Chinese-Australian writer Yang Hengjun detained, China at Davos; BRI; Xi's Beijing

Sorry the newsletter is a bit on the late side but the China-related news is just increasingly depressing:

• The security services have detained Chinese-Australian writer Yang Hengjun on a visit back to China. We do not know why, it could be related to Australian policies towards Huawei for example, it could also be a case of the authorities long wanting him due to his overseas writings and this was a seizure of opportunity as he visited China for the first time in a while. Regardless, it only heightens the feeling that visiting China is unsafe and that the security services may increasingly be going after people for what they say outside of China;

• The official statements around the Meng Wanzhou case and the recent letter to Xi Jinping are increasingly shrill and nasty;

• Wang Qishan and the PRC delegation to Davos are trying to spread positive energy to the global elite but the detentions and denunciations are making it hard. Either the PRC government is uncoordinated or they just do not ca…