Military reform; Frustrated EU businesses; UN; Drought

Summary of the Essential Eight:

1. PLA reform - The CMC held a seminar of the reform on national defense and the armed forces. From the CCTV report it does not look like Xi appeared at this meeting (in quarantine?) but rather issued an instruction that was read out. PLA reform is one of the major successes of Xi's ten years in power. He was able to push through reforms that his predecessors could not, and the corruption crackdown he launched has removed not only officers whose loyalty may have been in doubt but also some shockingly corrupt ones. Ten years on the PLA looks much more professional, much more capable, much less penetrated by foreign intelligence services, and much less susceptible to egregious corruption like buying and selling promotions. While some in the military may be unhappy about the changes under Xi, especially since the 2014 Gutian meeting, plenty of others are very happy with Xi's leadership.

2. Caixin on the Henan bank scandal - Is the man behind the collapse of the ru…