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Posting blind here! Transom Friend found another nugget for me today. Seems our POTUS really knows how to do the "squeeze play!" [In the original article at the link there are internal links which cannot be accessed from here.]

Transom Friend says,
"Sundance has been explaining Trump/China for a long time - this one is exquisite"

IMPORTANT – Michael Pillsbury: China Has “New Respect” For U.S. Trade Strategy…

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2018/08/18/important-michael-pillsbury-china-has-new-respect-for-u-s-trade-strategy/

Posted on August 18, 2018 by sundance

Sad Panda increasingly frustrated as disruptor Trump heaps vociferous praise on Chairman Xi, while simultaneously out maneuvering Beijing’s geopolitical economic strategy.

China expert Michael Pillsbury discusses the current environment around the Beijing leadership with Fox host Tucker Carlson. This is really important.

WATCH:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njGe2CPxHI8

What Pillsbury outlines is exactly what CTH predicted last year when we shared how the Red Dragon would be caught entirely off-guard. They’ve never seen this approach before.

NOTE: The upcoming Chinese trade delegation is not showing up at the end of this month as a matter of scheduling happenstance. What no-one in the financial/trade/economic media is connecting is the timing of their visit with USTR Lighthizers’ Section 301 Tariff hearings –SEE HERE. August 20th through August 27th, you can guarantee the Chinese delegations will be all over those hearings; including dispatching their paid lobbyists to provide input on their behalf.

Each time China takes aggressive action (red dragon) China projects a panda face through silence and non-response to opinion of that action;…. and the action continues. The red dragon has a tendency to say one necessary thing publicly, while manipulating another necessary thing privately. The Art of War.

President Trump is the first U.S. President to understand how the red dragon hides behind the panda mask.

It is specifically because he understands that Panda is a mask that President Trump messages warmth toward the Chinese people, and pours vociferous praise upon Chairman Xi Jinping, while simultaneously confronting the geopolitical doctrine of the Xi regime.

In essence Trump is mirroring the behavior of China while confronting their economic duplicity.

President Trump is putting on a MASSIVE economic squeeze.

♦Squeeze #1. President Trump and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin sanctioned Venezuela and cut off their access to expanded state owned oil revenue. Venezuela needs more money. China and Russia are already leveraged to the gills in Venezuela and hold 49% of Citgo as collateral for loans outstanding. China and Russia now need to loan more, directly.

However, China cannot engage in economic commerce with Venezuela or they risk losing access to the U.S. banking system. Therefore all current Chinese aid to Maduro comes in the form of IOU’s. These ongoing loans are likely impossible to be repaid.

♦Squeeze #2. China’s geopolitical ally, Russia, is already squeezed with losses in energy revenue because of President Trump’s approach toward oil, LNG and coal. Trump, through allies including Saudi Arabia, EU, France (North Africa energy), and domestic production has influenced global energy prices. Additionally, President Trump is demanding NATO countries, specifically Germany, stop supporting financial dependence on Russia.

Meanwhile, and directly connected, Russia is bleeding out financially in Syria. Iran is the financial reserve, but they too are energy price dependent and President Trump is now putting pressure on Iran vis-a-vis new sanctions and new demands on allies.

♦Squeeze #3. In 2017 Trump and Secretary Tillerson, now Secretary Pompeo, put Pakistan on notice they need to get involved in bringing their enabled tribal “extremists” (Taliban) to the table in Afghanistan. Pakistan’s primary investor and economic partner is China. The U.S. removed $900 million in financial support to pressure Pakistan toward a political solution in Afghanistan, China has to fill void. [NOTE: Last month the World Bank began discussions about a financial bailout for Pakistan.] Again, more one-way bleed for China.

♦Squeeze #4. China’s primary economic threat (competition) is next door in India. President Trump has embraced India as leverage over China in trade and pledged ongoing favorable trade deals. The key play is MFN (Most Favored Nation) trade status might flip from China to India. That’s a big play. It would have massive ramifications.

♦Squeeze #5. President Trump launched a USTR Section 301 Trade Investigation into China’s theft of intellectual property. This encompasses every U.S. entity that does manufacturing business with China, particularly aeronautics and technology, and also reaches into the financial services sector.

In March of 2018 U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer completed a section 301 review of China’s trade practices. [SEE HERE] Section 301 of the U.S. Trade Act of 1974 authorizes the President to take all appropriate action, including retaliation, to obtain the removal of any act, policy, or practice of a foreign government that violates an international trade agreement or is unjustified, unreasonable, or discriminatory, and that burdens or restricts U.S. commerce. However, as talks with China progressed, President Trump shelved the 301 action to see where negotiations would end-up. The May and June, 2018, negotiations between the U.S. and China provided no progress. The 301 review of China is now pulled back off the shelf, and President Trump assembles his trade-war strategy. The 301 tariffs/sanctions are currently being worked out with U.S.T.R Robert Lighthizer.

♦Squeeze #6. President Trump, Secretary Ross, Secretary Mnuchin and USTR Robert Lighthizer are dissolving NAFTA in favor of two bilateral agreements; one with Mexico and one with Canada. One of the primary objectives of team U.S.A. is to close the 3rd party loopholes, including dumping and origination, that China uses to gain backdoor access to the U.S. market and avoid trade/tariff restrictions. [China sends parts to Mexico and Canada for assembly and then back-door entry into the U.S. via NAFTA.]

♦Squeeze #7. President Trump has been open, visible and vocal about his intention to shift to bilateral trade renegotiation with China and Southeast Asia immediately after Team U.S.A. conclude with NAFTA. [Current discussions with Japan are ongoing]

♦Squeeze #8. President Trump positioned the U.S. relationship with the E.U. as a massive potential loss for Europe (via Steel, Aluminum, and Auto tariffs) if they did not: (A) shift their trade relationship toward greater reciprocity; and (B) reconsider the size of their trade relationship with China. After initially trying to push-back, Europe acquiesced.

♦Squeeze #9. President Trump has positioned ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) as trade benefactors for assistance with North Korea. Last year the KORUS (South Korea and U.S.) trade deal was renegotiated, and announced in March. The relationship between ASEAN nations and the Trump administration is very strong, and getting stronger. Which leads to…

♦Squeeze #10. President Trump has formed an economic and national security alliance with Shinzo Abe of Japan. It is not accidental that North Korea’s Kim Jong-un fired his last missile over the Northern part of Japan. Quite simply, Beijing told him to. However…

♦Squeeze #11. President Trump cut-off the duplicitous Beijing influence over North Korea by engaging directly with Kim Jong-un. The open exchange and ongoing dialogue has removed much of the ability of Beijing to leverage the DPRK nuclear threat for their own economic benefit. This dialogue was as much, if not more, about dismantling the Beijing geopolitical influence as it was about denuclearizing the Korean peninsular. However, no-one caught on to that part of the strategy.

Add all of this up and you can see the cumulative impact of President Trump’s geopolitical economic strategy toward China. The best part of all of it –as we previously stated– is the likelihood China never saw it, meaning the sum totality of “all of it”, coming…. at first.

Now they do, and, as Mr. Pillsbury notes from his travel and engagement, China is not quite sure how to respond.

Only President Trump could use economic leverage with such incredible insight and strategy toward achieving dual results benefiting the U.S. economy and U.S. national security position. It really is stunning when you stand back and look at how it has all played out…. in the open…. and yet seemingly no-one saw what he was doing.

Just brilliant.

[Continuing to post blind, but this Qanteen Narrative popped into my computer earlier today. It was initially generated in the previous thread in a conversation with CJ Wolf.]

CJW:
...Any donuts left?

texokie:
LOL! Yes plenty! They are on the fireplace mantel next to the Q Clock.

CJW:
Thanks! I see there are no bacon crusted ones left. Glazed and confused is good.

Btw. When that thing rings. It wakes people up. Some people just think it’s just cuckoo, but they can’t help but hear the chimes.

texokie:
Oh good - glad that what is left is at least marginally suitable. Well, apparently the bacon crusted ones are popular.

Hmmmmmm well, I didn’t know it both cuckooed AND chimed! I’ll take a look at it.

*texokie goes to the mantle and inspects the donut box…. A couple of crumbs are left which she deftly picks up on the pad of her finger to lick. She picks up the Q Qlock and sits in a bean bag with it. There is a hatch in the middle, just above the face where the Q dates are arranged around the face of the Qlock, as one sees in the LexiQon Clock entry. Several levers not attached to the innards of the clock are arranged at various places around the Clock so that if FReeQs are trying to prognosicate with it, they can demonstrate the connections with these movable levers. It is really quite a clever device. Texokie works with the hands of the clock to make it operate the cuckoo/chiming mechanism.

Instead of a cuckoo coming out, it is an Owl, and it hoots loudly several times. There is another hatch which texokie had not seen before, and out comes a nest with some tiny owlets moving their heads toward the mama owl. They are also hooting raucously. She moves her head toward them, hoots again, and they all go back in. Texokie laughs uproariously. She had not had time to examine the Qlock the day before when one of the Qlock FReeQs had snagged a box of donuts and brought the Qlock in to set it up and place on the mantel.

As texokie gazes at the closed Owl hatches, a moment later, a tremendous racket comes out from the Q Qlock with the Big Ben chime melody being played. The chimes sound pretty, and for a miracle, they are in tune - but very loud! She has heard regular chiming mantle clocks which are not in tune. That of course, is crazy-making. We don’t need any of that here in the Qanteen!

The deep bass boom of the hour counting chime vibrated texokie’s bones to the very marrows. Texokie uncrosses her eyes and turns it over hoping for a volume control, but alas, it does not seem to have one. She decides if she ever builds one, she would put a volume control on it. They are electronic chimes, after all. There SHOULD be a volume control - or at the very least, an off switch*

I can’t seem to figure it out, CJ Wolf. Perhaps maybe one of our mechanic FReeQs can take a look.

I guess at night we can stick it in the pantry; there’s a shelf just right for it in there. I’m afraid to put it in the Qanteen Qloset because some shovels or the vacuum cleaner might bang it up.

Or ....perhaps, if greeneyes and the Qlock FReeQs agree, we can put it in the greenhouse. It is nice and tight and dry in there, and perhaps greeneyes might permit the minor invasion of a Q Qlock in there…unless with the aqua pond set up in there, it might disturb the fish. It’s fun to fish, you know, but we don’t want to drive them crazy either.

I rather suspect that Swordy won’t let it into the LexiQon office, and for SURE with the Owls and all, baggie won’t let it NEAR the Oracle office!

*texokie resets the Qlock to the correct time and since the day is just getting started, she places it back on the mantel until one of the Qlock FReeQs crosses her path, and they can consult about how to solve the problem.*

SAAAAAAY! TExokie! let me see that again!

*CJ Wolf sits in a bean bag next to texokie and leans toward the Qlock. texokie offers it to him, and he carefully takes it in his lap and looks at the side - not the back where texokie had been looking - and taps on it a little and makes a scratching sound with his nail. He shows texokie what he discovered*

There IS a volume control for both the Hoots and the Chimes!! And unless I miss my guess, THIS is the on/off switch for the Big Ben chimes!

*texokie grins at CJWolf. FReeQs are the best! She resolves to get an extra box of the bacon crusted donuts tomorrow. texokie places the Qlock back on the mantel in quiet mode with CJ Wolf’s approval. Whoever dreamed that up is surely reserving any all copyright on it!*