As Gao Zhen awaits trial in China, his wife and child live in limbo, unable to return to America, sustained by the portraits he fashions from scraps of paper.
China closed off Japanese seafood imports after Japan’s new leader declared strong support for Taiwan. Suddenly, sushi is everywhere on Taiwanese social media.
By withholding soybean purchases and rare-earth exports, China extracted relief from U.S. tariffs and delayed export controls, without conceding much in return.
President Trump and the Chinese leader Xi Jinping are being described as “irreplaceable” and “world class leaders” before a meeting seen as critical for shoring up a trade truce.
In weaponizing its dominance over the crucial minerals, Beijing is using tactics that it once denounced, potentially alienating nations it wants to court.
Chinese state media is rallying the public and posting old propaganda footage, but officials are also careful to leave room for talks with President Trump.