Deng 120th commemoration; Semiconductor equipment imports; Taiwan officials in the US; Li in Russia and Belarus

Summary of today’s top items:

1. Commemoration for 120th anniversary of Deng Xiaoping’s birth - As expected the Party held a commemoration for the 120th anniversary of Deng Xiaoping's birth. Xi gave a speech, Cai Qi presided, and all the Standing Committee members except Li Qiang, who is on a visit to Russia and Belarus, attended. Members of the Deng, Mao and Xi families attended as well, and there may have been representatives of other big red families in attendance but I did not recognize them in the video. This kind of commemoration is Party ritual, and there does not appear deviation from the official line on Deng, and of course Xi, and Cai Qi, used the event to praise Deng and then link him to Xi and the Party's current, correct, policies.

2. Record imports of semiconductor equipment - PRC firms are stockpiling chipmaking equipment and supplies ahead of possible new US restrictions, and ASML and Japanese and South Korea firms are happy to stuff as much as they can into the China c…