US-China meeting; Wang Yi in Europe; US warnings about aid to Russia; US hegemony; Bao Fan

It feels like a momentous week for the world as we approach the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Blinken and Wang Yi met at the Munich Security Conference, but based on the readouts and other reports it was a difficult meeting. Secretary Blinken’s repeated warnings that the US believes that PRC is considering giving Russia “lethal aid” are very disturbing. The US-China relationship is as bad as it has been in decades, and if the PRC does give “lethal aid” to Russia then expect the bottom to fall out.

It is hard to believe just a few weeks ago there was still hope in some quarters for some sort of a positive “reset” in US-China relations. Businesses and investors banking on that should revisit their assumptions.

Wang is off to Moscow, and in Munich he promised China will “publish a position document on the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis”:

The document will reiterate President Xi Jinping's important propositions, including that the sovereignty and territorial…