Sharp China: The Questions Swirling Around the Fourth Plenum; PLA Purges Made Official; The Latest on the Trade War and Nexperia

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Show Notes:

On today’s show Andrew and Bill begin with questions surrounding the Fourth Plenum as it continues in Beijing this week. Topics include: The Party’s messaging on past successes, a timeline for policy announcements in the days and weeks to come, steps the Party may take to address consumption with its next Five-Year Plan, and the full spectrum of possibilities surrounding Xi and his succession plans. From there: Reactions to the news of PLA purges that became official last week, including why some explanatory theories make more sense than others and why the upheaval is not necessarily a positive signal for Taiwan. At the end: More notes on the trade war with the U.S., the plot thickens with Nexperia and the Netherlands, a new website for Andrew’s writing, and an update on Yang Hansen in Portland.

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Related Readings:

Fourth Plenum; PLA cases; US-China; Q3 GDP; US-Australia; Qin Gang -- Sinocism

PLA Daily Editorial: Unswervingly Carry the Anti-Corruption Struggle in the Military Through to the End 解放军报》社论：坚定不移把军队反腐败斗争进行到底-- PLA Daily

Forever Xi Jinping? Perhaps Not -- Sinocism

In China, a Forbidden Question Looms: Who Leads After Xi? -- N.Y. Times

China Ousts Top Military Officials as Xi Widens Graft Purge -- Bloomberg

Bessent, Chinese vice premier to meet to try to defuse US tariff hike -- Reuters

China targets five U.S. subsidiaries of South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean, sending shares down 8% -- CNBC

Dutch seized Nexperia over fears Chinese owners planned to move chip production to China -- SCMP

Nexperia China tells employees to ignore orders from Dutch head office -- SCMP

Apple to Build Tabletop Robot and Home Hub in Vietnam -- Bloomberg

Apple taps China’s BYD to build HomePod with screen, tabletop robot in Vietnam -- SCMP

Did Xi Jinping Just Have a Bad Moment? -- Sharp Text

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