The world is talking again — Editor’s Note for Friday, November 18, 2022

Dear reader,

It’s been quite a week of global meetings and geopolitical speculation. These are the major China stories you need to know about:

China and the Anglosphere mended a few fences at G20: Softer words were exchanged between Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 and the leaders of Australia and the U.S. Meanwhile, Britain’s new prime minister has also softened his rhetoric on China.

Xi and Premier Lǐ Kèqiáng 李克强 condemned Putin’s nuclear threats: The Russian president was not mentioned by name, but Beijing edged away from Moscow at the G20 summit, leaving Russia increasingly isolated.

Xi and Indonesian President Joko Widodo met after the G20 summit, and agreed to strengthen the China-Indonesia ‘strategic partnership.’

Xi and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak canceled a planned meeting after the Poland missile incident, and Xi scolded Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau.

For locals, a China-funded port in Pakistan brings fears of being erased: The Gwadar seaport was supposed to develop the local economy, connect Pakistan to the world, and give China access to the Indian Ocean. So why aren’t locals happy with it?

Finally, here is a recap of what went down at our NEXTChina Conference last week.

Our phrase of the week is:

Every year, people come and go, but everything else stays the same

年年岁岁花相似，岁岁年年人不同

niánnián suìsuì huā xiāngsì, suìsuì niánnián rén bùtóng