Recent articles
February 13, 2026
DeepSeek distilling Open AI?; Japan seizes PRC fishing boat; US-China; CIA video targets PLA; Spring Festival Internet cleanup
Bloomberg reports that OpenAI has sent a memo to the House Select Committee on China accusing DeepSeek of surreptitiously distilling OpenAI models to “free-ride on the capabilities developed by Ope...
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February 12, 2026
Sharp China: Pending Taiwan Arms Sales; Jimmy Lai Sentenced; Takaichi Secures a Supermajority; AI Models as Propaganda Vectors
On today’s show Andrew and Bill begin with the reports that the PRC is threatening to scuttle Trump’s visit to Beijing over a second arms package from the U.S. to Taiwan, including thoughts on next...
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February 11, 2026
Xi wishes the troops a happy New Year; State Council study session on “AI+”; Another Hong Kong conviction; January price data
The comments in the brief readout that are getting the most attention are:
Xi pointed out that the past year was very unusual and extraordinary. The People’s Army deepened its political rectific...
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February 11, 2026
Xi's Beijing inspection; Li on rare earths; Hong Kong white paper; Taiwan Affairs Work Conference; PBoC report
Wang Huning stated that it is necessary to adhere to the one-China principle and the “1992 Consensus,” unite the vast number of Taiwan compatriots, firmly support patriotic reunification forces on ...
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February 10, 2026
Jimmy Lai sentenced; Xi on Sci-tech self-reliance; Japan elections; US-China; Nanjing Museum case; AI propaganda
A Hong Kong court sentenced UK citizen Jimmy Lai to 20 years in prison. Six other Apple Daily staffers got sentences ranging from 6 years and 9 months to 10 months. Two activists were also sentence...
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February 8, 2026
PLA Tremors and the Chairman in Charge
A guest post by Holly Snape on the Chairman Responsibility System - On the same day the news hit that Central Military Commission (CMC) Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia and member Liu Zhenli had been pla...
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February 5, 2026
Panama going into the penalty box; Cuban Foreign Minister in Beijing; Ma Xingrui, TCM 5-year plan; "Smartphones on wheels"
The PRC is opening its economic coercion toolbox to punish Panama for the court decision to expropriate the two CK Hutchison port facilities. Bloomberg broke the story:
China is asking state fir...
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February 5, 2026
Sharp China: The PLA Purges One Week Later; World Leaders Flock to Beijing; A Trump-Xi Phone Call; Panama Canal Resolution?
This episode of Sharp China is outside the paywall.
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February 5, 2026
Xi speaks with Putin and then Trump; Us convenes critical minerals meeting; H200 sales in limbo; Document No.1 explained
Xi Jinping had a busy Wednesday, holding a video call with Russian President Putin, a phone call with US President Trump, and a meeting with Le Hoai Trung, Vietnam’s foreign minister and a special ...
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February 3, 2026
Uruguay President in China; Document No. 1; Development of future industries; Building a financial power; Fighting deflation; Zhang Youxia; 2026 GDP
Since the January 25 PLA Daily editorial on the Zhang Youxia-Liu Zhenli case, there have been three follow-on commentaries in the PLA Daily about the case, but we still have no reliable information...
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February 3, 2026
LIVE with Bill Bishop: The world order is shifting — and China is moving fast to shape it.
A recording from Bill Bishop and Tara Palmeri's live video
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January 30, 2026
Xi meets Starmer; Services consumption work plan; Soccer corruption; Nvidia and China
Xi met with United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Beijing Thursday. Starmer is now the second NATO and Five Eyes leader to meet with Xi in less than two weeks. So far Starmer has not made a...
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January 29, 2026
Sharp China: 10 Questions on the Detention of Zhang Youxia, Corruption in the PLA, Rumors, Messaging, and Taiwan
On today’s show Andrew and Bill react to the news that the rumors were true, and CMC members Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli are under investigation for corruption. Topics include: The timing of the an...
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January 29, 2026
The Zhang Youxia case - Sinocism Live with Bill Bishop and Drew Thompson
We had a great discussion about his personal experience shepherding Zhang Youxia around the US many years ago, his work on US-China military-to-military relations, and the disappearance in 2023 of ...
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January 28, 2026
Xi meets in Finnish PM; UK PM arrives in Beijing, Zhang Youxia; Xinhua on ICE; School of Interstellar Navigation; H200 sales
Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli - There is nothing more in official media about the case, and otherwise it seems like business as usual. We are all left to speculate about what happened and what it mea...
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January 27, 2026
Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli case; National Conference on Science and Technology; Slow bull market; UK PM to China; US NDS
We still have no more concrete information than we had Saturday about the Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli case. The Wall Street Journal reports that in the official internal briefing he was accused of ...
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January 25, 2026
PLA purges intensify: Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli under investigation
The rumors were true. Zhang Youxia, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, and Liu Zhenli, member of the Central Military ...
sinocism.com
January 23, 2026
Xinhua interview with PBoC chief; Venezuelan oil for the PRC; Guangming Daily reporter detained in Prague
Another slow day, honestly things feel a bit weird, maybe because the rumors about Zhang Youxia I discussed on Tuesday have gotten stronger.
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January 22, 2026
Sharp China: Canada and the New World Order; Second Order Questions for the US and EU; More Big Names Purged from the PLA?
Listen now | Show Notes:
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January 22, 2026
“Involution-style” competition; Q&A with the Minister of Housing; UK-China "Golden Age" 2.0?; Qiushi on US NSS; Renewed crackdown on tutoring?
For China, this strategic adjustment is actually a passive correction following the frustration of U.S. comprehensive containment against China; it is a smoke screen released to retreat in order to...
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January 20, 2026
Meeting for senior officials on Fourth Plenum spirit; More PLA purges?; He Lifeng at Davos; Officials talk up fiscal and financial “stimulus”
Central Military Commission (CMC) vice chair Zhang Youxia and CMC member Liu Zhenli appear to have been absent from today’s opening of that study session. CMC vice chair Zhang Shengmin attended and...
sinocism.com
January 20, 2026
2025 GDP growth on target; Births keep declining; China-Canada new strategic partnership; Davos; Premier Li meets MiniMax CEO
NATO has lost the meaning of its existence, and this transatlantic security alliance no longer serves the long-term interests of its member states 北约已失去其存在的意义，这个跨大西洋安全联盟不再符合其成员国的长远利益 - Ambassador C...
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January 16, 2026
Canadian PM in Beijing; RMB and interest rates; Security and Development; US gamblers and players fixed CBA games; H200s
Prime Minister Carney met Thursday with Premier Li and the head of the NPC Zhao Leji. He is scheduled to meet Xi Friday morning. While no major breakthrough deals were announced, Carney’s comments ...
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January 15, 2026
Sharp China: What’s at Stake for China in Iran; Canada's PM in Beijing; Notes on Chips, Apps, and Drones
Listen now | Show Notes: On today's show Andrew and Bill begin with the instability in Iran, including thoughts on Trump's Truth Social post threatening 25% tariffs on Iran trade partners, why that...
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January 15, 2026
CCDI Plenum Communique; Canadian PM in Beijing; 2025 trade data; H200s and US semiconductor 232 investigation
Political discipline and fully implementing the decisions of the Party Center are especially important in the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan, and the year in which personnel shifts ahead of ...
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January 13, 2026
CCDI; H200s; US-China; Zhong Caiwen; Short newsletter today
We are still waiting for the communique from the CCDI Plenum, and there is no clarification yet as to whether or not President Trump’s post yesterday threatening “any country doing business with th...
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January 13, 2026
CCDI Plenum opens; Rare earths exports to Japan get rarer; EU-China EV progress; Canadian PM’s visit to China
President Trump announced Monday afternoon that “"Effective immediately, any Country doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran will pay a Tariff of 25% on any and all business being done wit...
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January 8, 2026
China playing rare earths card against Japan again; H200s; Scam tycoon Chen Zhi sent back to China; Liu Haixing
Cambodia sent scam king Chen Zhi, chairman of the Prince Group, back to China. The US indicted Chen in October and announced it had seized nearly $15 Billion in Bitcoin from him. Chen is originally...
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January 8, 2026
Sharp China: China’s Venezuela Calculations; Japan’s Rare Earth Access; A Reported Pause on Nvidia Purchases; The Meta-Manus Deal Under Review
This episode of Sharp China is outside the paywall.
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January 8, 2026
Another day, another economic weapon aimed at Japan; “AI + Manufacturing”; H200 concerns; Manus; Platform rules
In response to the US bullying acts, we launched a “combination punch” of 5 rounds of tariff and non-tariff countermeasures, forcing the US to take the initiative to propose negotiations with us.
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