Dear reader,

Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 and his government have been busy. Today, they hosted Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva for a meeting and banquet in Beijing. Lula flew up from Shanghai, where he visited a Huawei research center and called for an end to U.S. dollar hegemony.

The official Chinese readouts (English, Chinese) call Lula an “old friend of the Chinese people”; say the two leaders discussed their countries’ mutual interest in the “development of the global governance system in a more just and reasonable direction”; mention Lula’s visit to Huawei; name-check the Belt and Road; report that various trade and cooperation agreements were signed; and call for peace in Ukraine without mentioning any specifics.

Xi himself had just flown up from Guangdong Province, where he did a whirligig tour (link in Chinese) that included stops at a marine aquaculture project, a village known for lichee farming, a port, a reservoir, and a military base. He gave several speeches that ran through some of his favorite topics, including Chinese-style modernizations, rural upgrades, self-reliance in technology, and fighting and winning wars.

All of this came after the state visit of French President Emmanuel Macron, who received red-carpet treatment in China, but said things about Taiwan — essentially, that it’s not Europe’s business — that are still being criticized by other European leaders, such as Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock who was in Beijing on Thursday.

Our Phrase of the Week is: Kick someone when they are down (墙倒众人推 qiáng dǎo zhòngrén tuī).

Dear reader,

Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 and his government have been busy. Today, they hosted Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva for a meeting and banquet in Beijing. Lula flew up from Shanghai, where he visited a Huawei research center and called for an end to U.S. dollar hegemony.

The official Chinese readouts (English, Chinese) call Lula an “old friend of the Chinese people”; say the two leaders discussed their countries’ mutual interest in the “development of the global governance system in a more just and reasonable direction”; mention Lula’s visit to Huawei; name-check the Belt and Road; report that various trade and cooperation agreements were signed; and call for peace in Ukraine without mentioning any specifics.

Xi himself had just flown up from Guangdong Province, where he did a whirligig tour (link in Chinese) that included stops at a marine aquaculture project, a village known for lichee farming, a port, a reservoir, and a military base. He gave several speeches that ran through some of his favorite topics, including Chinese-style modernizations, rural upgrades, self-reliance in technology, and fighting and winning wars.

All of this came after the state visit of French President Emmanuel Macron, who received red-carpet treatment in China, but said things about Taiwan — essentially, that it’s not Europe’s business — that are still being criticized by other European leaders, such as Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock who was in Beijing on Thursday.

Our Phrase of the Week is: Kick someone when they are down (墙倒众人推 qiáng dǎo zhòngrén tuī).

Dear reader,

Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 and his government have been busy. Today, they hosted Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva for a meeting and banquet in Beijing. Lula flew up from Shanghai, where he visited a Huawei research center and called for an end to U.S. dollar hegemony.

The official Chinese readouts (English, Chinese) call Lula an “old friend of the Chinese people”; say the two leaders discussed their countries’ mutual interest in the “development of the global governance system in a more just and reasonable direction”; mention Lula’s visit to Huawei; name-check the Belt and Road; report that various trade and cooperation agreements were signed; and call for peace in Ukraine without mentioning any specifics.

Xi himself had just flown up from Guangdong Province, where he did a whirligig tour (link in Chinese) that included stops at a marine aquaculture project, a village known for lichee farming, a port, a reservoir, and a military base. He gave several speeches that ran through some of his favorite topics, including Chinese-style modernizations, rural upgrades, self-reliance in technology, and fighting and winning wars.

All of this came after the state visit of French President Emmanuel Macron, who received red-carpet treatment in China, but said things about Taiwan — essentially, that it’s not Europe’s business — that are still being criticized by other European leaders, such as Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock who was in Beijing on Thursday.

Our Phrase of the Week is: Kick someone when they are down (墙倒众人推 qiáng dǎo zhòngrén tuī).