Huawei and trade talks; Hong Kong; Trump hears about Xinjiang; Local governments need revenue

The news flow today about the state of US-China trade talks still gives little reason to think a deal is coming any time soon, though there is always a chance for a surprise in either direction. President Trump could cave on Huawei, he could also just as plausibly decide to move forward with additional tariffs, though not necessarily on the full remaining amount of imports from China that are not yet subject to tariffs, and not at a rate of 25%. I do not know, and I am not sure anyone else in DC does either.

On Thursday President Trump met with Jewher Ilham, the daughter of imprisoned Uygur scholar Ilham Tohti. According to the South China Morning Post report on the meeting (see item 4), Trump did not seem to know much about the Xinjiang camps and asked “where in China the camps were located.”

Magnitsky Act sanctions against PRC officials over Xinjiang have been held back, but Beijing should worry that Trump might decide to go forward if he thinks they have backed away from trade talks…