Are you prepared for the New Era of US-China relations?
It sure feels like things may be starting to spiral out of control on many fronts…
The China events I am following today include:
Xi's Heilongjiang tour continues, while the full propaganda rollout and the follow-on exhortations to study his comments have not yet begun;
A key theme of the tour is that the trade war is forcing China back on the road to self-reliance 自力更生;
The State Council released a five-year plan for "rural vitalization";
President Trump is accusing China of meddling in the upcoming US election.
In April in comments about the U.S. smackdown on ZTE I wrote:
While the company may end up crippled, the episode has strategic and propaganda value for Beijing. The timing of the announcement — right before the 2nd anniversary of an important speech on cybersecurity and technology made by Chinese President Xi Jinping — only serves to strengthen the point he's been making about the need to reduce reliance on foreign, and especially American, technologies.
Now that Xi and the CCP syste…