Editor’s note for Wednesday, January 27, 2021

My thoughts today: 

The anti-corruption campaign started by Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 in late 2012 is still going strong, and its next target may be the financial sector. Last week Xi told the annual conference of the anti-corruption watchdog the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) that corruption is still “the biggest risk threatening the party’s governance.” 

He also called on regulators to tighten oversight of the financial sector — we can expect the Ant Group and other fintech companies to be sweating for many months to come. 

The Winter Games 2022 don’t sound like they’ll be much fun: Potential boycotts and other problems are likely to put a damper on Beijing’s second Olympics. 

Despite “the veneer of normality that the pageantry of Beijing 2022 will provide, the Games will take place under an oppressive security blanket in a time of unprecedented crisis” writes Howie Snyder, who has worked on security and other aspects of several previous Olympic events. 

But perhaps the Olympic Games are simply not what they were. Snyder notes: 

The IOC’s brand has been damaged. Future Games, starting with Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028, will present host cities and countries with security nightmares, gentrification issues, calls for social justice and lackadaisical popular support.

Our word of the day is India permanently bans 59 Chinese mobile apps (印度永久封禁59款中国手机应用APP yìndù yǒngjiǔ fēngjìn wǔshíjiǔ kuǎn zhōngguó shǒ jī yìngyòng A-P-P).

—Jeremy Goldkorn, Editor-in-Chief