Recent articles
May 21, 2026
Unified national market; PRC-Russia; Arms sales to Taiwan; Fiscal spending; EU-China; "Dear You 给阿嬷的情书"
In response to a question at a Thursday press conference about the European Commission drafting a new trade instrument to address overcapacity, Ministry of Commerce spokesperson He Yadong says the ...
sinocism.com
May 21, 2026
Sharp China: Constructing US-China Stability; Trump's Taiwan Comments and More Summit Takeaways; Putin in China
Listen now | Show Notes:
On today's show Andrew and Bill parse the messaging from both sides of last week's US-China summit in Beijing. Topics include: What the PRC means by "a constructive relati...
sinocism.com
May 20, 2026
Putin's China visit; More from MOFCOM on US-China outcomes; Action plan for stabilizing employment; Nvidia in China; Safeguarding mineral resources security
Russian President Putin is already on his way back home after meeting with Xi on Wednesday. It appears he did not get the deal he has most coveted, the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline. The two sides di...
sinocism.com
May 19, 2026
Putin arrives in Beijing; US indicts PRC container firms and executives; Developing Party members; Tracking foreigners
The US Department of Justice today announced indictments of seven Chinese executives and four of the world’s largest shipping container manufacturing companies. From the DoJ announcement:
Seven ...
sinocism.com
May 18, 2026
US-China summit outcomes; Constructive relationship of strategic stability; Taiwan; Putin to Beijing; Li and Ding on AI
The entry of the China-US strategic contest into a new phase of strategic stalemate is the second logical premise for our consideration of the correct way for China and the United States to get along.
sinocism.com
May 14, 2026
Trump meets Xi; The new vision of building a constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability; AI
The first day of President Trump’s visit to Beijing had impressive optics and lots of warm, positive energy, at least in the public reporting. Specific, agreed upon deliverables are few, but we may...
sinocism.com
May 13, 2026
Trump arrives in Beijing; Xi's busy Tuesday; Fair competition and unified markets; Action plan for AI and Energy
US President has arrived in Beijing.
sinocism.com
May 13, 2026
Sharp China: 10 Questions and Modest Expectations With Trump in China to Meet Xi Jinping
This episode of Sharp China is outside the paywall.
sinocism.com
May 11, 2026
Trump China visit; China’s Next Generation Industrial Policy; Standardizing and developing AI agents; No more deflation?; Ding Xuexiang visits Huawei
The PRC confirmed that President Trump will meet with Xi this week. He will arrive May 13 and depart after lunch Friday. According to the PRC, “Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donal...
sinocism.com
May 7, 2026
Suspended death sentences for two former defense ministers; Trump's China trip; Iran war; Beijing Auto Show; Nukes
Low expectations but big business entourage for Trump’s China trip - Semafor confirmed the rumors that many CEOs will join Trump on his trip to Beijing next week. A bipartisan group of US Senators ...
sinocism.com
May 6, 2026
Iran FM in China; Trump China visit next week; EU losing patience?; DeepSeek; Xi on basic research; MU5735 crash investigation
All signs point to Trump traveling Beijing next week to meet Xi. Late last week Wang Yi and Marco Rubio had a call, as did He Lifeng and Scott Bessent and Jamieson Greer. The PRC readout of the Wan...
sinocism.com
April 30, 2026
Sharp China: Beijing Kills Meta’s Manus Deal; April Politburo Takeaways; Foreign Forces Afflicting the Youth; US Countermeasures Mounting
Listen now | Show Notes:
On today’s show Andrew and Bill begin with the news that the Meta-Manus deal will likely be unwound in its entirety in the wake of a ruling from the NDRC on Monday. Topics...
sinocism.com
April 29, 2026
Politburo study session; Australian FM in Beijing; More on the Manus mess and AI; Chongqing corruption
Caixin has a long story titled “Prominent Female Lawyer Goes Missing: The Intersection Point of Chongqing’s Anti-Corruption Storm”. It is only available in the original Chinese - 知名女律师失联 重庆反腐风暴的交织点...
sinocism.com
April 28, 2026
April Politburo meeting; Manus mess; Hostile foreign forces encouraging "lying flat"; New US semiconductor restrictions?
The Wall Street Journal reports that Meta is planning to comply with the order to undo the Manus acquisition. Maybe they are happy to get a mulligan for hasty, overpriced acquisition of a company w...
sinocism.com
April 27, 2026
Managing new employment groups; NDRC wants Manus deal unwound; US-China AI discussion; Alleged MSS hacker extradited to US
Meta generates well over $10B USD a year in revenue selling ads to PRC firms for marketing globally ex-China, and while those firms buy those ads because they work and drive sales, and the PRC gove...
sinocism.com
April 23, 2026
Evaluation and Assessment Measures for Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality; Crackdown on Cambodian scam centers?; AI distillation; US as a "predatory hegemon"; PLA Navy turns 77
On Thursday the government publicly released the “Comprehensive Evaluation and Assessment Measures for Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality 碳达峰碳中和综合评价考核办法”, approved by the Politburo Standing Commi...
sinocism.com
April 23, 2026
Xi Wants the Strait of Hormuz Reopened; Cakes and An E-Commerce Crackdown; The Next Stage of Decoupling; The MATCH Act in Congress
Listen now | Show Notes: On today's show Andrew and Bill return to discuss the PRC's posture amidst the ongoing war in Iran. Topics include: Xi's call to re-open the Strait of Hormuz, an interdicte...
sinocism.com
April 22, 2026
Earth Day document on "Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction Work"; Reactions to Takaichi's Yasukuni Shrine offering; BHP's deal with CMRG; MATCH Act
On Wednesday, Earth Day, the General Offices of the CCP Central Committee and State Council released a new energy conservation and carbon reduction guideline. I have posted a full translation of “O...
sinocism.com
April 21, 2026
More foreign visitors meet Xi; Service sector boost; Countering improper foreign conduct; Youth unemployment; AI chip shortage; More pressure on AI "China-shedding"
Caixin reports that AI chip shortages have forced leading AI firms to ration services. The big firms in the US seem to all have compute shortages as well, but it sounds like it is more acute in Chi...
sinocism.com
April 20, 2026
Xi wants Strait of Hormuz opened; NDRC head on security and development; Cake order leads to huge fines; Solar industry involution persists; Manus deal
In a call Monday with the Saudi Crown Prince, Xi, according to the PRC readout said:
China calls for an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire, supports all efforts conducive to restoring peace, an...
sinocism.com
April 16, 2026
Iran war; Q1 GDP growth; Qiushi; Foot and mouth disease
There is an outbreak of foot and mouth disease and so far it has officially appeared in two places, 2400 kilometers apart. The Dim Sums blog, which has long covered rural and agricultural affairs, ...
sinocism.com
April 15, 2026
Xi meets To Lam and Lavrov; Wang Yi calls for "restoring normal passage” through the Strait of Hormuz; Investment approval; Nvidia CEO on selling chips to China
Wang Yi had another call with his Iranian counterpart and called for “restoring normal passage” through the Strait of Hormuz. According to the readout Wang told Araghchi that “The sovereign securit...
sinocism.com
April 14, 2026
Xi’s four point proposal on safeguarding and promoting peace and stability in the Middle East; Xi meets Spanish PM; People's Leader Xi
The Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Tuesday promised “resolute countermeasures” if the Trump Administration added new tariffs on China for “military product exports”. It is not clear if the recent...
sinocism.com
April 14, 2026
The People’s Leader 人民领袖 signal, restarted?
Three years after “people’s leader” was quietly cooled, the term is back across the provincial Party press — and in People’s Daily
sinocism.com
April 13, 2026
Iran war; US-China; Xi meets KMT chair; Li on the economy; Countering unlawful extraterritorial jurisdiction measures
Premier Li signed a decree of the State Council to publish a new set of rules on countering foreign states’ unlawful extraterritorial jurisdiction measures. These new regulations on countering fore...
sinocism.com
April 9, 2026
No newsletter today
Apologies but need to take a personal day.
sinocism.com
April 9, 2026
Sharp China: A Ceasefire and Reports of PRC Pressure; Another Politburo Investigation; Mythos, DeepSeek, and a Token Crunch
Show Notes:
sinocism.com
April 8, 2026
Iran war; PLA rectification; Services Sector Conference; Mutating troll armies; AI token usage
There appears to be a ceasefire in the war, though already there have been violations. According to President Trump. China played a role in convincing Iran to agree to the cease fire, though so far...
sinocism.com
April 7, 2026
Iran war; Ma Xingrui; Industrial and Supply Chain Security; PLA political rectification; MSS warns about foreign dinner guests
- China and Russia vetoed a watered-down United Nations Security Council resolution put forward by Bahrain to encourage countries to work together to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. PRC ambassador to ...
sinocism.com
April 2, 2026
Wang Yi works the phones about Iran war; CICIR head on national security; Pig overcapacity; Wemby's time at Shaolin; Balanced trade
Wang Yi has been very busy working the phones about the Iran crisis over the last 24 hours, holding calls with the German, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain Foreign Ministers and the EU’s High Representativ...
sinocism.com