What Xi’s Europe Tour Says About the CCP’s Goals and Woes
Xi Jinping cannot be said to have returned a “winner” from his trip to Europe given the lack of substantive diplomatic agreements and the continued impasse over the West’s concerns with the PRC’s export of excess capacity and support of Russia.
Geopolitics
Politics Watch: Xi’s Delivery of Trade Commitments Hinges on the CCP Factional Struggle
◎ Xi faces very high levels of political risk in the next 90 days.
Geopolitics Watch: Did Trump or Xi Win at the G20?
◎ Xi was likely seeking a pause going into the G20. The concessions which he made to gain the pause suggests a “pyrrhic victory.”
In the New China-US Cold War, Will Xi or Trump Blink First?
◎ Pence’s message to Beijing was firm and clear: “The United States … will not change course until China changes its ways.”
Geopolitics Watch: The CCP Turns to the Red Matrix in Full Court Press Against Trump
◎ Using the Red Matrix aggressively is a double-edged sword for the CCP when the U.S. is on high-alert for CCP influence and interference operations.
Geopolitics Watch: Trump-Xi Meeting at G20 Won’t Curb US Pressure
◎ Xi Jinping and Donald Trump likely find it to be in their interest to hold a summit at the G20 meeting in Buenos Aires.
Geopolitics Watch: Did the CCP’s ‘Gamble’ on the US Midterm Election Pay Off?
◎ The midterm results should have little effect on influencing the Sino-U.S. trade war.
Geopolitics Watch: What Xi and Wang’s Speeches Mean for the Trade War
◎ Xi may be planning to make concessions on trade, but the CCP system may not let him give up too much.
Trump’s Tough-love Policy for China
◎ Trump’s increasingly hard-nosed policies can steer China away from a course that is leading inevitably to outright conflict with the West.
The CCP Fourth Plenum and Geopolitics
◎ The plenary session after the Two Sessions in the year after a Party Congress typically focuses on the economy.