On April 22, Li Pengxin, former Deputy Party Secretary of Xinjiang, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for accepting bribes totaling over 822 million yuan (approximately $113 million). After the two-year reprieve, the sentence will be commuted to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole or sentence reduction.

A recent report claimed that the Dalai Lama "quietly" canceled a scheduled meeting with U.S. Vice President JD Vance following Pope Francis's death. However, there is no official confirmation of such a cancellation, and the reasons remain speculative.

JD Vance is currently on a four-day visit to India, from April 21 to 24, during which he has met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and engaged in discussions on trade and strategic cooperation.

The Dalai Lama is expected to travel to the U.S. on Thursday for medical treatment, but it is unclear if he will meet any officials during his visit.

Paul Atkins, sworn in as SEC chairman by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, pledged to restore the agency’s focus on investor protection, market integrity, and capital formation. Seen as a pro-crypto pick by Trump, Atkins vowed to create clear rules for digital assets and keep politics out of regulation.

Communist China’s pension system is facing a growing crisis of confidence. Over 40% of flexible workers—like delivery drivers and livestreamers—are opting out of the national pension program. In 2024, social security revenue rose 5.2% to RMB 11.89 trillion (USD 1.65 trillion), but spending increased 7% to RMB 11.99 trillion (USD 1.67 trillion), creating a RMB 100 billion (USD 14 billion) deficit.

The gap is most severe in the northeast, where Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang are projected to face a RMB 575 billion (USD 79 billion) shortfall by 2025. With high costs, low trust, and doubts about future payouts, many young people are opting out, further weakening consumption.

It’s now clear the hole is too deep to fill. The Chinese Communist Party has long drained pension funds, relying on short-term fixes and opaque transfers to delay the inevitable. This is no longer merely a crisis of confidence in the pension system — it has become a fundamental reckoning with the legitimacy and credibility of the regime itself.