EU and China; Two meetings almost done; Xi's strength

The CPPCC has now concluded and the NPC will end Friday with the Premier’s press conference show. As I wrote yesterday this year’s Two Meetings are fairly drama-free, but the South China Morning Post says there is a “noticeable increase of dissenting voices:

A noticeable increase of dissenting voices – although still mild by nature – at this year’s parliamentary sessions is therefore interesting, even though President Xi Jinping faces no real challenge to his power.

Most of these voices are heard in relation to China’s foreign policy, with the country locked in a costly trade war with the United States and facing setbacks in its attempts to spread its influence around the world.

I am not sure there is actually a numerical increase in “dissenting voices”, and the Two Meetings are after all the most public annual demonstration of the PRC’s “consultative democracy”, but the key point is that Xi does not appear to face any challenge to his power.

The next big political meeting on the PRC pol…