Jan 27, 2020
Hong Kong and Tawain are out of the news. Now it’s all about the Coronavirus. China expert Dan Joseph believes that the Chinese Government is doing a much better job communicating with its people this time, after the SARS disaster last time. But restricting travel at the height of the Chinese New Year is causing near panic in many places. We don’t yet know the full effects of the virus and it is spreading to other countries, including two cases in the US so far.
We talked about the trade deal. Dan believes that it is a milestone in US-China relations and that the IP and forced technology issues are largely resolved. There’s still much to be done and the next phase has yet to begin, but these are hopeful signs.
Finally, things have calmed down in Hong Kong quite a bit since the Taiwanese elections, which led to the election of major anti-mainland leader. That’s taken the pressure off of Hong Kong, but localized demonstrations are continuing. More to come on this front.