A quick note on the historically loaded term “don’t say I didn’t warn you 勿谓言之不预也 (wu4 wei4 yan2 zhi1 bu4 yu4 ye3)” used in the Wednesday People’s Daily piece that got so much attention about rare earths. Thanks to several readers for their comments and prompts to dig deeper.

The phrase has actually appeared 30 times in People’s Daily since 1946 including yesterday, according to Zhihu (人民日报纸媒“勿谓言之不预”出现次数最完整统计（截止2018年4月9日). The times it was used before the attacks on India and Vietnam it was labeled a 社论 (She4 Lun4 editorial), the most authoritative statement you will see in the People’s Daily.

Wednesday’s piece was not labeled a 社论 (editorial) but rather signed by 五月荷 (Wu3 Yue4 He2), which is clearly a pseudonym. There appear to be only three 五月荷 People’s Daily articles, all since May 20 and all about the trade war. I have so far been unable to get a good answer on who, or what writing group, that pseudonym represents.

In yesterday’s issue I said it was also used before the Zhenbao Is…