The summary:
President Trump has simply outwitted and outmatched Chairman Xi in this economic confrontation. While Xi thought he was outmaneuvering his rival, it was President Trump who was the one wearing the Panda mask all along.
In hindsight every move since early 2017 including: (1) the warm welcome of Chairman Xi Jinping to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate; (2) the vociferous praise poured upon Xi; (3) the U.N. sanctions where China and Russia agreed; (4) the November 2017 “golden ticket’ tour of Asia; (5) the direct engagement with North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un; (6) the strategic relationship with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe; and a host of smaller nuanced moves were all quietly building toward this conclusion.
For President Trump to have navigated Chairman Xi into such a position is the pinnacle of strategic success. The Chinese culture doesn’t even have a frame of reference for a position that includes ‘less losing’ as their better option.
The Chinese, supposedly so wily and patient that there is no resisting them, have been outmaneuvered by a New York City property developer. The hapless Democrats should surrender now and beg mercy - they haven't got a chance.
I fail to see that Trump has outwitted and outmatched Xi. The real story is the union of Russia's Eurasian Economic Union and China's One Belt One Road program. This portends to be the biggest economic and strategic program since the Suez and Panama Canals. That fact that enemies like Pakistan and India and the Kabul government and the Taliban have signed to some sort of relationship with the EEU-OBOR by itself indicates how important the Asian countries see this.
ReplyDeleteNow if Trump can actually force American companies to relocate their manufacturing back to the US, that would be a true victory. Of course, that requires a protectionist trade policy and zero immigration, and Trump cannot face down the Deep State/Cabal on those issues.
You might enjoy watching some Nigel Farage as he takes on the EU. No nation state on earth gains any power by colluding with another unless they shared a common frontier and combined to tear the throats out of their neighbors.
DeleteNATO and the EU were utterly meaningless on the grand scale. The US gutted the USSR and Iraq and Iran and Korea and.....
It didnn't need any real help from its so called allies for any of that.
The amusing thing to me is that the very best minds in Washington DC right now are there in the pay of Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, Ukraine all of them working under the scene to make sure that President Trump carries on. Russia is a 3rd rate power and still pretends but it also has some 16,000 nuclear warheads. It needs due care and attention but in the Grand Game, they don't amount to much and neither do the Germans, the French or, sadly, the British.
To paraphrase Patton: "He read their book." Tsun Tszu "The acme of skill is to win the war without fighting the first battle." Note that Xi has the backing of the Chinese Communist Party and the Democrats and Rinos here. Trump has the Deplorables in fly over land and the great unwashed in China. I've personally asked them and to a man (woman too) they like Trump. You have to understand that they have gotten a taste of economic freedom. They really like it but they also know that in a moments notice the government can take it away and kill you and your family and your dog and then go to work on you. Anything that loosens the grip from the ChiComs is good for them. See what happened in Hong Kong over the weekend, protests like Tienanmen. These were not met with tanks. Xi will blink and the ruling committee will remove him in 6 months (health reasons). Then he will be replaced by a hard liner who will crack down on everything and accelerate the collapse of China. What replaces that will be anyone's guess. Please note we were caught flatfooted by the fall of the Russians. There's a Chinese curse that goes like this "may you live in interesting times."
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