Xi skips BRICS Business Forum; Fukushima waste water; Philippines resupplies grounded ship; Arm IPO; Raimondo trip
Summary of today’s Essential Eight:
Xi skips BRICS Business Forum - Xi arrived in South Africa. He looked OK upon arrival and descending the stairs at the airport and in his meetings with Ramaphosa, but he skipped the BRICS Business Forum he was supposed to attend, sending Commerce Minister Wang Wentao in his place to read his speech. We have no idea why Xi changed his plans. I wrote in the Monday newsletter that “official media have reported on Xi’s activities and utterances since the end of the Beidaihe break, but so far there have been no videos or photos of him since early August, which seems a bit strange”, and this last minute decision to skip the business forum looks even stranger. So in the absence of any useful information from the PRC system rumors will fly, and we are left with examine the videos to see if he looks sick. Back to the future, sadly.
Xi meets with South Africa’s President - Xi met with President Ramaphosa, received the Order of South Africa and the two countrie…