As China amps up bellicosity toward Taiwan ahead of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's expected visit, its economic slump continues.
Driving the news: The latest data shows an ugly outlook for growth.
The big picture: Analysts doubt China will ever regain the breakneck pace of economic growth that raised hundreds of millions of Chinese out of poverty in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Yes, but: This doesn't mean that China's recent saber-rattling toward Taiwan is some sort of "Wag the Dog"-style distraction from China's current economic issues.
The bottom line: President Xi has shifted the source of his legitimacy away from delivering economic growth and toward a broader sense of national prestige, said Gerard DiPippo, a senior fellow in the economics program at the Center for Strategic & International Studies.