In a week that the US State Department openly flirted with – then pulled back from – the idea of a boycott of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, SCMP political economy editors Zhou Xin and John Carter discuss the significance of the Games to China's image-building efforts, the dilemma it would create for potential sponsors and the realpolitik of Washington's mixed messaging. Also in this edition of China Geopolitics: the roles Beijing and Hong Kong might play in US Treasury Secretary Janet…