Happy Wednesday…

The propaganda rollout for Xi’s Jiangxi inspection tour has begun, and in addition to some of the themes discussed in yesterday’s newsletter we are also seeing messaging about technological self-reliance. During the tour he also convened a meeting on the development of central China that included the Party secretaries of Shanxi, Anhui, Jiangxi, Henan, Hubei and Hunan, as well as He Lifeng, head of the NDRC.

Huawei’s hell week looks to be getting hotter, as the BBC reports that chip designer ARM is halting all cooperation with Huawei. If true then Huawei could really be hurt.

The "dam has burst", the "shackles are off" are among the phrases I am hearing in DC to describe the US government reaction in the wake of the trade talks collapse, and I am not sure Beijing grasps how quickly the US-China relationship could get much worse.

China does not want a rapid deterioration in the relationship, but I doubt Xi will just pick up the phone to call Trump, as Trump likely wants.…