Both the USA and China are seeking to take advantage of unrest within the enemy’s borders, as a lengthy article by Strategy Page elucidates.
While 2018 was a bad year for the economy, 2019 is not much of an improvement. China hoped to maintain GDP growth of at least six percent while at the same time continuing to safely reduce (“deleverage) the huge number of bad loans local governments and corrupt banks have taken on over the last decade. The economic decline in 2018 could be measured in many aspects of economic activity (production, orders for raw materials, finished goods or construction and so on) and sentiments (of people running the economy and consumers). Chinese stock markets were down over 30 percent by the end of 2018 and for the first time in three years, profits of industrial firms took a dive. At the same time there were similar shocks to the American economy, but much more limited. Chinese and American leaders have not been able to agree on how to resolve trade and intellectual property disputes. China so far resists making any trade concessions. There is also supposed to be a halt in Chinese theft of American IP (Intellectual property) and commercial espionage in general. Until now the Chinese would often flagrantly cheat and then deny that they had done any such thing. This has been going on for decades and the recent American trade war is meant to deal with this long festering issue.
China is apparently hoping to be patient and take advantage of the current political turmoil in the United States. This has made most of the American media and many American politicians reluctant to criticize China mainly because American mass media is obsessed with overthrowing the current U.S. government. China sees an opportunity here and is taking it.
Damn him, deify him, or be disappointed in him, the observable fact of the matter is that God-Emperor Trump is about the only force standing in between the USA and its headlong plunge into economic contraction, violent civil conflict, and eventual collapse.
The schools are converged. The churches are converged. The corporations are soulless, corrupt vampires. The politicians are owned, leashed, and broken to heel. The military is converged.
Après Trump le déluge.