Xi-Biden call aftermath; Xi-Merkel call; Fujian outbreak; Evergrande mess; Real estate

Thanks to everyone who participated in the lively weekly discussion that started last Friday.

It looks like there may be some people in the Biden Administration who were not happy that Biden requested last Thursday’s call with Xi Jinping. Within twenty four hours there were stories that the US is considering a new 301 investigation into the PRC and, in a possible shift that would have a bigger impact on the US-China relationship, that the Biden Administration was considering a request from Taiwan to rename the “Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office” (Tecro) in Washington DC to the “Taiwan Representative Office”.

Xi also tweaked the US not long after the call, which came early in the day for him. Soon after hanging up with Biden he had, at least based on the official PRC readout, a much warmer call with Germany’s Angela Merkel, in what may be their last discussion while she is chancellor.

There was some hopeful commentary that the Biden-Xi call might somehow signal a stabil…