The Wall Street Journal reports, "President Trump gave his firmest indication yet that the U.S. may not increase tariffs on Chinese goods on March 1, as scheduled, despite statements by his top trade official that the U.S. should stick to a firm deadline. That deadline to complete talks with Beijing is 'not a magical date,' he told reporters Tuesday, as midlevel U.S. and Chinese negotiators started this week's trade meetings. Cabinet-level officials will join the discussions Thursday. Mr. Trump and his advisers have said they are considering a meeting with President Xi sometime in the coming weeks. Under that scenario, the Trump-Xi meeting would effectively act as the deadline for a deal. American officials want that session to take place in the U.S."
Financial Times reports, "China has jailed disgraced general Fang Fenghui for life for bribery, state media reported on Wednesday, sending a reminder to officials and the military to toe the line ahead of a national meeting. The sentence for Fang, 67, comes two weeks ahead of the opening of the National People's Congress, where president Xi Jinping will face questions over his handling of an economic slowdown and frictions with the US. Formerly the chief of the joint staff People's Liberation Army and an ally of previous president Hu Jintao, Fang is the latest in a number of military officers who have been jailed or died as Mr Xi consolidates power over the military. He was first detained in August 2017. The Xinhua news agency did not give details of the evidence against Fang. It said he had obtained large sums of unknown origin, and that his assets have been confiscated."
- CNN reports, "Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has sent out a warning to Asia in the face of mounting aggression from Beijing. In an exclusive interview with CNN, Tsai said the military threat posed by China was growing 'every day' in line with a more assertive foreign policy under its President Xi Jinping. 'If it's Taiwan today, people should ask who's next? Any country in the region -- if it no longer wants to submit to the will of China, they would face similar military threats,' said Tsai. Taiwan and China are separated by fewer than 130 kilometers (81 miles) at their closest point. For seven decades, the two have maintained an uneasy truce following their split at the end of a destructive civil war in 1949. Unification is a long-term aim for China's ruling Communist Party, which considers self-governed democratic Taiwan -- an island of 23 million people -- to be a renegade province."
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- 2019-02-11 Trump officials considering Mar-a-Lago for next meeting with China's Xi: report
- 2019-02-10 White House discussing possible trade summit with China at Mar-a-Lago: report
- 2019-02-01 Trump plans to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping to resolve trade dispute
- The Wall Street Journal Trump Eases Off Hard Deadline for China Tariffs
- Financial Times China sentences former top general to life in jail
- CNN Facing an aggressive Beijing, Taiwan's president issues a warning to the world
- The New York Times The Big Problems Facings the Trade Talks
- The Washington Post Daughter of ex-Mao secretary boycotts Communist-led memorial
- Bloomberg China Closes Tibet to Foreigners for Sensitive Anniversaries
- The Washington Post In Central Asia's forbidding highlands, a quiet newcomer: Chinese troops
- Reuters Amid trade talks, China urges U.S. to respect its right to develop, prosper
- The New York Times 'Insult to China': A Model's Freckles Spark an Online Storm
- Bloomberg Even Walmart Faces Slower Sales in China, But CEO Says Not to Worry
- The Wall Street Journal Alibaba And the Wasteful Investment Bank Deal
- Reuters China confirms African swine fever hits Shandong province as national outbreak spreads
- Bloomberg The Reasons Why China's Stock Rally Is Nearing $1 Trillion
- Bloomberg The U.S., Not China, Is the Real Currency Manipulator
- Forbes China's Economic Sneeze Is America's Flu
- The Hill Trump's China options dwindle as the deadline looms
- National Interest Now Is Not the Time for a Referendum on Taiwanese Independence
- The Diplomat The Cyber War Against Tibet
- Financial Times US shift to Asia is more than a short-term pivot
- The Hill Saudi Arabia's powerful prince tours Asia — with purpose