Editor’s note for Monday, January 24, 2022

Dear reader:

We’re having a company retreat tomorrow. We won’t publish a newsletter, but we will discuss anything that you email me by 9pm Beijing time on January 25! Just reply to this email to reach my inbox.

Upcoming events:

• January 27: Confetti: A virtual screening and discussion with award-winning director Ann Hu.
• May 19–20: Registration for the 2022 The China Project’s Women’s Conference is now open.
  Day 1 is all online and complimentary — attendees can register and attend from anywhere!
  Day 2 is an in-person event in New York City with limited capacity, so be sure to reserve your ticket early.

Our word of the day is sheer nonsense, or more colorfully, purely made out of thin air (纯属子虚乌有 chún shǔ zǐxūwūyǒu). See today’s Foreign Ministry press conference readout (English, Chinese), or our top story today.

—Jeremy Goldkorn, Editor-in-Chief