Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior Administration official told NBC news that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson would finalize the meeting during his official trip throughout Asia, which includes a stop in China on March 19.

The Trump and Xi meeting will follow a series of official sessions executed to ease relations between the two countries following President Trump’s fierce criticism of China. During his pull-no-punches campaign, Trump accused Beijing of engaging in unfair business practices, manipulating currency, and militarizing the South China Sea, which remains a contested region between China and her neighbors – many of whom are U.S. allies.

Security interests and economic ties were among topics discussed between China’s State Councilor Yang Jiechi and officials in Washington including Trump and Tillerson.

Beyond Trump’s comments, the president was also angered China after taking an official phone call from Taiwan President Tsai Ing-Wen, technically breaking decades-long tradition of non-official relations with Taiwan. Trump took it a step further by declaring the U.S. can always walk away from the One-China policy, which maintains Taiwan is under Chinese control. Trump later assured the U.S. would respect the doctrine during a phone call with Xi last month.

Unable to cope with this crushing burden by the government, one top Chinese journalist announced that he is to resign.

Yu Shaolei, an editor at Southern Metropolis Daily, has had enough of the government’s unending control over the media, and posted his resignation note on social media. On Monday evening, Yu uploaded a photo of his resignation form to his Sin Weibo microblog account.

Yu was certainly cheeky in his post; under the “reason for resignation” section, he put down “Unable to bear your surname”.

This unassuming line is actually a clever dig at President Xi’s demand that journalists must give absolute loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party, and “bear the surname of the Party”.

“I’m getting old, and my knees can’t stand it after so many years [of kneeling],” Yu wrote.

Yu continued his sarcastic tone by wishing well to those responsible for censoring his social media account. He wrote in a message, “To the person responsible for watching my weibo feed and notifying their superiors about what to delete, you can heave a sigh of relief now, apologies for causing you stress over the last few years, and I sincerely wish your career will head in a new direction.”

The government was quick to shut Yu down, deleting his post with urgency. However, the BBC has provided us with a link to a cached copy, which was still available on monitoring sites online.

When John Sudworth of the BBC in Beijing approached Mr. Yu, he told the reporter that he had said everything he wanted to say on social media, not wanting to comment further on his resignation.  

Mr. Sudworth also reported that it is unknown if Mr. Yu had received any admonishment from Chinese authorities.

However, the Chinese government’s pursuit of those involved in the letter has expanded beyond China’s borders: Chinese authorities are now taking its search worldwide to take action against any who may have criticized the Communist Party, especially President Xi.

Chinese dissidents in the United States and Germany say that close relatives in China have been arrested.

One such dissident is Chang Ping, a columnist who resides in Germany. On Sunday Chang wrote that police detained his two brothers and a sister in southwestern Sichuan province. He went on to say that the Chinese authorities asked his siblings to contact him and demand that he stop writing articles that disparage the Chinese government, specifically one that he wrote (and was published by Deutsche Welle) about the infamous letter.

Chang recently wrote a piece that strongly chastised the Chinese government’s attempt to influence foreign press, also condemning what he called its “barbaric kidnapping” of his family members.

He also interviewed with Radio France International in which he offered his unfavorable view of the Communist Party, and said in that interview that he sees a power struggle underway within the CCP.

Prior to his status as exiled Chinese dissident, Chang, whose real name is Zhang Ping, had been a distinguished journalist and editor at Southern Metropolis Weekly in China. He was fired from the journal in 2011 for work deemed “inappropriate”.

On Friday yet another exiled dissident stated that his relatives were also taken away by Chinese police in southern Guangdong province. Wen Yunchao, also known as Bei Feng, who is a New York-based online blogger, said that his parents and brother were arrested after Feng tweeted a link to the letter on his blog.

Both Feng and Chang, while saying that they do publish work regularly that openly criticize the CCP, they did not have anything to do with the mysterious letter in question.

“I’ve always done what I think is right, and have always been willing to accept whatever fate brings as a result of that. The harassment and threats of the authorities allow me to see even more the value of my writings, and encourage me to work harder in future,” Chang wrote.

His sister has now been released, but Chang said that the government’s despicable actions against his family was just an attempt to hold loved-ones hostage in exchange for deleting his articles. In an email he wrote on Monday, Chang said: “I can’t take the blackmail. I have to go on.”

Further discussion on this incident and the CCP’s ever-growing reach on silencing critics, read the Washington Post’s article “With Hong Kong booksellers silenced, China now goes after exiled dissidents” at https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/03/28/with-hong-kong-booksellers-silenced-china-now-goes-after-exiled-dissidents/.

He was at an event in the wake of his new movie “The Revenent,” which was released in Chinese theaters last
Friday and has since raked in more than $30 million at the box office.

“As we all know, the United States and China are the two biggest contributors, and I think that China has made
radical movements forward as far as alternative energy and ways to be sustainable,” DiCaprio said at the event.
“I really think that China can be the hero of the environmental movement. They can be the hero of the climate
change movement. They have an opportunity to change the world, and I have all the confidence in the world
that that is their intention.”

This view is shared by China’s Environmental Minister Chen Jining who says the country’s green efforts will
serve as a “model” for the west.

China has been pursuing renewable resources of energy. However, it’s still the world’s biggest user of coal and
it leads the planet in green-house gas emissions.

But Leo seems to think China is ready to change its course. He won an Oscar last month for his role in “The
Revenent.” During his acceptance speech, he called on people to protect the environment from the “greedy.”
Leo is a huge star in China even though many of his films haven’t made it to Chinese cinemas. Netizens were
also skeptical that “The Revenent” would make it on the list of 35 foreign films allowed in Chinese theaters this
year. Even more surprisingly, the film made it to theaters mostly intact.

Variety reports that Chinese censors cut only two minutes of the film.

Some are calling for greater autonomy while others, especially young people, are rallying for independence from China. Both sentiments were expressed during Hong Kong’s Umbrella Revolution, which saw 79 days of street protests against Chinese rule.

Young people comprised a bulk of the crowds. Recently, Hong Kong University’s student magazine Undergrad published a manifesto calling for independence by 2047.

“The Umbrella Revolution was our loudest cry,” the editorial read. “We thought naïvely that we could win some political concessions. We didn’t.  Now we know that the movement for democracy is behind us, as we usher in the movement against authoritarian rule.

“We demand that Hong Kong become an independent, sovereign state recognized by the United Nations, the building of a democratic government and the drafting of a Hong Kong Constitution by all the people.”

Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying is not too fond of the idea.

“Hong Kong has always been part of China since ancient times,” Leung said. “It will not change after 2047.”

Marcus Lau, who penned the manifesto along with 11 other students, is unfazed.

“At the moment, Hong Kong doesn’t have the conditions for independence,” he told The New York Times. “That is precisely why we need to develop them.”

During last month’s regional election, Edward Leung, (no relation to Hong Kong’s chief executive) won 15 percent of the votes. He had been running on a platform for greater self-determination and his performance solidified the confidence of supporters even though he didn’t win.

Before the election, Leung led a protest against a crackdown on vendors during Lunar New Year. These vendors are often seen as symbolic of Hong Kong tradition. The demonstrations quickly turned violent and erupted into nightlong battle with police.

Chinese officials called the riots acts of “radical separatism.”

When Lau was asked whether he was a speratist, he had this to say.

“If the calls for self-determination of the Catalonians from Spain, Scots from the United Kingdom and Taiwanese from China are separatist,’’ he said, “then I’m one, too.”

This announcement, however, is not fooling the rest of the world. China is infamous for being perceived as having a corrupt, unlawful criminal justice system, if you can call it that. Rights groups across the globe say that forced confessions are still in abundance in China, and that China practices “rule by law” rather than “rule of law”.

Forced confessions are not the only factor for China’s decrepit “criminal justice system”.  Adding to this problem is the ongoing crackdown against lawyers, which prohibits Chinese citizens from being given adequate and fair representation, therefore reducing their chances for a favorable verdict or acquittal.

Zhou assured, though, that “We’re doing our utmost to let the public feel equality and justice in every court verdict.” He also added that that “innocent until proven guilty” in China is under strict implementation to prevent wrongful convictions.

This 2015 criminal conviction rate figure was only slightly lower than the previous year, as the number of acquittals rose by a colossal 34 percent. The court cleared 1,039 people, but when you posit that number against the 1.232 million defendants found guilty, the very skewed perception the Chinese government wants its citizens to see becomes clear. While state-run media headlines boasted “Courts clear over 1,000 defendants”, they failed to notify the public of the atrocious amount of guilty verdicts they hand out.

Zhou also spoke to how when courts’ mistakes had been exposed in 2014, saying that Chinese courts “corrected” 1,357 verdicts in 2015. He announced that 240 million yuan in compensation was paid to the individuals whose rights were violated by State power, a 50% increase from the year before.

Still, the world remains skeptical – and rightly so. Being proud of a 99.92 percent criminal conviction rate is not something to be proud of.  

China’s state-run news agency on Sunday published an article in which a typo referred to President Xi Jinping as “China’s last leader.” Xinhua later amended the copy and urged other media outlets to change the reference to “China’s top leader.”

Some publications simply deleted Sunday’s article covering China’s annual National People’s Congress. However, the original copy had been widely circulated by the time Xinhua announced the error.

In the past, journalists have lost their jobs over similar mistakes. In December, four journalists were fired after the state-run China News Service reported Xi’s “resignation” instead of his “speech” during the president’s tour of Africa.

Although such errors are extremely rare in China’s heavily-regulated media, the most recent mishap isn’t too difficult to understand. Both references differ by a single character. It’s not clear who was directly responsible for the error.

The Chinese government has been tightening its grip on its country’s media, already considered one of the most highly censored in the world. Xi recently toured newsrooms demanding “absolute loyalty” to the ruling communist party. In 2015 alone, 25 journalists were jailed for various offenses related to defying the government.

Adm. Harry B. Harris, the Chief of U.S. Pacific Command, made the proposal Wednesday. A similar coalition fell through in 2007 following Chinese protest.

Although he did not directly refer to China, Harris warned that aggressive countries were aiming to “bully smaller nations through intimidation and coercion.” He suggested an allied naval force would be the best way to meet this aggression.

“Exercising together will lead to operating together,” Harris said. “By being ambitious, India, Japan, Australia and the United States and so many like-minded nations can aspire to operate anywhere in the high seas and the airspace above it.”

China has been raising regional tension by expanding its military and building artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea. Although China claims virtually all of the South China Sea, parts of it are also claimed by Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.

The naval proposal is Washington’s latest move in encouraging India’s Navy to collaborate more with the U.S.

The American Ambassador to India Richard V. Verma expressed some hope.

He said joint patrols by the U.S. and Indian navies “will become a common and welcome sight throughout Indo-Pacific waters” in the “not too distant” future.

However, India has not yet expressed interest in joint naval patrols especially in the South China Sea.

“The last thing India wants to do is accidentally make itself into a front-line player in the South China Sea,” said security analyst Nitin A. Gokhale.

Shen Dingli, a professor of international relations at Fudan University in Shanghai, believes India won’t agree to a coalition due to fear of Chinese retaliation.

“China actually has many ways to hurt India,” Dingli said. “China could send an aircraft carrier to the Gwadar port in Pakistan. China had turned down the Pakistan offer to have military stationed in the country. If India forces China to do that, of course we can put a navy at your doorstep.”

Still, India’s navy has been cooperating more with its U.S counterpart under the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Officials say both countries are close to closing a logistics agreement allowing their militaries to use each other’s resources for refueling and repair. The Indian navy has also finalized several bilateral and trilateral agreements with the U.S.

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“We are concerned that China has taken a number of unilateral steps over the last several years that we think raise tensions in the region and are destabilizing,” said Daniel Kritenbrink, senior director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council.

Earlier this week, US Pacific Command chief Admiral Harry Harris noted China was “changing the operational landscape of the region.”

The South China Sea serves as a passageway for more than $1 trillion in ship-borne goods including a third of the world’s oil shipments each year. China claims virtually the entire region. It is also claimed in whole or in part by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

“Short of war with the United States, China will exercise de facto control of the South China Sea,” Admiral Harris said.

During a state visit in September, President Xi Jinping maintained that Beijing “does not intend to pursue militarization” in the Spratly Island chain.

Speaking at a forum at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Kritenbrink said the US wants China to extend its non-militarization pledge “across the entire South China Sea.”

China continues to expand its military footprint in the South China Sea while expanding its artificial islands there, despite warnings from the US and regional neighbors.

Earlier this year, the US Navy sent a Destroyer vessel near disputed islands to uphold international freedom-of navigation laws. China has ratified the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The US also wants China to respect an upcoming ruling in The Philippines’ lawsuit over territory in the region. China does not recognize the Hague-based international court involved.

Kritenbrink says the “extremely important” ruling will outline how countries can peacefully solve territorial disputes.

“When that ruling comes out, it will be binding on both parties,” Kritenbrink said. “That will be an important moment that all of us in the region should focus on.”

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This news comes out of the Shanghai-based firm Hurun, which tracks wealth in China and India as well as publishes an annual Global Rich List. Founder and chairman of Hurun, Rupert Hoogewerftold, told the Associated Press that the private research firm made its calculations using stock prices on January 15 of this year.

The Chinese stock market saw a rapid downslide recently, falling forty percent over the past six months, according to the Associated Press. Despite the tumultuous economy, Beijing still rose to become the city with the most billionaires. Hoogewerftold commented that this could be due to the opening of Initial Public Offerings, which Chinese government regulators held back for several years.

The Global Rich List showed that while the United States’ number of billionaires dropped by just two, China’s number increased by 90 new billionaires in 2015. China now has five of its cities in the top ten list of cities home to the greatest number of uber-wealthy. These cities are: Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou – containing 100, 64, 50, 46, and 32 billionaires respectively.  

China contains almost a quarter of the total billionaires in the world, having 568 of those people reside within its borders. The U.S., second on the list, has 535 billionaires living in the country.

Bill Gates, who resides in the U.S., remains the number one richest person on the planet at a total net worth of $80bn. Business magnate and investor Warren Buffett and Spanish fashion tycoon Amancio Ortega round out the top three with personal wealths of $68bn and $64bn, respectively.  

Wang Jianlin is China’s wealthiest man with an estimated worth of $26bn, according to Hurun’s findings.  Although Wang has not yet broken into the top ten of Hurun’s list, Hoogewerftold emphasized the high proportion of Chinese self-made billionaires compared to those in the United States. “What we showed today is that at the super-wealth creation level, the Chinese are now leading,” he said. “People will look at China the same way that people looked at Stanford or Silicon Valley in the 1990s.”

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