2026 Issue 11

Due to the conflict in Iran, President Trump announced publicly he would delay his summit with Xi Jinping.  At the same time, U.S. trade negotiators proposed “managed trade” as the method to address U.S.-China trade disputes which would fundamentally remake the vision of “free trade” that Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations had.

The Chinese Communist Party pushed their rubber-stamp legislature to approve Xi’s ethnic unity law which will further destroy space for Chinese ethnic groups to maintain their own culture, language, and religion.

Despite efforts by the Chinese Communist Party to portray their 15^th Five Year Plan as bringing about significant reforms for a stagnating economy, nearly all other indicators suggest that the Party’s leaders refuse to change course.