Xi again stresses self-reliance; Xinhua slams US charges of election interference; US INF withdrawal about China? ; Slow, steady and smoggy stimuli; American scientific fraud may hit China hard

Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony of the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge. It is a very impressive engineering accomplishment that may never pay for itself economically but will likely make significant symbolic and substantive contributions to the further binding of Hong Kong to the Motherland. 

At another stop on his Southern trip Xi seemed to take a bridge back to the past, once again emphasizing the need for self-reliance (自力更生) and the control of core technologies. Self-reliance is a theme that Xi is increasingly stressing, and it was one of the core themes of his Northeast inspection tour the last week of September. Per the September 27 China Daily report "Xi stresses nation's self-reliance":

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said during a field inspection to Heilongjiang province that unilateralism and trade protectionism are forcing China to take a path of self-reliance, which, he said, “is not a bad thing”.

It is becoming increasing…