As expected, the “Two Meetings/Sessions” are scheduled for later this month. The Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) will start May 21 and the National People’s Congress (NPC) will open May 22, about ten weeks later than originally scheduled.

Xi has chaired two big meetings since February using video links—the 170,000 cadre conference on February 23 and the “symposium on securing a decisive victory in poverty alleviation” in early March—so the technology looks to be in place if some of the delegates do not make the trip to Beijing, but from the initial reports it sounds like all the delegates will be in Beijing.

The three Sinocism unmistakable signs (2.26 newsletter) the Party thinks victory really is at hand have now mostly been realized:

1. Xi visits Wuhan;

2. The announcement of a date for the “Two Meetings”

3. Kids go back to school

But I underestimated the virus and its economic impact, and especially the global fallout, so while those three signs are certainly indicato…