Editor’s note for Thursday, March 11, 2021

My thoughts today:

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is to meet his Chinese counterpart Wáng Yì 王毅 in Anchorage, Alaska, on March 18, according to official statements from both the U.S. and China.

Expectations for the meeting are low. “This is not a strategic dialogue,” said Blinken, who instead called it ”an important opportunity for us to lay out in very frank terms the many concerns we have.” In its announcement of the meeting, the Chinese foreign ministry urged the U.S. to “abandon the Cold War and zero-sum mentality,” and “stop interfering in China’s internal affairs.”

News of the two Canadians detained in apparent retaliation for the arrest of Huawei’s Mèng Wǎnzhōu 孟晚舟: Nationalist rag Global Times has an “exclusive” story that says “Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who were prosecuted by the procuratorates in China for suspected crimes undermining China’s national security in June 2020, will soon be tried.”

Respected China watcher Bill Bishop commented: “Interesting timing to leak this, right before the U.S.-China meeting next week. Convicting and then eventually expelling them, perhaps as part of a deal for Meng Wanzhou?”

Our word of the day is candidate qualification review committee (候选人资格审查委员会 hòuxuǎnrén zīgé shěnchá wěiyuánhuì), a new body that will ensure future Hong Kong politicians are sufficiently loyal to Beijing.

—Jeremy Goldkorn, Editor-in-Chief