Editor’s note for Tuesday, February 2, 2021

My thoughts today: 

China seems likely to offer nervous support for Myanmar’s military commander “if sanctions bite” says Reuters, noting that “Three weeks before [Senior General Min Aung Hlaing] took power in a coup, he met the Chinese government’s top diplomat in an exchange that pointed to potential support.” 

But the top news in China’s state media today was about the Chinese leader’s attention to International Wetlands Day: “Stories about Xí Jìnpíng’s 习近平 concern for wetlands” (in Chinese, English). 

Our word of the day is wetlands (湿地 shīdì). 

—Jeremy Goldkorn, Editor-in-Chief