While it is tempting to frame this trade conflict in the context of America becoming tiresome of the treatment of its businesses, this does not capture the true nature of the dispute or its entrenchment and longevity. This is a “restarting of history”—a return of economic and governance ideologies battling for supremacy.
Read Here – The National Interest
Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for the nation to embark on a new Long March and “start all over again”, in the most dramatic sign to date that Beijing has given up hope of reaching a trade deal with the United States in the near term. Xi is in Jiangxi province for his first domestic tour since the escalation of the trade war two weeks ago. Jiangxi is where China’s defeated Red Army started its fabled Long March in 1934.
Read Here – South China Morning Post
Also Read: China Raises Threat of Rare-Earths Cutoff To U.S.
Some Chinese diplomats have responded to US moves to blacklist Huawei with accusations the decision was “politically motivated”, others have threatened retaliation, and at least one has posted goofy memes on social media in defence of the tech giant.
What started as a trade war between the United States and China is quickly escalating into a death match for global economic, technological, and military dominance. If the two countries’ leaders cannot manage the defining relationship of the twenty-first century responsibly, the entire world will bear the costs of their failure.
The news this week that the U.S. government blacklisted China’s telecommunications giant Huawei from its suppliers was received rather viscerally. It’s “the most insane decision,” the CEO of Huawei’s chipmaking subsidiary HiSilicon said in a memo that went viral on Chinese social media. In its own response, Huawei couldn’t help but scornfully add the words “so-called,” a familiar tic of Chinese state media, before mentioning the dreaded Entity List, the U.S. government blacklist where it now finds itself lumped in with international arms traffickers and Russian oligarchs.
Asia’s low-cost manufacturing hubs will continue benefiting as firms seek to move their production or supply chains out of China amid rising business costs, despite the likely continuation of a region-wide decline in exports. But for Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea – once known as the “Asian Tigers” for their high-growth economies – the outlook is gloomy as shipping volumes are expected to fall and uncertainty leaves companies’ plans for growth in limbo.
Read Here – South China Morning Post
Also Read: US-China Trade War: Here Are Beijing’s Options – And Not One Looks Any Good
The trade talks between China and the United States collapsed because Beijing removed details outlining the obligations it was required to meet as part of reaching a deal to end the trade war, according to a former senior US official.
Read Here – South China Morning Post
Also Read: Trump orders national emergency on information security; Commerce Department follows with Huawei restrictions
Recent remarks by a senior Trump administration official suggest that the United States’ current approach to China is dangerously misconceived. The rise of China under a one-party dictatorship should be met with a united front in defense of the liberal order, not talk of a clash of Caucasian and non-Caucasian civilizations.
Saudi Arabia became the world’s largest arms importer from 2014 to 2018, accounting for 12 percent of the imports, an increase of 192 percent over 2009-2013, according to the latest report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). According to data for 2018, the United States continued to supply the bulk of arms to Saudi Arabia, accounting for 88 percent of all arms sold to the country.
The United States has a long history of provoking, instigating, or launching wars based on dubious, flimsy, or manufactured threats….Today, the question in Washington—and surely in Tehran, too—is whether President Trump is making moves that will provoke, instigate, or inadvertently drag the United States into a war with Iran.
