Cave man

Is Trump caving on China without Beijing making any serious concessions at all? This would be an even worse example of his ‘deal making’ than offering Russia most of what it wanted as an opening position on Ukraine. But all the signs are that, as one wit puts it, the US president is ‘negotiating with himself’. 

He obviously miscalculated how much his tariffs would disrupt the US and how much the subsequent U-turns would upset the markets. But his worst decision was to start by alienating every other trade partner, including allies, by imposing tariffs on them all. Many have their own problems with China’s subsidized exports, and he could have enlisted at least some in a grown-up multilateral effort to pressure Beijing to wind down its over-production/under-consumption economic model. China is vulnerable.

And at some stage, the world will have to do something about China’s imbalances. But for the time being, it looks like Beijing has dodged a bullet, thanks to Trump’s ineptitude.

HKFP on the trial of health inspectors enforcing Hong Kong government’s anti-Japanese radiation measures…

…the five inspectors were charged with conspiring to steal food – including canned abalone, white truffle sauce, and crab bisque – ordered for conducting radiation tests.

According to an Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) statement published when they were charged in June last year, the five health inspectors bought food samples worth around HK$88,000 for radiation tests in mid-2022 and early 2023.

A total of 82 food samples were subsequently found at their homes, the ICAC said.

No doubt their actions infringe official procedures. But imagine if your boss tells you to buy HK$88,000 worth of perfectly edible (not to say luxury) foodstuffs and then chuck most of it in the bin. What would most people do?

(Full marks to anyone who answers ‘donate some to a charity in case of legal problems and keep the rest’.)

Nathan Law on Lu Siwei, the mainland lawyer who represented the ‘Hong Kong 12’.