Death sentence for a Canadian; Another vaccine scandal; CCDI plenum; More bad data

Hi everyone, apologies the newsletter is arriving a bit later than usual. We got about a foot of snow here at Sinocism HQ and so the kids are out of school and I had to spend a good chunk of the morning shoveling while the snow was still light and fluffy…

Some of the things I am watching today:

• As expected, the Chinese re-sentenced Canadian Robert Schellenberg to death for drug trafficking;

• The latest trade data are out and both imports and exports disappointed. Clearly the economy is struggling but the data over the next two months probably will not give a great picture as the Lunar Year is February 5, the holiday starts imminently for many, and so March will likely be the next month with relatively useful data;

• The CCDI plenum concluded with no announcement of new investigations, in spite of the speculation given the recent focus on Shaanxi misdeeds. I will wager something big is coming though;

• There is another expired vaccine scandal and the video of the enraged parents taking to the s…