New @thechinaweek.com:

When he loses the NY Post.

New Rhyming Chaos podcast in which I interview CNN chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward on reporting from a capital city as a horde of religious extremists take over—and I'm not talking about Washington D.C.!

Sorry, typing before thinking...: "U.S. President Donald Trump will host the leaders of five Central Asian nations at the White House on Thursday," he is not goin g to Central Asia!

Trump is going to Central Asia. Here's an interview with @edwardschatz.bsky.social on Rhyming Chaos about the varieties of fellow of authoritarian he might meet there: www.rhymingchaos.com/p/when-will-...

With mini profiles of filmmaker/curators Echo Xuedan Tang and Zhu Rikun, and a quote from @shellyk.bsky.social

"As China’s space for independent film continues to shrink, two filmmakers-turned-curators have established festivals in Berlin and New York, creating vital platforms for Chinese cinema that can no longer be shown at home."

Amazing set of photos of Trump showing Xi a note that cracks him up, and more, from their meeting this week. Source: www.whitehouse.gov/gallery/pres...

Let them eat ca- no. Let them admire my golden toilet trashcan!

Trump's China theatrics of the last nine months have achieved nothing, except for concentrating minds in Beijing on the urgent need for technological and financial independence from the U.S., and maing clear "how much stronger China has become":

The Trump leader of Belarus and his malcontents: a new Rhyming Chaos podcast with Natalya Chernyshova and @mariarepnikova.bsky.social

"Meanwhile, Trump has stripped security details from his political opponents. It’s worth noting that the only politicians who have been assassinated in the last year were Democrats."

There are 4 times more signatories to this 24-hour-old petition than there are "refugees". www.afrikanersvirsa.co.za/en "We are not pawns in America’s culture wars. We are South Africans, part of a diverse, evolving nation still grappling with its past and striving toward a more just future...."

Trump’s China deal appears to be the minimum required to be market neutral. A modest tariff reduction, delay of rare earth restrictions, possibility of Nvidia chip sales, some soybean purchases. Maybe more importantly there’s a commitment to ongoing talks. Just enough to shrug at.

Read this China Heritage essay collection on Double Nine. Just delightful.

I have been charged in a federal indictment sought by the Department of Justice. This political prosecution is an attack on all of our First Amendment rights. I’m not backing down, and we’re going to win.

Indeed, but also: Cameroun's president Biya, in power since 1982, just got put in office again in a dodgy election. He is 92 years old and non compos mentis…

No comment

Maybe my favorite Food Map, ever.

The Trump leader of Belarus and his malcontents: a new Rhyming Chaos podcast with Natalya Chernyshova and @mariarepnikova.bsky.social

The art of the deal: "The Trump administration is hailing a potential deal that may return the U.S.-China relationship to where it was before the president began a trade war against Beijing."

What could go wrong?

New Rhyming Chaos podcast: Kazakhstan, clan politics, doing bizness and more.

In the past, China’s leverage was access to its markets. Perhaps in the future it will be access to its factories.

That AI slop is like a story a 3-year-old makes up when they get mad at another toddler: "Then I put on my crown and get into my airplane. It says on the side that I'm the king. I fly up so high over the stupid people. I throw poop down all over the mean people. They cry and cry, but I just laugh."

Come on then, and remove him.

New Rhyming Chaos podcast: @mariarepnikova.bsky.social and I talk to Julia Sonnvend about her book on charm in contemporary politics and its use by strongmen:

Trump "is not far from what you get if you picked the worst characteristic of all the most degenerate, inbred English monarchs going back to Æthelred the Unready"

Good stuff here. open.substack.com/pub/pekingho...

New Rhyming Chaos podcast: @mariarepnikova.bsky.social and I talk to Julia Sonnvend about her book on charm in contemporary politics and its use by strongmen:

I guess this is one way to follow up on a peace deal.

A @chinafile.bsky.social Conversation that showcases the many contributions Jerry Cohen made to the study of Chinese law, and the innumerable lives he touched during his 95 years with us.

Good night, and good luck to us all.

Absolutely crucial point here by Greg Sargent. When we don’t call propaganda what it is, we co-produce it, and hasten disaster. newrepublic.substack.com/p/maga-implo...

What The Hell Is Going On, a thread: I’ve seen some thinkpieces and posts about Portland protests that fail to understand the long-term hyperspecificity of Portland culture/humor, and frame it as a sort of shitposting meme-pilled ironic thing. Which is wrong. So I’m gonna give you my breakdown.

This one comes with a nice interactive pulldown table of (partial) pen names used in the CCP's official People's Daily. We aim to serve!

“Don't worry about China, it will all be fine! Highly respected President Xi just had a bad moment.”

In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand (mine is also generation-specific): Let's pivot to video.

The TikTok thing is cartoonishly corrupt. Everyone involved should be in jail.

I don't know if there's such a thing as a "world cyberwar" but I think we are in one? and the US is determined to lose it. 🧵 Today the admin is mass-firing the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the nation's cybersecurity protection across all levels of government.

Had some thoughts reading Quantico speeches by Hegseth and Trump through the lens of China's Cultural Revolution. Shout outs to @goldkorn.bsky.social @mariarepnikova.bsky.social Geremie Barme, Orville Schell, Didi Tang substack.com/@johndelury/...

Trump's response to China's new rare earths export controls does not sound like him at all (text in ALT):

It's extraordinary to watch the intentional reversal of human progress. The below by @drandrealove.bsky.social

Good to see this in USA Today.

One of the more incredible stories out of LA this year has been how a taco review blog became the best on-the-ground coverage of ICE raids in the city. They do a dispatch every day, follow-up on the kidnapped people (which almost no media outlet has done), and fact-check government claims.

The daily onslaught of outrageous news of corruption, destruction of government capacity & attacks on science and education in the U.S. right now is dizzying. “What now?” you scream as you scroll through the morning’s news. It’s a little like the world Geremie Barmé stepped into in China in 1974

They're still using Signal and they are still *terrible* at operational security

Brett Kavanaugh: • "I liked beer, I still like beer." • A person’s "apparent ethnicity" is a "relevant factor" when deciding whether ICE thugs should arrest them or rough them up.