Episode
Sharp China: The PLA Purges One Week Later; World Leaders Flock to Beijing; A Trump-Xi Phone Call; Panama Canal Resolution?
- Podcast
- Sharp China Podcast
- Published
- Feb 5, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3750
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://sinocism.com/p/sharp-china-the-pla-purges-one-week
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Summary
This episode of Sharp China is outside the paywall. Show Notes: On today’s show Andrew and Bill begin with follow-up thoughts on the purges at the top of the PLA, including reactions to a New York Times piece on Xi’s “paranoia,” answers that have yet to materialize, He Weidong suicide rumors, and various theories on what any of this might signal. From there: Keir Starmer’s trip to Beijing, caution before drawing too many conclusions from the recent steps from Canada and the U.K., and a flurry of stories about Xi's ambitions for the RMB as a global reserve currency. At the end: Parsing the readouts from a surprise Trump-Xi call Wednesday, why Taiwan arms sales may have been at issue, the U.S. gets serious about critical minerals, Panama deals a blow to China, and Nvidia’s H200 adventures head to the State Department. You can listen to the podcast in the app: Or click here for instructions to add the podcast to your preferred player. To subscribe to Sinocism, click here . To subscribe to Stratechery, click here . And if you enjoy this podcast please share it far and wide: Related Readings: Uruguay President in China; Document No. 1; Development of future industries; Building a financial power; Fighting deflation; Zhang Youxia; 2026 GDP -- Sinocism Xi meets Starmer; Services consumption work plan; Soccer corruption; Nvidia and China -- Sinocism Ruptures in China’s Leadership Could Be Due to Paranoia and Power Plays -- NYT China’s Xi, Now Alone Atop His Military, Is the Sole Voice in Tackling Taiwan -- WSJ The Unsettling Implications of Xi’s Military Purge -- Foreign Affairs Xi the Destroyer -- Foreign Affairs The Scorpion and the Frogs -- Sharp Text LIVE with Bill Bishop: The world order is shifting — and China is moving fast to shape it. -- Sinocism Been spendin’ most th…