If there was a five-click dial available as a severity meter between the U.S. and China, something happened internally in Beijing, over the last 72 hours, because that dial just triggered movement from 3 to 4… Keep watching everything in the world of geopolitics with a mental 360° radar sweep looking for Chinese influence/interests.

Nuance and subtlety is everything in China. Culturally harsh tones are seen as a sign of weakness and considered intensely impolite in public displays between officials; especially within approved and released statements by officials representing the government.
Therefore, when we see China publicly use strong language – it indicates a level of internal disposition beyond the defined western angst. Big Panda becomes Red Dragon; there is no mid-status or evolutionary phase.

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s state media on Monday lashed out at the policies of U.S. President Donald Trump in an usually direct attack, accusing him of “starring in his own carefully orchestrated street fighter-style deceitful drama”.
Trump’s wish for others to play along with his drama is “wishful thinking,” the ruling Communist Party’s People’s Daily newspaper said in an editorial.

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PHASE II – President Trump tweeted earlier today about the ongoing geopolitical contest that is priority #1 in defending U.S. interests and retaining our economic strength.
Do not be surprised if North Korea launches another provocative missile test soon. Watch China, not N.Korea. It’s Chairman Xi’s people in the DPRK who are taking action. Kim Jong-Un is an expendable proxy regime. The war is the U.S. -vs- China trade and economic confrontation. North Korea is the Potemkin backdrop for the Beijing puppeteer.

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As POTUS Trump and the U.S. trade team target ever increasing tariff pressure upon Beijing to change their behavior, keep a close eye on North Korea. Given the zero-sum approach of the Chinese; and their history of weaponizing the DPRK; we could expect to see Beijing roll out nuclear antagonism again in an overt effort to gain concessions.
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President Trump has moved into Phase II of the U.S./China confrontation.  Part of that confrontation is to use the inherent weakness of the Chinese economy against them.  To understand the weakness is to understand the China ‘One-Belt / ‘One-World‘ economic trade strategy.  Here’s an outline of the economic battle-space we are witnessing.
People often talk about the ‘strength’ of China’s economic model; and indeed within a specific part of their economy –manufacturing– they do have economic strength.
However, the underlying critical architecture of the Chinese economic model is structurally flawed and President Trump with his current economic team understand the weakness better than all international adversaries.
Lets take a stroll and discuss.
China is a central planning economy. Meaning it never was an outcropping of natural economic conditions. China was/is controlled as a communist style central-planning government; As such, it is important to reference the basic structural reality that China’s economy was created from the top down.
This construct of government creation is a key big picture distinction that sets the backdrop to understand how weak the economy really is.
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Vice President Pence delivers remarks at an honorable carry ceremony for the remains of American service members who fell in the Korean war. Full Ceremony Video:

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The head of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, Kevin Hassett shares his perspective on the 4.1 percent GDP growth, and the ongoing MAGAnomic America-First initiatives.   Hassett rightly points out that finished good domestic inventories dropped as an outcome of consumer purchasing outpacing manufacturing.  As more manufacturing comes on-line, the production capacity expansion leads to more GDP growth.
Remember, one of the unique attributes of the U.S. economy, thanks to the foresight of industrial titans who built it, is our internal consumption.  We are not only the worlds’ largest economy, we are the biggest self-sustaining economy in the history of the world; a massively consequential strategic advantage. Our leverage comes from nations needing access to our market; the U.S. does not necessarily need access to theirs. Therefore POTUS Trump can dictate the terms.

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Amid ongoing maneuvers by China and Russia to influence the activity of North Korea; and amid both Chinese and Russian interests in violating ongoing trade and economic sanctions against North Korea; Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley meet with the U.N. Security Council.

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[Transcript] SECRETARY POMPEO: Good afternoon, everyone. First I want to commend my good friend Ambassador Haley and her excellent team here at the United Nations. Her leadership in advancing American interest on North Korea and many other issues has been evident here this morning, and she’s got a great team behind her helping. So thank you, Nikki.
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President Trump hosts a cabinet meeting after returning from the NATO summit, U.K. visit and Helsinki meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.   The overall emphasis was on the U.S. economy, employment, job-training and the larger goal of leveraging economic strength to advance American interests.
The administration kept the cameras rolling as key cabinet members and White House officials discussed ongoing initiatives with a heavy emphasis on workforce development. If you want an idea of the massive scale and scope of Trump’s MAGAnomic initiatives for American workers, watch this video in its entirety.

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Labor Secretary Acosta discussed an ongoing workforce development initiative for providing job skills and apprenticeship programs for former prisoners/inmates.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross discusses the expanded investment into the U.S., massive employment opportunity for skilled workers, and the importance of continuing to develop a skilled labor pool.
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President Donald Trump used twitter today to begin a process. [BACKSTORY HERE] This is another example of using brutal honesty in digestible doses to change the reference points of most international observers.  Few have any real understanding of the dynamic between the U.S. and North Korea vis-a-vis China.
This tweet is serious business.  It is fired directly into the heart of Beijing.  It is the mother of all truth bombs, and it takes away the ability of Chairman Xi to act in sunlight.

“Subtle” like a brick through a window. [Backstory available here.]  President Trump is removing the Panda mask to reveal the authentic nature of Chairman Xi Jinping.  Simultaneously Trump is trying to rescue Kim Jong-un from the clutches of the Red dragon behind the mask.
Watch Steven Mnuchin to see if enhanced treasury sanctions resurface now.
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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono, and South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha hold a joint press conference following a trilateral debriefing of ongoing negotiations with the U.S. and North Korea.

[Transcript] FOREIGN MINISTER KONO: Thank you. It is my glad pleasure to welcome Secretary Mike Pompeo and Minister Kang Kyung-wha to Tokyo for this trilateral foreign ministers’ meeting. The last time we gathered in Seoul was less than a month ago, immediately after U.S.-North Korea summit in Singapore. The timing and the frequency of the meeting have enabled smooth and effective trilateral coordination; its outcome could then be fed into the process between the U.S. and North Korea.
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With McCain dying, and Corker and Flake retiring, the Decepticon side of the deep swamp is being purged.  President Trump’s direct America-First policies and pragmatic common sense has severed one head from Cerberus, the three headed hound protecting Hades, DC.
In the geopolitical realm President Trump is using the U.S. atomic sledgehammer to reset decades of insufferable economic policy constructed specifically to the financial benefit of ideological ‘allies’; who have elevated their financial standing on the backs of U.S. deficits.
With Decepticons weakened, and many in DC realizing President Trump isn’t going to stop swinging the battle axe until the last one is crushed, politicians like Lindsey Graham have begun talking more truthfully about issues.  Watch in this interview as Graham is questioned about North Korea, and he immediately -and somewhat surprisingly- accurately identifies the core issue…. it ain’t North Korea.

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