Just another manic Monday..apologies for the later than usual publication, sometimes life intervenes.

The Essential Eight

1. Cybersecurity and Informatization Work Conference

This was likely planned long before the ZTE sanctions news, but it is certainly timely. Indigenous development of core technologies was again on the list of top priorities, but much of the focus remains on controlling the Internet. Expect censorship and crackdowns to only intensify. 

Xi and his team of cybercrats look smart and prescient, not only about the risks from not controlling core technologies but also about controlling the flow of information online, given what has happened with social media in the US and Europe. Good luck to those who still want to argue to PRC officials that they need greater cyber-openness to succeed. Right now Xi and his team believe the opposite is the case, and can easily point to reams of evidence supporting that conclusion. 

Xi outlines blueprint to develop China's strength in cybersp…