Gloom and doom — Editor’s Note for Friday, September 2, 2022

Dear reader,

It’s been quite a week in China:

Beijing announced a date for its autumn Party powwow, at which Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 will affirm his place in the pantheon of Communist gods. Just a few hours later, the world learned of the death of Mikhail Gorbachev, the man Xi blames for the sudden destruction of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

In Geneva, the United Nations released a long-awaited report that says China “may be committing crimes against humanity” in Xinjiang, eliciting a furious response from the Chinese government.

Chengdu, the city of 21.2 million people known for its superb Sichuan cuisine, its gay scene, and its laid-back vibe, has been put into lockdown because of a COVID spike. City officials say it will be only four days, but residents are worried the lockdown could stretch into months, as it did in Shanghai earlier this year.

Across China, an economy hit by heat waves and lockdowns sputters along, and the only animal spirits to be found in the markets are bears.

On the bright side, our website is now found at TheChinaProject.com, and we are rolling out our name change to our email addresses and our social media channels. (All the old URLs should still work.) Things can go wrong during name changes and web address adjustments, so please let me know if you spot anything that isn’t working, or have anything to rant to me about — simply reply to this email to get directly to my personal inbox.

Our phrase of the week is: the first signs of autumn (一叶知秋 yí yè zhī qiū). Game of Thrones fans may prefer to translate it as “winter is here.” The idiom was recently used by a Chinese journalist to describe a leaked memo from Huawei boss Rén Zhèngfēi 任正非, who predicted tough economic times for the world in the coming years.

We’ll be off on Monday for the Labor Day holiday in the U.S., but back in your inbox on Tuesday.