Editor’s note for Wednesday, September 14, 2022
A note for Access newsletter readers from Jeremy Goldkorn.
My thoughts today:
Xรญ Jรฌnpรญng ไน ่ฟๅนณ has left China for the first time in 970 days. His last trip abroad was to Myanmar, from where he returned on January 18, 2020, to a country that was about to be changed forever by a virus from Wuhan. Today, Xi landed in Nursultan, the capital of Kazakhstan, for a state visit. Tomorrow, he flies to Samarkand, Uzbekistan, for a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, where he will meet Vladimir Putin.
Why now? Is it a display of confidence in his power in the lead-up to the 20th Party Congress, set to begin on October 16, at which he will be granted a third โtermโ as leader? Is it a signal that Chinaโs paranoid COVID-zero policy is going to change? Or does Xi just need to spend some quality time with Putin to renew their strongman bromance?
Our word of the day is Twin Oaks (้ๆฉกๅ shuฤng xiร ng yuรกn), the name of Taiwanโs sprawling 17-acre estate and representative office in Washington, D.C.
โJeremy Goldkorn, Editor-in-Chief
