Editor’s Note for Thursday, July 21, 2022

My thoughts today:

China will eventually use force to take Taiwan, said CIA Director Bill Burns at the Aspen Security Forum, but suggested that was some time away, as Beijing has learned from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that “you don’t achieve quick, decisive victories with underwhelming force.”

Speaking at the same event, China’s ambassador to the U.S., Qín Gāng 秦刚, said that growing U.S. support for Taiwan was becoming a serious problem, and justified Beijing’s policies in Xinjiang and Hong Kong by quoting Lincoln’s line “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Qin also downplayed China’s relationship with Russia, although he did not take a stand on that country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Our words of the day are unfinished building (烂尾楼 lànwěi lóu) and stop paying the mortgage (停贷 tíng dài, literally, “stop loan”). See today’s top story for details.

Xí Jìnpíng 习近平, and the source and limitation of his power, is the subject of the latest episode of ChinaEDGE Live with Lizzi Lee, in which she interviews Kerry Brown, a professor of Chinese Studies at King’s College, London, and the author of Xi: A Study in Power.