No US midterm relief for China tariffs; Economic Iron Curtain and Hank Paulson's US-China cri de cœur; Xi inspects Shanghai; Wuzhen Internet conference; China has a new anti-ship missile

The Chinese side may once have had a fantasy that the midterm elections would force President Trump to back down but Xi Jinping and his team will be disappointed by the outcome of those elections. There is little to nothing in the results that would lead President Trump to change his approach to prosecuting his trade war with China, and in fact he may see reasons to redouble his efforts. 

Xi Jinping included an inspection tour of Shanghai on his visit to open the import expo. The propaganda rollout of his tour began in earnest Wednesday evening and serves as a reminder of the primacy of the Party, in case anyone had gotten confused amidst all the promises about reform and reassurances to private businesses. 

Today I want to highlight Hank Paulson’s speech at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum. It is an excellent speech, and a cri de cœur from one of America’s most experienced and connected practitioners of US-China relations. Yes I know some of you may think he is part of the problem but h…