme was the one of him as a “Chinese dictator” was surfaced on PRC social media:
Here is the full video, he is clearly joking around:
He did not mention Mao, but the outrage was immediate and overwhelming, even though PRC media, AI models and netizens could not actually say what he had said to make them so upset. Several PRC brands announced they were terminating their endorsement deals with him, CCTV halted broadcasts of matches involving LaLiga and Mbappé, and social media platforms froze his accounts. He quickly apologized:
LaLiga is in a panic given how much money the league makes from the PRC, perhaps nearly €100 million per season, and they too quickly issued an apology:
The LaLiga president also met with the PRC Ambassador to Spain:
It is not clear how long the anger and punishment will last, but as Daryl Morey and the NBA learned a few years ago, the PRC has the ability to inflict significant pain on global sports leagues and athletes through cancelled endorsement deals and reduced broadcast revenues, and will make you grovel hard over a long time to get back to something approaching where you were before someone said something to hurt the feelings of the Chinese people. And that punishment is collective, as reduced revenue for leagues and teams hits all players, not just the one who hurt the feelings of the Chinese people.
My favorite official post is from Guangming Daily (光明日报):
“Insults to China’s late great leader will not be tolerated! Eating China’s food while smashing China’s cooking pot? Mbappé, you’re unworthy!”
不容侮辱中国已故伟大领袖！吃中国饭，砸中国锅？姆巴佩，不配！
So if there is a “late great leader 已故伟大领袖” does that mean there is also a living “great leader 伟大领袖”?
This AI-generated photo sums up the hysteria over Mbappé’s comment:
Perhaps the relevant organs see this public opinion incident as a useful distraction from the ongoing elevation of the current “great leader” and the tanking of the stock market?
3. Stock market keeps tanking - Mainland stocks suffered another broad selloff Tuesday. The Shanghai Composite fell 1.33% to 3,648.30, its lowest close since August 12, 2025. The Shenzhen Component declined 2.50%, while the STAR 50 closed at 1,252.28, its lowest level since March. The “National Team” may be trying to prop up the market, but whatever they have been doing, it is far from enough.
The leadership needs confidence in the stock market to channel savings into funding “new quality productive forces” and the technology self-reliance goals. Perhaps after the Fifth Plenum and the enshrinement of Xi Thought on Party Building the leadership needs to roll out Xi Thought on the Stock Market? I am kidding, sort of, as a big problem for investors is that politics remain in command and are likely to be even more in command between now and the 21st Party Congress next year. So absent a policy shift of the magnitude of the one in late Q3 2024, brief rallies from policy tweaks and occasional “National Team” buying are more likely to be seen as profit-taking opportunities.