As India's month-long voting period came to an end, Xi Jinping visited a manufacturer of rare-earth magnets in Jiangxi province, starting point of the famous "long march" that cemented Mao's reputation as a commander. He later said that China is on another long march, to national rejuvenation. These two gestures were widely interpreted as referring to the trade war with America, in which rare earths are a valuable Chinese asset; although the American bloc has alternative supplies in Australia and Brazil.
No one knows how severe the trade war will become. One should perhaps think in terms of self-interested great powers (each with a sphere of influence), who will by turns compete and cooperate, as it suits them.
But China and America are certainly preparing for struggle, just in case. Blocked from purchasing American products, Huawei has announced its own operating system (Hongmeng or Harmony, a favorite concept in Xi's ideology). The Chinese digital economy remains strong, with Alibaba and Tencent struggling for primacy, and the three big telecoms getting 5G licenses.
China promoted the ASEAN-centered RCEP trade deal, possibly without India, while rival Japan hoped a TPP 2.0 would be viable, and America sabotaged the WTO judicial system, preferring bilateral deals. Japan had its own low-key high-tech trade war with South Korea, apparently a way to dodge revived Korean claims for wartime compensation. South Korea was even said to be entertaining a confederation with the north, which would instantly create a new high-tech nuclear power, rival to Japan and potentially independent of the American alliance system.
America pulled out of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces treaty, so it could compete with Chinese missiles in Asia. Russia developed nuclear-powered cruise missiles to restore deterrence, and sold air defense systems to still-in-NATO Turkey.
Turkish forces were present throughout Muslim Africa, from the Sahel to Sudan to Somalia, though they were attacked in Libya by old CIA friend, General Haftar. In Yemen, the Saudi-Emirates alliance against Iran was shaken by the Emirates' proxy seeking to retire from the war; while the Gulf saw oil tankers attacked and seized, in a show of Iran's power to turn off the oil.
Boris Johnson became British PM, and promised Brexit at the end of October, even if there was no deal. It also became likely that Britain would follow America, completely ban Huawei and leave the Iranian nuclear deal. Meanwhile, the European Union elected a new "commission president", Ursula von der Leyen, to take over at the start of November, and worried about the record temperatures in Paris and Berlin.
India banned 'triple talaq' instant divorce for Muslims, and suspended Kashmir's special constitutional status, preparing to make it just another state. The annual demonstrations in Hong Kong escalated into demands for political reform, eclipsing the plight of the Uighurs. But the American government showed little interest in either issue (despite a last-minute trip to Washington by Imran Khan), American society being preoccupied with immigration, race, guns, and the mysterious life and death of Jeffrey Epstein.
After six years in captivity, Egypt's Morsi died, a ghost of the Arab Spring. Still imprisoned, Brazil's Lula lived, and his sentencing judge Moro was embarrassed by leaked tapes showing collusion with the prosecution.
Space lab Tiangong 2 fell back to Earth; Hayabusa 2 sampled near-earth asteroid Ryugu; and Chandrayaan 2 set out for the lunar south pole.
