Trump/Biden/Kissinger and Xi on China

[amberjack1234]

I actually don't care if some American companies that have their factories in China. Perhaps some will come back to the US. Nah, they will just move to India. I did read somewhere that 300 billion dollars had returned back to the US.

[Randy W]

from the SCMP

 

 

 

US competes with China's Belt and Road with Asia-Pacific investment plan

 

 

https://sc.mp/2AnMMc1

 

"We all want all nations, every nation, to be able to protect their sovereignty from coercion by other countries. We want the peaceful resolution of territorial and maritime disputes", Pompeo said

[Randy W]

from SCMP Opinion

 

Donald Trump’s strategy was never about alienating the world – it was always about containing China

Josef Gregory Mahoney says that with the unveiling of the Indo-Pacific Economic Vision, the apparent resolution of the trade dispute with the EU and the cosying up to Russia, it is now clear that the US president has been working towards a strategy of turning other countries against Beijing

 

by Josef Gregory Mahoney

Josef Gregory Mahoney is professor of politics at East China Normal University in Shanghai, where he also directs the International Centre for Advanced Political Studies and the international graduate programme in politics. He was previously with the Central Compilation and Translation Bureau in Beijing, then China’s leading think tank.

 

 

 

Just a week ago it seemed Trump’s foreign policies, while detrimental to China, would create opportunities for Beijing to improve relations with others feeling Washington’s ire. Trump’s excoriations of Nato and abandonment of the Paris climate accord and Trans-Pacific Partnership pointed towards isolationism, opening the possibility of a new world order.

But Trump’s approach now appears to be re-establishing American hegemony over Europe, with European promises to improve trade, spend more on defence and move against China as early victories.

These developments run in tandem with Trump’s outreach to Russia and North Korea, the former pressuring Europe and both pressuring Beijing.

While the US appears to have yielded the South China Sea to China for the moment, an effective grand strategy may revitalise the Indo-Pacific scheme of drawing Japan, India and Australia into a China-containment alliance, especially when coupled with the Indo-Pacific Economic Vision.

 

 

[amberjack1234]

It seems to me this guy has the glass heart syndrome and every one is picking on China thingame. It won't be good for Americans visiting China for tourism. The masses will follow right along with his message.

[Allon]

I don't think China has enough worries with the depth of poverty they have. They are doing so much better but there is a long way to go compared to the US. The vision the Chinese people have of America is so complex and ours is so narrow. Obviously way beyond his understanding.

[Randy W]

I don't think China has enough worries with the depth of poverty they have. They are doing so much better but there is a long way to go compared to the US. The vision the Chinese people have of America is so complex and ours is so narrow. Obviously way beyond his understanding.

 

 

But there are some good points made in the article, not the least of which is this -

 

At its height, the US effectively encircled China with assets in South Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia and by water. By some estimates, these developments put American conventional weapons within a 20-minute striking distance of any target, including sensitive defence and space industries in China’s west.

 

[Randy W]

from the SCMP on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/scmp/videos/10156526368849820/

 

US cherries flood Hong Kong

South China Morning Post

24K Views ·

11 hours ago ·

Hong Kong fruit lovers are reaping an unintended upside of the US-China trade war: cheaper cherries

 

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/scmp/videos/10156526368849820/

[Allon]

 

I don't think China has enough worries with the depth of poverty they have. They are doing so much better but there is a long way to go compared to the US. The vision the Chinese people have of America is so complex and ours is so narrow. Obviously way beyond his understanding.

 

 

But there are some good points made in the article, not the least of which is this -

 

At its height, the US effectively encircled China with assets in South Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia and by water. By some estimates, these developments put American conventional weapons within a 20-minute striking distance of any target, including sensitive defence and space industries in China’s west.

 

 

 

Well, I really was not talking about military capability. There is no comparison there. Just a comparison of aircraft carriers puts China way behind. It is how far the CP has to go before they can bridge the gap between classes of people, and mainly rural to urban wealth. They have tried to move rural "workers" to the cities but when they get there, it's a slave shop or walking the streets. Books (Red Lights) are coming out about what the life of people is like when they reach the city, namely women who are displaced by male farm workers to becoming sex workers. (

 

Even American investors point to China's successes, which are admirable, but they still have a huge gap between rich and poor. Ours is getting worse, but nothing compared to China.

[Randy W]

from the Global Times on Facebook - Hu Says! - https://www.facebook.com/globaltimesnews/videos/282822145834757/

Global Times

1 hr ·

【#HuSays】Trump’s $716 billion defense bill won’t force China to back down when it comes to its core interests: Editor-in-Chief Hu Xijin #VideoFromChina

 

 

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/globaltimesnews/videos/282822145834757/

[Randy W]

It apparently hit below the belt -= From China Daily

 

US law criticized as stoking conflict

Beijing bashed Washington on Tuesday after United States President Donald Trump signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019, which includes measures undermining China's territorial sovereignty and core interests.

. . .

Measures against China in the new act include issuing public reports on China's activities in the South China Sea, and banning China from future Rim of the Pacific Exercises, a biennial naval event led by the US in Hawaii.

A section of the law is also dedicated to US plans to enhance Taiwan's defensive capabilities. These include strengthening exchanges between senior defense officials, increasing US arms sales to Taiwan and exploring opportunities for practical training and military exercises.

 

. . .

 

However, while the US is poised for full competition, Zhao said it is not in China's interest to return the hostility because China does not seek global hegemony, nor does it want unnecessary conflicts or arms races.

"There is simply too much to lose when two nuclear powers butt heads militarily," Zhao said.

"But China also needs to stay cool and firmly protect its core interests, which the new defense law clearly tries to undermine."

 

 

[Randy W]

the Global Times responds to the threat of new tariffs

 

Hegemony will no longer pay off for US

China has never taken this trade war as an interim one, but a protracted one. The trade war launched by Washington, which targets "made in China" products and the Chinese market, has had a big impact on the global production and supply chain. Global economic prospects dim under unilateral US actions.

China, as a main driving force of the global economy, is able to correct and push the global economy onto the right path. Domestically, China is undergoing steady and solid economic structural adjustments.

On the foreign front, it is accelerating its cooperation network by promoting the Belt and Road initiative. This will not only consolidate China's ability to withstand the trade war, but also provide more choices for the future global economy.

After several rounds of trade war, China has realized that the US government intends to decrease trade and economic integration of the US and China. The US wants to reduce the challenges from potential rivals with its "make America great again" ambition. Meanwhile, it can adjust its China policy to gain an upper hand in areas such as politics and security.

 

[Randy W]

Trump vs. Xi - the trade war - from the SCMP

 

How the trade war highlights a culture clash between Chinese patience and Trumpian instant gratification

Wei Yen says that China’s past humiliation by Western powers and the Chinese tendency to wait out confrontation mean that a long drawn-out trade war could work in the country’s favour

 

 

 

The US has the upper hand now. After all, its economy is growing briskly, the stock market is at an all-time high, unemployment at an all-time low and capital investment robust. However, investor sentiment is notoriously fickle and the new tariffs could turn this ebullient mood on its head very quickly.

The 10 per cent tariffs on US$200 billion of new Chinese imports will target about 40 per cent of consumer goods, raising prices for consumers when it hurts most – around the Christmas shopping season.

Businesses will also suffer. According to the American Chambers of Commerce of Beijing and Shanghai, which surveyed hundreds of US companies operating in China, more than 60 per cent of them have been negatively affected by the earlier round of US$50 billion in tariffs and 74 per cent expect “a negative impact” from the new US$200 billion in tariffs. US executives are also taking a wait-and-watch approach to committing to new capital investments.

. . .

If China caves in, it will have been humiliated by the last remaining Western power in the 21st century, as if all efforts to expunge that part of the national psyche have been for naught. Also, Xi Jinping, the paramount leader in a Confucian society, will be keen to avoid being shamed by the US in public view, a scenario that would also be totally unacceptable to the Chinese leadership and people.

 

 

[tsap seui]

Being force fed a bite out of a trade balance inequity "reality sandwich" must be pretty tough to take, especially when there has only been bluster about it for so many years...add in the Asian face thing and...oh well...there is lot's more countries for Wal-Fart, etc., to go to for cheap goods to be sold to us heathens. Heaven knows, we here in America are gonna take some getting used to when it comes to having equal trade partners.

 

Lucky me, I've stocked up on my beloved Chinese handcuffs that the wife uses on me.

[Randy W]

in the Global Times

 

Arms sale to Taiwan a costly US error

 

The proposed sale came on the same day that the US' 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese exports took effect. The US used to avoid making two such moves on the same day, but it doesn't care now.

Beijing has mastered a whole set of tactics against such arms sales, which will be adopted in accordance with the sales level. The latest proposed sale is not the most serious, but the past year has witnessed a tendency for the US to sell arms to Taiwan in smaller amounts and higher frequencies. Such sales used to occur once every few years.

. . .

The Chinese mainland adheres to the policy of addressing the Taiwan question by peaceful means. If Taiwan authorities collude with Washington and touch upon the red line set by the Anti-Secession Law, the mainland will change its method. This deserves the attention of both the island of Taiwan and the US.

It's easier for the mainland to punish pro-independence activists in Taiwan than for the US to support them. As long as the Chinese mainland keeps growing stronger, Washington will find it harder to play the Taiwan card and Taiwan will be unable to bear a real crisis in the Taiwan Straits. Beijing should respond to the proposed sale in just the way it used to, without reading too much into it. Amid frictions between China and the US, we Chinese need to see clearly the big picture and take precise and powerful measures.

 

[Randy W]

A NEW tactic for Beijing . . . from the SCMP

 

Beijing ‘looking into joining trans-Pacific trade pact’ to hedge against US

Officials are exploring the possibility of China becoming a member of the CPTPP, source close to the government says

 

But the agreement was left in limbo after Trump pulled the US out of the deal, calling it a “potential disaster”. Japan has since taken the lead in saving the agreement, which, despite some watering down of key provisions, is still believed to be a “gold standard” multilateral trade agreement that covers labour, intellectual property protection and the environment, and cuts more tariffs on goods.

Japan and the remaining 10 countries finalised a revised version of the pact in March and renamed it the CPTPP.

Talk of Beijing joining the trade deal comes as China and Japan have been seeking to mend fences, with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe due to visit Beijing this month. Economic cooperation is believed to be high on his agenda, though it is unclear whether Abe plans to raise the idea of China joining the CPTPP when he meets Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Abe has invited Britain to join the agreement, and countries like Thailand, South Korea and the Philippines have also expressed interest. Trump said in April that the US would reconsider the deal if it were “substantially better”.