Lunar New Year week roundup; Trade talks; Huawei; CGTN America; Xi and a riot shield

Happy Year of the Pig!

This issue is a roundup of some of the big stories in foreign media over the last week. China is effectively shut down until Monday, so starting then the newsletter will be back to normal.

Here are some of those stories:

• The campaign to destroy Huawei's 5G ambitions in the US and its allied countries is intensifying, and looks to be succeeding;

• President Trump announced that he will not meet Xi Jinping before the end of February. That however is not evidence there will not be some kind of a deal, or at least an extension by March 1. USTR head Lighthizer is leading a delegation to Beijing this coming week to continue the talks;

• President Trump also announced that he will hold a second summit with Kim Jong-un in Hanoi, Vietnam from February 27-28. China's annual "two meetings" begin March 3 so scheduling a Trump-Xi meeting before the middle of March could be challenging, especially if Xi convenes the Fourth Plenum between the end of February Politburo meeting and the s…