If you haven't read the Russia-China Joint Statement, you really should.

Here it is, plus some highlights in the thread below.

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en.kremlin.ru/supplement/5770 - Democracy. Big focus, deemed "a universal human value"... but it is up to individual states to choose the forms/methods to implement democracy. Plus note: "It is only up to the people of the country to decide whether their State is a democratic one."

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I explain here what Washington should expect from US-China strategic stability talks (if they happen).

This is based on findings from unofficial dialogue between US and Chinese strategists, notably one meeting that took place recently.

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pacforum.org/publication/pa… Five lessons:

1. Expect to be blamed.

2. Expect challenges to insulate the nuclear dimension.

3. Expect disagreement over nuclear plans/strategies.

4. Expect crisis management to have potential.

5. Expect cooperation on some non-bilateral nuclear issues

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Good interview of @micheleflournoy on "The US-#China Strategic Calculus."

I just want to highlight three points she made.

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chinatalk.substack.com/p/michele-flou… 1. During the Cold War, "There were people whose only job was to really understand how the Soviet leadership thought...We have to do a much better job of really understanding [#China's] calculus and how to influence it."

It's critical: we don't understand China well enough.

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Trans-Siberian (family) trip, a thread:

Exactly a year ago, I took a month-long trip with my wife @LTSantoro1 & then 2-year-old daughter from St Petersburg to Beijing via Mongolia on the trans-Siberian railway & we stopped & visited multiple cities along the way.

Our trip:

1/x Pretty much everyone told us it was a crazy idea: it's too long, dangerous & insane to do this with a 2-year-old.

Turned out to be a fantastic adventure in all aspects (& don't worry it's not the craziest thing I did).

We just had two bags like this one:

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