Outbreak in Beijing; Xi's Marxist birthday gift; Pompeo and Yang Jiechi to meet?; Sun Tzu

Beijing is in the grips of a new outbreak of COVID-19, with several dozen cases linked to the main food wholesale market in the city. Parts of the city are back on a “wartime footing”, several local officials have lost their jobs, and the source of the new infections is still unknown.

Some people are blaming imported salmon for bringing the virus into the city, if not also into Wuhan last year. That seems unlikely, but certainly conveniently fits the narrative that the virus didn’t originate in China.

The removal of the local Beijing officials responsible for the areas of the initial outbreak signals to officials everywhere to not relax in their anti-virus work. That can’t be great for reopening the economy, but neither can a new outbreak. Expect that the Beijing infections will halt most travel to and from Beijing as other regions require anyone who has been in Beijing recently to self-quarantine for at least 14 days. One friend based in Shanghai recently returned from a trip to Beiji…