The gap between how China thinks it’s doing in the world and how the world thinks China is doing in the world is getting wider by the week. 1/ There seems to be a genuine belief among *some* smart people in PRC that China’s domestic policy and diplomatic antics are projecting strength and confidence, embarrassing haughty foreigners 2/

This morning's Covax update: Tedros says facility will deliver 270 million doses to 142 countries by May. I'm struck, as always, by both the bigness and smallness of that number. It means millions of doses for those who might not otherwise get them. But so damn short of need. "The distribution of vaccines has not been as equitable as we like, but it has been more equitable than it would have been otherwise," Tedros said.

If only *literally all of Asia* had warned us to wear masks. I’ll never, ever understand why public health officials ignored evidence from across Asia and wasted months when we could have been wearing masks

Just wanted to add a bit of context to the news that Trump plans to "terminate" the country's relationship with the World Health Organization. There is lots to say on this, but here are four important things to know right now: 1. It is very much unclear if the President can unilaterally pull the United States out of the WHO. The WHO constitution is a treaty and the U.S. ratified the treaty. Likely needs Congress. Even if a pullout can happen, it probably can't happen quickly.

Debate between @trish_regan and @thepointwithlx is underway—and it is awkward. The phone line is scrambled as Regan starts by introducing Liu as a member of the Chinese Communist Party; Liu then denies she is a member of the CCP. 1/ Regan asks about intellectual property theft. Liu counters that property theft happens in many countries, including in the United States. Now discussing Huawei. 2/

NEWS: First of the ‘Snowden refugees’ has been granted asylum in Canada. Woman who helped the whistleblower in Hong Kong is now on her way to Toronto, her lawyer told us. She will be resettled in Montreal. wapo.st/2FrM5xt?tid=ss… Some background: When Snowden fled to HK he stayed in a luxe hotel until his name was splashed across the papers, then he disappeared into the city. In 2016, a group of seven asylum-seekers solved the mystery of where he was. They had sheltered him.

After five years covering China—and more than a decade in Asia—I’m soon moving to D.C. I’m in debt to every person who took the time (and, often, the risk) to share their story. Here, if you'll indulge me, are five I’ll never forget: I’ll always smile when I think of Chen Aiwu and her husband, Wang Dongsheng, who survived the tumult of the Cultural Revolution, struggled, saved, then set out, rice cooker in tow, to discover America. To delight of many, they did. washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pac…