Editor’s Note for Tuesday, December 6, 2022

My thoughts today:

I am moderating a discussion for our sister organization, Serica, tomorrow, December 7: After the Biden-Xi handshake: Is U.S.-China climate collaboration about to heat back up? I am not optimistic, but the guests I will talk to may have sunnier views.

“This is the capital of China and the conditions are like this. There’s no toilet paper.” That’s the complaint of one inmate at a quarantine facility just outside Beijing, according to this Q&A with a British citizen who is also stuck inside the makeshift COVID camp. As the piece notes, “frustrated Beijingers [are now] willing to shout to have their voices heard.”

There has been a mood shift in China over the last few weeks: It seems that more and more people are deciding that complaining — dare one say protesting? — can actually get results.

(The Q&A linked above is by former Beijing resident and Caixin editor Noelle Mateer, and appears in, of all places, the Pittsburgh Union Progress, which is being “published by striking workers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.”)

Our word of the day is Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques (两圣地忠仆 liǎng shèngdì zhōng pū), one of the titles of the current king of Saudi Arabia, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

The king’s son Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud (MBS) is the crown prince and prime minister of Saudi Arabia.