Here’s a summary of what happened. Following suggestions, I tried calling the QR office in Hong Kong. The phone number is now an 800 and goes through to Chongqing. The agent there took down the date changes (no route changes) I requested and sent it on to Doha. The answer that came back was “I am sorry to inform you that we are not able to assist with the change as the publish fare not quoted on our system.” I then called the AA rtw desk. The agent there told me to get a release from the issuing travel agent. I was then able to make changes, paying the usual fees calculated by tariffs. Naturally, all depends on the good will of the AA agent.