Category Archives: Foreign Policy

Will China’s Slowing Economy Force a Trade Deal With the U.S.?

Friday, 22 November 2019 15:01

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Friday, November 22, 2019:

The underlying assumption in U.S. foreign policy seems to be that by applying pressure economically, China will be forced to agree to a trade deal. Richard Koo, chief economist at Nomura Research Institute, Japan’s largest economic research firm, thinks that policy is working: “I suspect the increasingly pronounced slowdown in China’s economy, coupled with recent employment data pointing to continued strength in the US economy, are putting heavy pressure on China to settle sooner rather than later.”

Koo assumes that the numbers coming out of China are reflective of reality there. At six percent growth per year, China’s economy (using the mathematical Rule of 72) will double every 12 years. If the U.S. economy is growing at two percent annually, its economy will double every 36 years. Simple math dictates that at some reasonably short time in the future, China’s economy will equal that of the United States, with all manner of political ramifications following.

As Michael Pillsbury pointed out in his monumental Hundred-Year Marathon: China’s Secret Strategy to Replace America as the Global Superpower, the communists running China expect their economy to be

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Sun Tzu Was Right: the Way to Defeat an Enemy Is to Keep Him Ignorant that There’s a War

Wednesday, 20 November 2019 09:31

This article was published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Wednesday, November 20, 2019:

Five hundred years before the birth of Jesus Christ, a Chinese military genius named Sun Tzu (or “Master Sun”) arose from obscurity to write “The Art of War.” His military strategies, and proverbs attending them, remain relevant today.

Michael Pillsbury, author of “The Hundred-Year Marathon: China’s Secret Strategy to Replace America as the Global Superpower,” exposed the communists’ (currently ruling the Chinese mainland) reliance upon Tzu’s strategies in confronting its temporarily superior enemy, the United States. In essence, wrote Pillsbury, the way to defeat a superior enemy is to invite him to help you become his superior without giving away the game.

It may be called the Kissinger strategy, and Pillsbury, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) since the Nixon administration, worked diligently to promote it. In his book, he referred to himself as a “panda hugger.”

But Pillsbury, to his credit, came in from the cold, repented, and in 2015 wrote what some are calling a 300-page apology to the American people for deceiving them. He wrote:

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Tech Companies Accelerating Their Exodus From China

Tuesday, 22 October 2019 20:24

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Tuesday, October 22, 2019:

In July, CNBC reported that more than 50 companies had moved some, most, or all of their manufacturing facilities out of China in response to President Trump’s tariffs. Combined with rising wages in China, the business environments in Vietnam, India, Korea, and elsewhere in Asia are looking more and more attractive to companies caught in the crossfire.

At the time, personal computer makers HP and Dell were reportedly considering moving up to 30 percent of their notebook production out of China to Southeast Asia. Others, including Apple and Nintendo, are accelerating their plans to exit China in favor of Vietnam and Thailand.

As the pressure of mounting tariffs and increasing Chinese reluctance to strike a comprehensive deal with the Trump administration mounts, Fitbit, Samsung, GoPro, and Crocs are joining the exodus. Ron Kisling, chief financial officer at Fitbit, said,

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China’s Economy Continues to Falter Ahead of October Trade Talks

Monday, 16 September 2019 20:47

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Monday, September 16, 2019:

New admissions from China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday reveal continuing and accelerating weakness in the world’s second-largest economy. Heading into trade talks scheduled for October, such weakness further erodes the bargaining power of China’s communist negotiators in dealing with President Trump’s top people.

The report from the Chinese government’s economic mouthpiece was startlingly candid: The nation’s industrial production hit its lowest level in 17 and a half years, while retail sales, auto sales, and investment measures worsened as well. Industrial exports declined by 4.3 percent last month compared to a year ago. Factory output shrank for the fourth straight month.

China’s economy could be facing a “vicious cycle” of decline, said Li Wei, an economist at Standard Chartered Bank. He warned that

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Trump’s Tweet is Laughable: Only the Communists Will Be Celebrating the 70th Anniversary of Their Oppression of the Chinese People

Friday, 13 September 2019 13:36

This article was published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Friday, September 13, 2019:

On the surface, Donald Trump’s reason for delaying by two weeks the increase in tariffs on Chinese imports is laughable: the only people celebrating the 70^th anniversary will be the communists themselves.

Beneath the surface, however, is the negotiating war taking place between the Chinese communists and Mr. Trump. And both know the rules.

They come from the Harvard Law School’s Program on Negotiation (PON).

Tweeted the President:

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Trump’s “Order” Backed by Power Congress Gave Up to the Executive Branch in 1977

Monday, 26 August 2019 12:43

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Monday, August 26, 2019:

Following President Trump’s “order” that U.S. companies doing business in China find “an alternative” place, he received pushback from much of the mainstream media that he once again was overstepping his bounds and turning his administration in a dictatorship.

Here’s what the president tweeted on Friday:

Our Country has lost, stupidly, Trillions of Dollars with China over many years. They have stolen our Intellectual Property at a rate of Hundreds of Billions of Dollars a year & they want to continue. I won’t let that happen! We don’t need China and, frankly, would be far better off without them.

The vast amounts of money made and stolen by China from the United States, year after year, for decades, will and must STOP.

And then he added:

Our great American companies are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to China, including bringing your companies HOME and making your products in the USA.

When the media jumped all over him, claiming he was assuming powers he didn’t have, Trump responded:

For all of the Fake News Reporters that don’t have a clue as to what the law is relative to Presidential powers, China, etc., try looking at the Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977. Case closed!

It was the New York Times that took the lead in accusing the president of overreach:

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The New York Times Accuses Trump of an Audacious Assertion of Power in Ordering U.S. Companies to Move Out of China

Monday, 26 August 2019 12:38

This article was published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Monday, August 26, 2019:

The New York Times even got its headline wrong: “Trump Asserts He Can Force U.S. Companies to Leave China.” The Times declared that Trump’s tweet storm on Friday “represented the latest audacious assertion of power by a president who has repeatedly crossed lines his predecessors did not. While he took office criticizing President Barack Obama for exceeding his authority, Mr. Trump has gone even further in finding creative ways to take action on his priorities.”

None of this is remotely accurate. The truth of the matter is that the president is restraining his use of powers Congress gave up to the Executive branch decades ago! Rather than “asserting” powers that he doesn’t have, or finding “creative ways” to expand his powers, the president is restraining the use of powers residing in the office of the Presidency when he arrived in January 2017.

Here’s what the president tweeted on Friday:

Our Country has lost, stupidly, Trillions of Dollars with China over many years. They have stolen our Intellectual Property at a rate of Hundreds of Billions of Dollars a year & they want to continue. I won’t let that happen! We don’t need China and, frankly, would be far better off without them.

The vast amounts of money made and stolen by China from the United States, year after year, for decades, will and must STOP.

And then he added:

Our great American companies are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to China, including bringing your companies HOME and making your products in the USA.

When the media jumped all over him, claiming he was assuming powers he didn’t have, Trump responded:

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China’s Economy Continues to Slow

Friday, 14 June 2019 15:54

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Friday, June 14, 2019:

When President Donald Trump learned of the dismal performance of the Chinese economy for all of last year, he tweeted in March: “China posts slowest economic numbers since 1990 due to U.S. trade tensions and new policies. Makes so much sense for China to finally do a Real Deal, and stop playing around.”

China’s No. 2 communist, Li Keqiang, admitted as much at the country’s annual news conference on March 15:

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How to Start a War

Friday, 14 June 2019 15:47

This article was published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Friday, June 14, 2019:

Stephen Walt, a professor of international relations at Harvard, not only thinks he know how wars start, he thinks Trump is well on the way to starting one with Iran. Writing for the establishment Foreign Policy magazine, Walt says that “leaders bent on war must convince the public that … war is necessary and wise. Congress abdicated its constitutional role to declare war a long time ago, which gives presidents a pretty free hand.”

First, says Walt, the president must persuade the public that the danger confronting the republic is both “grave and growing.” Second,

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Are Attacks on Oil Tankers at Hormuz Strait a Prelude to War?

Friday, 14 June 2019 06:25

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Thursday June 13, 2019:

Following reports of suspected attacks on two oil tankers moving through the vitally important Strait of Hormuz early Thursday morning, crude oil prices jumped four percent. Following that initial spike, oil prices settled back slightly.

The Strait is the only water passage from the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea and ultimately the Indian Ocean, and as a result a third of the world’s LNG (liquefied natural gas) and almost 20 percent of the world’s crude passes through the 21-mile-wide channel.

The early reports from the British Daily Telegraph were ambiguous,

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U.S. Sanctions on Venezuela Are Finally Working

Monday, 03 June 2019 20:54

This article was published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Monday, June 3, 2019:

Just before Juan Guaido, Nicolas Maduro’s opposition in Venezuela, called for his people to gather in front of Maduro’s presidential palace – “the largest march in the history of Venezuela” – this writer reminded readers that a similar gathering abruptly ended another dictatorship in Romania in 1989. This writer then suggested that perhaps lightning might strike twice, ending Maduro’s oppressive regime in a similar manner.

Sad to say, it didn’t happen. In some quarters it was suggested that Guaido’s failure strengthened Maduro’s dictatorship simply by surviving the threat.

Behind-the-scenes talks between Maduro’s people and Guaido’s in Norway failed to come to any sort of agreement as well, further confirming that Maduro was likely to remain in place for the foreseeable future.

Suddenly one of Russia’s military suppliers to Venezuela decided to pull out, giving the Maduro regime a body blow from which it may not recover. According to the Wall Street Journal,

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Bilderberg Meeting 2019: Nothing to See Here; Move Along

Wednesday, 29 May 2019 14:34

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Wednesday, May 29, 2019:

From a distance the gathering of some 130 wealthy and influential people in Montreux, Switzerland, starting tomorrow looks benign enough. The website of the Bilderberg Group says it’s just “an annual forum for informal discussions, designed to foster dialogue between Europe and North America.… It’s a forum for informal discussions about major issues.… There is no detailed agenda, no resolutions are proposed, no votes are taken, and no policy statements are issued.”

The group even posts its agenda items, which include “informal discussions” about Brexit, climate “change,” and the future of capitalism. All designed to put any seeker of the truth to sleep.

But a closer look reveals a much darker, more insidious and more dangerous agenda. First,

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U.S. Threats and Sanctions Forcing Venezuela’s Maduro to Negotiate

Wednesday, 22 May 2019 14:07

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Wednesday, May 22, 2019:

It’s clear that the sanctions being imposed by the White House on Nicolás Maduro’s tottering regime in Caracas are forcing him into negotiating with his opposite number. Last week the Associated Press reported that talks between Juan Guaidó’s people and Maduro’s were scheduled to take place in Norway.

Those sanctions, which have been applied to dozens of Maduro’s top officials, have extended to countries doing business with the Marxist regime. Consequently, Maduro’s primary source of revenue from his state-owned oil producer PdVSA has been cut drastically. In the past two years, oil exports have dropped from more than three million barrels of crude a day to 500,000 barrels a day. And most of that production is committed to Cuba in exchange for its military and technical support.

In April, the White House applied sanctions on the Central Bank of Venezuela, sharply limiting its access to American dollars. Those sanctions also

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Rhetoric Escalates in Trade War as Trump Targets Huawei

Friday, 17 May 2019 05:43

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Thursday, May 16, 2019:

Following Communist China’s reneging on a pending trade “deal,” President Donald Trump backed away, saying that any deal had to be in America’s best interests or there wouldn’t be any deal: “It must be a great deal for the United States or it just doesn’t make any sense,” he declared. He followed his rhetoric by raising tariffs further on some $200 billion worth of Chinese imports into the United States, and he threatened to place tariffs on the remaining $300 billion worth of imports from China.

Last Friday, Trump upped the ante further by signing an executive order banning the import of telecommunications gear from “foreign adversaries” [read: China]. This was followed by the Commerce Department declaring that it was adding Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications giant, to its list of companies engaged in activities “that are contrary to American interests.” These moves were a belated recognition that, under Beijing’s command, every Chinese entity — individuals and companies — in the United States is tasked to conduct espionage for the homeland. These moves predictably elicited anger from the Chinese communists. One of its mouthpieces, Global Times, roared:

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Corporate Welfare: Ex-Im Bank Being Revived by Trump

Thursday, 09 May 2019 17:11

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Thursday, May 9, 2019:

After lying fallow for nearly four years, the Export-Import Bank is being revived by one of its most vociferous critics: President Donald Trump. On Thursday the Senate, at the urging of the president and with the assistance of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, confirmed three people to fill vacancies at the bank, bringing it back to full strength.

That means that the bank, once limited to guaranteeing loans of $10 million or less, will now be able to go full throttle, helping big U.S. companies (who don’t need the help but are always willing to accept it) such as Boeing, Caterpillar, and General Electric with billions in loan guarantees.

The bank’s charter expires on September 30. If, as appears likely, Congress extends it (as it has ever since the bank’s inception in 1934), then not only will the biggest companies in America be able to obtain financing for their exports by putting the American taxpayer at risk instead of themselves, but their export partners will also benefit.

One of those export “partners” is communist China, Trump’s adversary in the escalating trade wars. Trump’s mouthpieces Larry Kudlow and Peter Navarro, who have been pushing for the bank’s resuscitation, claim that since China has its own Ex-Im bank, the United States needs one too — to “level the playing field,” of course.

As senior research fellow at George Mason University Veronique de Rugy warned last fall in an article republished at The New American,

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After Failed Coup Attempt in Venezuela, What’s Next?

Monday, 06 May 2019 13:23

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Monday, May 6, 2019:

Juan Guaidó, Nicolás Maduro’s opposition in Venezuela, said on Saturday that the reason his attempted coup failed last week was that he overestimated the support he would be getting from Maduro’s military: “We need more [of his] soldiers to support [us], to back the constitution.”

The failure has left the foreign policy wonks and neocons embedded in the Trump administration scratching their heads. What else can they do to get rid of Maduro and replace him with Guaidó?

Their options are limited. There are conversations between President Trump and President Putin over Venezuela, with both of them saying they don’t want war. Said Trump following that phone call on Friday:

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The Game of Chicken Between Trump and Maduro Just Became More Dangerous

Tuesday, 09 April 2019 08:57

This article was published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Monday, April 8, 2019:

Teenagers with excessive testosterone were reported playing a game of chicken in Connecticut. Instead of facing off against each other with daddy’s Caddy, they were lying down in roadways at night or darting into oncoming traffic, daring drivers to hit them. From the news report:

Imagine you’re driving through the center of town, late at night, when you spot someone lying in the middle of the road … forcing you to slam on your brakes.

That terrifying thought is now a scary reality for people who live in East Hampton who claim young teens have been darting in front of cars and terrorizing drivers.

It’s not only teens playing this game many call “chicken,” but people who live in East Hampton said the teens are jumping in front of cars, darting through traffic and terrorizing drivers as they pass through the center of town.

When countries play chicken, the risks become exponentially higher. Last Friday the Trump administration raised the ante in its game of chicken with Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolas Maduro. The game now involves Cuba and, by extension, Russia.

During his speech to Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy in Houston, Vice President Mike Pence announced additional sanctions against the rogue Maduro regime running Venezuela:

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Venezuelan Crisis Deepens as U.S. Tries to Isolate Venezuela From Cuba, Russia

Monday, 08 April 2019 08:17

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Monday, April 8, 2019:

During his speech to Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy in Houston on Friday, Vice President Mike Pence announced additional sanctions against the rogue Maduro regime running Venezuela: “The United States will continue to exert all diplomatic and economic pressure to bring about a peaceful transition to democracy…. The time has come to liberate Venezuela from Cuba.”

Immediately following his speech, the U.S. Treasury Department levied sanctions on 34 oil tankers owned or operated by PdVSA, Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, along with sanctions on two international shipping companies involved in shipping oil from Venezuela to Cuba. Said Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin: “Treasury is taking action against vessels and entities transporting oil … providing a lifeline to keep the illegitimate Maduro regime afloat. Cuba continues to profit from, and prop up, the illegitimate Maduro regime through oil-for-repression schemes as they attempt to keep Maduro in power.… Cuba has been an underlying force fueling Venezuela’s descent into crisis.”

Up until Friday, U.S. sanctions on Maduro and members of his Marxist regime have had little impact. Despite international pressure from more than 50 countries supporting Maduro’s opponent, interim president Juan Guaidó,

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Any cuts in Foreign Aid would be Welcome, especially if they Reduce NGO Support of Caravans

Tuesday, 02 April 2019 06:27

This article was published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Monday, April 1, 2019:

Missing from much of the conversation over Trump’s decision to cut foreign aid to Central America’s Northern Triangle (El Salvador, Guatemala, and the Honduras) is the impact it would have on the NGOs funding and supporting the caravans threatening the southern border.

The 2016 film “Poverty, Inc.” exposed the multi-billion-dollar NGO-enriching poverty complex that has been built up over the years to milk the flow of foreign aid dollars from U.S. taxpayers to governments around the world. For its efforts, the film won numerous international awards but precious little attention from the MSM in the U.S.

With Trump’s determination to cut off foreign aid to these three countries in retaliation for their lack of assistance in slowing or thwarting the caravans marching north through their countries, this could be a significant benefit to U.S. national sovereignty.

After earlier threatening to end foreign aid to three Central American countries whose citizens make up a large part of the caravans overwhelming U.S. border security services, last Friday President Trump directed State Department Secretary Mike Pompeo to

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Trump Cuts Foreign Aid to El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras Over Caravans

Monday, 01 April 2019 06:19

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Sunday, March 31, 2019:

After earlier threatening to end foreign aid to three Central American countries whose citizens make up a large percentage of the caravans overwhelming U.S. border security services, on Friday President Trump directed State Department Secretary Mike Pompeo to cut direct aid to the three countries making up the Northern Triangle: El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. At stake is about $500 million in aid.

Said the State Department: “At the Secretary’s instructions we are carrying out the President’s direction and ending FY 2017 and FY 2018 foreign assistance programs for the Northern Triangle.” It noted that it would coordinate these actions with Congress.

The announcement followed a tweet from the president that morning:

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