Apologies the newsletter is a bit late today, I got caught up watching the impeachment hearings. I wish I could hear the briefings Xi gets about this whole process, perhaps it is explained to him as a kind of public, televised Democratic Life meeting and struggle session?

The US House of Representatives passed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act Wednesday afternoon and now the bill will become law, either when President Trump signs it or after ten days. PRC officials, propaganda organs and proxies have gone into high histrionics but the demands that Trump veto it are unrealistic given that the unanimous support in the Senate makes it veto proof.

The threats for countermeasures are unlikely to include scuppering the struggling negotiations for the phase one trade deal. What those countermeasures may be however I do not know.

Thanks for reading.