6th Plenum and praise for Xi; Outbreak, Guan Yi on Covid; US-China; Esports

The 6th Plenum opened today. Party media is as you would expect full of fulsome praise for Xi. From some of the items I have read, including some of the ones included in item #1 below, I would not be surprised if we have a more formal truncation to Xi Jinping Thought by the end of the week.

I discussed the 6th Plenum in the Sinocism podcast with Chris Johnson. You can listen to it here.

This excerpt from our conversation helps frame why this Plenum and the forthcoming historical resolution are so important:

it's important for several reasons. The first I think is that, it would represent, I think the net evolution in what I call Xi Jinping's further development of his leadership supremacy. And, I use those terms very deliberately because often times, the shorthand we see in describing this as references to Xi's consolidation of power. Well, in my mind that took place very early on in his tenure.

I think, he's been there for a good long while. And so, this is just about further articulati…