In our last letter, we called attention to the messages emanating from the PRC in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization read-out, the 15th Five-Year Plan for 2026–2030, and the Fourth Plenum. The messages were clear: (1) the PRC is committed to a series of industrial, commercial, and financial strategies to gain superiority in critical technologies and (2) the PRC has proposed a new global governance structure to replace the U.S.-led Western order. We ignore these messages at our peril. World events continue the trend of surprise and volatility, in which developments that should reduce tension (Presidents Trump and Xi meeting October 25) produce increased uncertainty.
