About this episode
This episode of Sharp China is outside the paywall. Show Notes: On today’s show Andrew and Bill begin with follow-up thoughts on the purges at the top of the PLA, including reactions to a New York Times piece on Xi’s “paranoia,” answers that have yet to materialize, He Weidong suicide rumors, and various theories on what any of this might signal. From there: Keir Starmer’s trip to Beijing, caution before drawing too many conclusions from the recent steps from Canada and the U.K., and a flurry of stories about Xi's ambitions for the RMB as a global reserve currency. At the end: Parsing the readouts from a surprise Trump-Xi call Wednesday, why Taiwan arms sales may have been at issue, the U.S. gets serious about critical minerals, Panama deals a blow to China, and Nvidia’s H200 adventures head to the State Department.You can listen to the podcast in the app:Or click here for instructions to add the podcast to your preferred player. To subscribe to Sinocism, click here.To subscribe to Stratechery, click here.And if you enjoy this podcast please share it far and wide:Related Readings:Uruguay President in China; Document No. 1; Development of future industries; Building a financial power; Fighting deflation; Zhang Youxia; 2026 GDP -- SinocismXi meets Starmer; Services consumption work plan; Soccer corruption; Nvidia and China -- SinocismRuptures in China’s Leadership Could Be Due to Paranoia and Power Plays -- NYTChina’s Xi, Now Alone Atop His Military, Is the Sole Voice in Tackling Taiwan -- WSJThe Unsettling Implications of Xi’s Military Purge -- Foreign AffairsXi the Destroyer -- Foreign AffairsThe Scorpion and the Frogs -- Sharp Text
