CHINA/TRADE WAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “To the outside world, China’s ruling Communist Party – faced with an expanding trade war crimping an already slowing economy and spiraling protests in Hong Kong – is confronting some of its strongest political and economic headwinds in decades. But at home, where China’s elite leaders prepare for the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic this October, there are few indications that President Xi Jinping is politically embattled. Many in Beijing believe U.S. President Donald Trump’s approach to the trade war, and the Chinese government’s effort to use Washington as a scapegoat for the Hong Kong unrest, provides Xi with convenient and effective short-term political cover. This time last year, as Xi and other top officials held secretive talks at the seaside resort of Beidaihe, there was an unusual surge of criticism in official circles about economic policy and how the government had handled the trade war with the United States, sources told Reuters at the time.
–Michael Martina, Kevin Yao, “Amid crises, frayed U.S. ties give China’s Xi political cover at home,” Reuters, August 16, 2019 2:24 am