The event the world is waiting for happens at 10:30pm EST.  President Trump will be holding a bilateral meeting with Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping.
All eyes are turned towards Trump and Xi as they go into what could be one of the most significant meetings of the entire G20. The U.S. and China have seen increasing economic tensions as the two superpowers square off over tariffs and China’s questionable connections to their tech companies.
UPDATE: Video Added: In two visible signals: (1) Chairman Xi brings back Vice-Premier Liu He to the table, signaling potential concession. However, (2) President Trump brings U.S. Manufacturing Policy Advisor, Peter Navarro, the arch nemesis Beijing, signaling no compromise.

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[Transcript] PRESIDENT XI: (As interpreted.) Mr. President, let me make a few opening remarks.
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On the second day of the G20 summit, President Donald Trump holds a working breakfast meeting with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammad Bin Salman.  The breaking news surrounds the possibility of an impromptu meeting between North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un and President Trump. [Video and Transcript]

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[Transcript] – PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much. It’s an honor to be with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, a friend of mine, a man who has really done things in the last five years in terms of opening up Saudi Arabia. And I think especially what you’ve done for women. I’m seeing what’s happening; it’s like a revolution in a very positive way.
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As President Trump begins day-two at the G20 he happens to tweet a public message to Chairman Kim Jong-Un about a quick meet-and-greet at the DMZ.  You know, if you’ve got a few minutes… LOL.

Too darned funny….. Obviously this possibility was the subject of the letter which President Trump recently sent to Chairman Kim which the North Korean leader described as “excellent content“.   Trump had this tweet timed for this moment. As we noted at the time, this was predictable.

By President Trump announcing the possibility of a visit with Kim Jong-un before Xi has a chance to sell his DPRK influence for a better trade outcome, President Trump has essentially removed any value.  Chairman Xi, the hostage taker, has been tricked by the hostage rescuer.

On the hostage dynamic – last week the hostage taker (Chairman Xi), finally positioned the public optics of Chairman Kim as the hostage; and indicated a likelihood Beijing would negotiate terms for release (better trade deal) with President Trump. Therefore the rescuer (Trump) countered with communication with the hostage (Kim), and set up an entirely different geopolitical background.
President Trump has totally out-witted Chairman Xi.
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The last bilateral meeting of the first day at the G20 in Osaka, Japan, was held between President Trump and Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro.  [Video and Transcript]
The US accounts for 34 percent of the world’s soybean production with 108 million metric tons. Brazil accounts for 30 percent of the global production of the crop with 87 million metric tons. Combined, Trump and Bolsonaro control 64 percent of global soybean production. [China consumes 60 percent of global soybeans available for export.]
Note: Brazil is a strategic geopolitical U.S. partner against Chairman Xi’s influence, due to the BRICS group (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). It is obvious this has been discussed between Bolsonaro and POTUS Trump.  Within the media pool some enterprising narrative engineer asked President Trump about the Day-Two meeting between Xi and Trump, as noted below (emphasis mine):

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[Transcript] PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much everybody. We’re with a gentleman who had one of the greatest election wins anywhere in the world, as far as I’m concerned, and he was very proud of his relationship with President Trump — President of Brazil. And he’s a special man — doing very well, very much loved by the people of Brazil. And I think we can say that Brazil and the United States are as close or closer as they’ve ever been. So I just want to welcome you and say thank you very much, my friend.
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There will be more detailed summaries coming later; however, here’s some of the more interesting aspects so far.   The G20 Osaka, Japan Group Picture:

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As expected the schedule of President Trump’s first set of bilateral discussions seems structured around the Indo-Pacific strategy to counter China’s expansion.  In this strategy within Southeast Asia geopolitics Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is the fulcrum for a shifting economic dynamic.
President Trump hosts a bilateral with Prime Minister Abe, and then again hosts a rather unusual trilateral meeting between himself, Abe and India’s Prime Minister Modi.  The three leaders met in a trilateral discussion at the Buenos Aires G20 in 2018.
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In the dynamic of President Trump confronting Chairman Xi over Chinese trade and manufacturing practices there are critical members of the U.S. team, each with a role to play.  Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, U.S. Trade Rep. Robert Lighthizer and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are the most important members.
Secretary Ross explains the position of the U.S. team as they head to the G20. WATCH:

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As we discussed yesterday, Chinese anxiety is off-the-charts.  When China gets into this high-anxiety disposition, they immediately -predictably- drop the Panda mask, and lash-out with Red Dragon antagonisms.  This is happening right now.
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President Trump calls in to Maria Bartiromo for an extensive interview on multiple subjects.  The president discusses his perspective on Mueller testifying; the state of the economy; the upcoming G20 talks with Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping and the status of the trade negotiations; the status of tariffs; and the U.S-Mexico border issues.
On China, President Trump doesn’t sound like he’s willing to make any concessions or retreat on any tariffs.  “They want to make a deal more than I do”, he said.

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Sometimes we just read and think; sometimes we just read and laugh. This is the latter.
China continually looks at President Trump and the U.S. trade position through the wrong prism. Those around Chairman Xi genuinely seem to be incapable of understanding a U.S. President who independently represents long-term U.S. larger interests, and simultaneously leverages the U.S. market as a customer in a one-sided transaction.
The disconnect in Beijing analysis of the dynamic is really quite something.

After last weeks strategic magnanimous panda maneuver, Beijing was shocked, shocked, that President Trump continued to maintain “wrong thinking” toward the upcoming discussion with Chairman Xi.
It appears China fully expected some reciprocal trade bargaining based on their implied promise to release North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un from manipulation; but Trump didn’t flinch.  Instead, of acquiescence to magnanimous panda, President Trump sends Chairman Kim a letter filled with “excellent content“. Beijing was snubbed.
So yesterday as a follow-up Beijing indicates a willingness to revisit the prior agreement by putting the face of Vice-Premier Liu He back into their negotiation position:
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Oh dear, China is unhappy.  According to the Global Times President Trump is not “showing enough good faith” to demonstrate he “wishes to ease the trade tensions” with magnanimous panda. Sincerity is not being observed.
The G20 is coming up next week.  Magnanimous panda has exhibited great gesture with North Korea.  Expectations of reciprocal acquiescence abound, and yet President Trump is maintaining wrong thinking toward trade conflicts with China.
Beijing is not pleased; not pleased at all:

Global Times – Ahead of President Xi Jinping’s trip to attend the G20 summit, which takes place from Thursday to Saturday, the US is not showing enough good faith to demonstrate that it wishes to ease the trade tensions, Chinese observers said.
G20 members should unite to oppose protectionism and unilateralism at the summit, and be realistic about the prospects that the two largest global economies will reach a deal in the near future, they said.

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According to a Wall Street Journal report, President Donald Trump is considering a requirement that all next-generation 5G cellular equipment used in the United States will have to be designed and manufactured outside China.
As part of the 150-day executive order review, initiated after cybersecurity concerns in the United States, administration officials are asking tech companies and telecom equipment makers if they can develop U.S. hardware including cellular-tower electronics as well as routers and switches, and software from sourcing completely outside China.

(WSJ) […] The conversations are in early and informal stages, they said. The executive order calls for a list of proposed rules and regulations by the 150-day deadline, in October; so, any proposals may take months or years to adopt.

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