Reform Scorecard, North Korea, Propaganda Teams, Party Everywhere But Not A Fun One, Zuckerberg And Xi--Sinocism-11.02.17

Happy Thursday, apologies that the newsletter is a few hours later than normal, was stuck in meetings this AM. Readers who follow me on Twitter knew it would come out around noon. I usually get up at 4 AM and my goal is to get it into your inboxes before 8AM EST, but consider that a goal rather than a hard promise...some days 4 AM feels really early.

President Trump's Asia tour begins Friday, and he arrives in Beijing next Wednesday. I am working on getting better insight into what we should expect but so far details are thin. As I have noted in the last couple of newsletters Xi looks to be working on something North Korea-related ahead of Trump's visit to display his global statesman and "peacemaking" prowess.

Thanks for reading.

The Essential Eight

1. Does Xi Have A Korean Surprise Waiting For President Trump?

Comment: The headline is misleading in calling it a "blink". It is a smart correction of a mistaken policy, that will likely reduce Trump’s multilateral DPRK options and leverage a…