The core is a "magic weapon"; Hong Kong; Tough job market; Indo-Pacific strategy

It has been a week since Xi or any other members of the Politburo Standing Committee have been seen in public reports. Xi has sent several messages and signed at least one order, and Li Keqiang sent comments to a meeting on agriculture, but they have not personally appeared. They also do not appear in the Tuesday, February 15th People’s Daily.

Does anyone anyone remember a week with none of the PBSC members appearing in public that was not the “Beidahe break” in August?

Perhaps they are preparing for the Two Meetings that start in less than a month, perhaps they want to let the focus remain on the Olympics, so it may be nothing. But it seems worth mentioning.

The US released the public version of its “Indo-Pacific Strategy”. It is not the long-awaited China strategy, though China does loom large in it. The strategy looks interesting, though the lack of any real commitment around joining existing or creating new free trade agreements is a glaring weak spot, and one that is impossible to…