PRC-Ukraine foreign ministers talk; Hong Kong lockdown coming; Taiwan; Real estate

The PRC and Ukraine foreign ministers held a call today. Some reports on this call claim it marks a shift in the PRC’s position. I am not sure it does, any suggestions on exactly what the shift is are appreciated. The Chinese and English texts are in item one.

Wang Yi said “China is deeply grieved to see the conflict between Ukraine and Russia and highly concerned about the damage done to civilians” and that “to address the expanding warfare, the pressing task for now is to alleviate the situation on the ground as much as possible to avoid the escalation of conflicts or even the loss of control. Harms done to civilians and humanitarian crises, in particular, must be prevented”.

Wang unsurprisingly put a lot of emphasis on the safety of the PRC citizens in Ukraine, and “urged Ukraine to assume its due international responsibilities”.

Today’s Essential Eight:

1. Ukraine crisis

2. EU-PRC summit still on

3. Hong Kong lockdown coming

4. Xi talks to young officials, again emphasizes struggle

5. PRC increasingl…