Xi is full of surprises. In the Monday newsletter I wrote that “later this week Xi should make his annual pre-Spring festival inspection tour”, a tour he has taken every year since 2013 in the days before the New Year. This year he stayed in Beijing and met with various groups around the country via video chat. If he does not make a trip before Saturday, thereby breaking the precedent of the last ten years, that may be another sign of how rough the Covid situation is.

In the video chat Xi addressed the Covid policies, saying that the PRC “had made ‘the right choice’ to deal with the COVID-19 epidemic with strict measures over the past nearly three years” and that “we have now entered a new phase of COVID-19 response. Tough challenges remain, but the light of hope is right in front of us. Perseverance means victory! 坚持就是胜利”

Things are winding down in the PRC ahead of the weeklong Spring Festival Holiday. There will be a newsletter tomorrow but it may be thin, as people are already check…