CL Trump is in Beijing for his summit with Xi, and the Taiwan question sits in the room whether it gets named directly. Hong Kong watches this kind of meeting from a particular angle: close enough to feel the weight, experienced enough to know that the gap between what is announced and what eventually arrives is measured in years, not headlines.-- CL

MB The administration that killed the Iran deal in the morning was wheels-up for Beijing by the afternoon, which tells you less about strategy than about the rhythm of this particular presidency. The Strait of Hormuz stays closed, Chinese forces are massing near Taiwan, and the summit will be asked to carry more weight than anyone has formally agreed to place on it.-- MB