Yuzhe He

[Newsletter update] To make sense of #China’s policy decisions, it is necessary to understand the people who make them. And the rank of these officials matters much, if not the most. Below is a practical guide to identify their rank, including a number of special cases.

[Newsletter Update] Chinese traders trapped in #Hormuz: Adrift at sea, they lost GPS, faced soaring war-risk surcharges, missing clients, dwindling food and water, and an uncertain future. There is little they can do. open.substack.com/pub/yuzhehe/p/…

Hello, Moon. It’s great to be back. Here’s a taste of what the Artemis II astronauts photographed during their flight around the Moon. Check out more photos from the mission: nasa.gov/artemis-ii-mul…

Full text: Cheng Li-wun’s speech at Nanjing welcome banquet The KMT chair begins her "historic journey for peace" that she says carries "four major historical significances."

The Iran war isn’t rescuing Republicans in 2026; it’s making their problems louder. One of the top Chinese America-watcher Diao Daming on why this conflict is an amplifier, not a kingmaker — and how it’s already cracking the GOP coalition: fredgao.com/p/diao-daming-…

Honored to be part of this!

Recently, the Confucius Temple in the city of Tainan, southern Taiwan, held its annual spring sacrifice ceremony, a traditional rite paying homage to Confucius, the ancient Chinese philosopher and educator who founded Confucianism.

Zhang Xuefeng, one of China's most influential education influencers, passed away, and millions of Chinese mourned him. Some of my thoughts about why: open.substack.com/pub/fredgao/p/…

5/5 link open.substack.com/pub/yuzhehe/p/…

[Newsletter Update] China's anti-#monopoly push is back, which makes Dr. Liu Shangxi's latest piece highly relevant. Liu said the root of China's #involutionary manufacturing competition lies not simply in market saturation, but in the operating logic of local government. 1/5

4/5 In his view, Beijing's eventual answer to this impasse is clear: force a shift from scale expansion to efficiency and innovation, and accelerate the export not just of cheap goods, but of industrial and financial capital.

3/5 Liu is also explicit in criticizing China's long-standing mercantilist instincts and export-led inertia. Swapping real resources for larger foreign exchange, while exporting ever more cheaply, is not a sustainable model, he argues.

2/5 Driven by the imperative to secure tax revenue and political performance, local authorities compete to attract the same kinds of investment at almost any cost. The result is a classic fallacy of composition: locally rational behavior producing nationally excessive capacity.

Da Wei @mawangcun1 says China doesn't want America's job: China neither seeks nor intends to fill any “vacuum” left by the United States New Opportunities in China-U.S. Relations Require Direct Engagement Between the Two Heads of State pekingnology.com/p/da-wei-china…

A nice entry on Zhang Xuefeng: “In a cynical age of elite hypocrisy, the extraordinary public mourning for Zhang Xuefeng revealed who still speaks to the anxieties of China’s struggling majority.” pekingnology.com/p/the-man-ordi…

A former Deputy Secretary-General of the Chinese State Council voiced concerns about the AI impact. I used to think most Chinese experts leaned toward techno-optimism, but that's changing now. Thanks to her kind authorization, I can share her thoughts. open.substack.com/pub/fredgao/p/…

SUMMER INTERNSHIP ALERT! If you are a U.S.-based college student with an interest in Chinese foreign policy and politics, apply below to work with the @AsiaPolicy Center for China Analysis See the next post for details, eligibility requirements, and how to apply...

A pleasure to share some thoughts with @USChinaBusiness. Thanks for the opportunity from the U.S.-China Business Council 美中贸易全国委员会。 uschina.org/articles/us-ch…

Wang Xiaolu: Why More Stimulus Has Meant Weaker Demand in China The economist argues years of loose money and state investment have weakened consumption and deepened overcapacity, and calls for a more neutral monetary policy and livelihood-centred fiscal spending.

The CDF2026 is done. I gave the last talk of the last session, on services sector opening up. Right after Jeffrey Sachs 😅

The market has been traumatized so much, that when a serial liar makes another lie, the market dances to his tune