Editor’s note for Tuesday, February 16, 2021

My thoughts today: 

Aside from the fresh news in this email, here are two zeitgeist pieces worth reading:

• The great expulsion in The Wire China by Katrina Northrop: “The door is closing on what some have called the golden age of reporting on China — and the whole world will be forced to deal with the consequences.”
• What Sun Dawu’s prosecution says about China by Li Yuan in the New York Times: “A rural businessman, Sūn Dàwǔ 孙大午, angered Beijing twice. His fate the second time around could augur the future of the world’s other superpower.”

Today is the Day of the God of Wealth (財神日 cáishén rì), the more colorful name for the fifth day of the Lunar New Year (初五 chū wǔ). Those are our words of the day. 

Upcoming events: 

• February 17: The future of U.S.-China commercial relations
• February 18: Live read-through of The Adept martial arts comic and panel discussion  

—Jeremy Goldkorn, Editor-in-Chief