Insane Criminal President

'LEGALLY AND MORALLY WRONG': BUSH ERA AMBASSADOR BLASTS TRUMP AFTER TRUMP CALLS ON CHINA TO INVESTIGATE BIDEN

BY JASON LEMON


Former United States ambassador to NATO Nick Burns slammed Donald Trump on Thursday, calling the clown's public call for China to investigate his political rival Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden "legally and morally wrong."
"Calling on one of our great rivals in the world, the Chinese regime, to investigate his political opponent," Burns, who served as the top U.S. diplomat to NATO under former President George W. Bush and later as the under secretary of state for political affairs, said during an interview with MSNBC, "it's wrong to do that. It's legally and morally wrong."
Speaking to reporters outside the White House on Thursday, Trump doubled down on defending his efforts to pressure Ukrainian leaders to look into claims against Biden while also saying China should investigate his political rival as well. 

The public call to encourage Chinese government to look for dirt on Biden came ahead of renewed trade talks with Chinese officials.
"They [the Ukrainians] should investigate the Bidens," Trump said. 

"Likewise, China should start an investigation into the Bidens, because what happened in China is just about as bad as what happened with Ukraine."
The president's actions came after Fox News reported on a previously known trip from 2013, when then-Vice President Biden and his son Hunter Biden traveled to China aboard Air Force Two. 

It has been alleged that Biden's son used the official government trip to enhance his own business interests in China. 

Critics of Trump may find the president's complaints about Biden somewhat ironic, as Trump's own family has appeared to use the ongoing trade war with China to benefit their personal business interests.
Democrats have launched an impeachment inquiry over revelations from a whistleblower that Trump pressured the Ukrainians to open a probe into Biden and his son, in an apparent bid to dig up dirt on his political rival. 

Prior to a July 25 phone call with Ukraine's president, Trump ordered the suspension of $391 million in military aid, which was supported by Democrats and Republicans. 

Critics argue that the aid was suspended as leverage to strong-arm the Ukrainians into launching the investigation.


CNN Newsroom
✔@CNNnewsroom
Former US Ambassador to NATO Nicholas Burns says President Trump’s call for both Ukraine and China to investigate the Bidens is “one of the worst things he's ever done to our democracy.”
“I think it disqualifies him,” he adds. https://cnn.it/2pIhNCt

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5:57 PM - Oct 3, 2019

Although Trump has dismissed the impeachment inquiry as "partisan," several prominent Republicans and conservative commentators have raised serious concerns about his actions.
In a separate interview with CNN on Thursday, Burns again slammed Trump over the calls for Chinese support in denigrating his political rival. 

The Bush-era ambassador characterized Trump's calls to China as "one of the worst things he's ever done to our democracy."
"I think it disqualifies him," he asserted.

Insane Clown President

Trump Praises Communist China, a Regime That Killed 65 Million of its Own People

By Michael W. Chapman


On Oct. 1, Donald Trump tweeted congratulations to Communist China on its 70th anniversary, a regime whose policies have killed more than 65 million of its own people, persecuted religious believers for decades, brutalized Tibet, and which operates concentration camps today holding close to 2 million people for "reeducation."
The Clown tweeted, "Congratulations to President Xi and the Chinese people on the 70th Anniversary of the People's Republic of China!"
The People's Republic of China was established on Oct. 1, 1949, after communist revolutionaries, led by Mao Zedong, took over the country.

As is well documented by many historians, Mao, a Marxist atheist, sought to implement socialism by force. 

His policies led to political and legal repression, executions, destruction of churches, collectivization, shortages, mass famine, starvation, and the death of millions of Chinese.
Mao ruled until his death in 1976. 

The current dictator is Xi Jinping, who is often compared to Mao and his image, alongside that of Mao, is sold in shops throughout China and posted on buildings.
According to the Black Book of Communism (Harvard University Press), one of the most authoritative books on the topic, the communist policies in China have killed more than 65 million people -- more than all the people who died in World War II.
Today, Communist China still operates its political prisons, called laogai, and it has built numerous concentration camps that imprison Muslims and other religious people for so-called "reeducation". 

It is a softer totalitarianism than under Mao but it is still brutal.
As Randall Schriver at the Defense Department's Asia desk recently told Reuters, “The (Chinese) Communist Party is using the security forces for mass imprisonment of Chinese Muslims in concentration camps.”

One of Communist China's concentration camps as seen by satellite.

It is appropriate to use the words "concentration camps," like those run by the Nazis, said Schriver because “given what we understand to be the magnitude of the detention, at least a million but likely closer to 3 million citizens out of a population of about 10 million," are being held.
"So a very significant portion of the population, (given) what’s happening there, what the goals are of the Chinese government and their own public comments make that a very, I think, appropriate description,” he said.

Communist tyrants: Mao Zedong and Xi Jinping.

Last week, a lawyer for the China Tribunal, Hamid Sabi, testified before the United Nations Human Rights Council about Communist China's harvesting of body organs from prisoners and from people considered political enemies.
Forced harvesting of organs has been occuring "for years throughout China on a significant scale ... and continues today," he said. 

Many of the victims are followers of the Falun Gong spiritual movement and Uighur Muslims, said the lawyer.

Strife-torn Hong Kong on October 1 marked the 70th anniversary of communist China's founding with defiant "Day of Grief" protests and fresh clashes with police as pro-democracy activists ignored a ban and took to the streets across the city. 

“Victim for victim and death for death, cutting out the hearts and other organs from living, blameless, harmless, peaceable people constitutes one of the worst mass atrocities of this century,” Sabi said. 

“Organ transplantation to save life is a scientific and social triumph. But killing the donor is criminal.”

Insane Clown President

Trump ignores Hong Kong protesters and focuses on China's money
The demonstrators are standing up to an authoritarian bully — and the clown's indifference to their plight is both immoral and reckless.
By Mark Dubowitz

A demonstrator holds a banner during a protest against the recent violence in Yuen Long, at Hong Kong airport on July 26.

Donald Trump has no problem walking the walk on taking tough action on China over economic issues, as he labeled China a currency manipulator and sent the stock market reeling. 

But when it comes to sustaining America’s most powerful asset in the broader competition with China — democratic moral authority — Trump seems reluctant to even talk the talk.
Beijing is signaling that a military invasion is possible against ongoing Hong Kong protests, which are expected to grow Friday with a demonstration planned at the international airport. 

Trump’s statements in response to the threat of this intervention undermined those taking to the streets to oppose Chinese authoritarianism, and departed dramatically from the best traditions of American foreign policy.
“Something is probably happening with Hong Kong, because when you look at, you know, what’s going on, they’ve had riots for a long period of time,” Trump said last Thursday on the South Lawn of the White House when reporters asked about the possible Chinese military crackdown. 

“And I don’t know what China’s attitude is. Somebody said that at some point they’re going to want to stop that. But that’s between Hong Kong and that’s between China, because Hong Kong is a part of China. They’ll have to deal with that themselves. They don’t need advice.”

Something is happening, indeed. 

The people of Hong Kong are standing up to an authoritarian bully in a courageous effort to secure their inalienable rights — and acting indifferent to their plight is both immoral and reckless.
Extraordinary numbers of Hong Kong residents are protesting because a bill was introduced to permit the extradition of people from Hong Kong to the mainland. 

They justifiably feared that the legislation’s passage would mark the end of freedom in Hong Kong and the beginning of the Chinese Communist Party’s absolute authoritarian control there. 

The protests have continued based on fears that the legislation will be revived despite promises by Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam to drop it. 

Protestors are calling for her resignation and the release of detained protestors, among other demands.
When the people of Hong Kong protest peacefully to protect their freedom, they are not “rioting.” 

That is the term that the Chinese Communist Party has used to mischaracterize the protests, and it is unbecoming of the leader of the free world to mimic them. 

Convictions in Hong Kong for rioting reportedly can carry a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. 

Perhaps that is why a key demand of the protesters is that the government stop using the term “riots.” It would be reasonable to expect the same from the president of the United States.
Perhaps most disturbing, Trump displayed ambivalence at best toward the plight of the protesters and a potential Chinese military crackdown. 

That’s the worst possible message to send to Beijing.
Unfortunately, as we have seen, despots tend to respond to American weakness or green lights with additional aggression and oppression. 

When the Obama administration weakly offered a “reset” to Moscow, Putin responded with aggression in Ukraine. 

In 2009, the Iranian people rose up against the mullahs in the Green Movement. 

Faced with a delayed and weak response by President Barack Obama, Tehran stepped-up its oppression of the Iranian people.
If the U.S. neglects its principles and fails to express strong support for the peaceful protests in Hong Kong, it could incentivize a crackdown and leave Beijing with the impression of flagging U.S. commitment to the region. 

That could have unwelcome implications for Beijing’s actions toward Taiwan. 

From the Communist government’s perspective, would a U.S. president unwilling to express even rhetorical support for peaceful protesters in Hong Kong be willing to go to war to defend Taiwan?
If Beijing comes to believe that the White House will subordinate all other considerations to trade negotiations, one can reasonably expect Beijing to engage in additional bad behavior elsewhere. 

That could mean, for example, additional aggression in the South China Sea and additional persecution of Muslim Uighurs in China’s East Turkestan colony.
It could also even hurt Trump’s ability to rein in China economically. 

If Beijing comes to view him as desperate for a deal, and willing to sacrifice Hong Kong to China, it will undermine the administration’s negotiating position.
A U.S. foreign policy solely focused on a narrow view of American economic interests is dramatically inconsistent with the best traditions of U.S. foreign policy. 

Trump’s own 2017 National Security Strategy recognized as much. 

“For much of the world, America’s liberties are inspirational, and the United States will always stand with those who seek freedom,” the document promised.
In Washington last month, Hong Kong entrepreneur Jimmy Lai emphasized America’s “moral force.” 

He warned that “America has really forgotten how important a weapon they have in their hand,” and implored: “We need the hope. We need to know that America is behind us.”
Trump, your comments undermined democracy in Hong Kong, increased the chances of a brutal crackdown by Beijing, endangered U.S. regional credibility and damaged America’s democratic moral authority.
Your administration deserves credit for recognizing the severity of the threat Communist China poses and for beginning to marshal the tools of national power necessary to compete with Beijing more effectively. 

In this competition, however, for the sake of both our security and democratic principles, please do not forfeit America’s most powerful and noble asset.

Xi Jinping: The Art of the Deal

China appears to be the winner of the Trump-Xi meeting at G-20, experts say

• Trump has touted his “far better than expected” meeting with Chinese dictator Xi Jinping at the G-20 summit in Japan, but experts say that Beijing appears to have gained an upper hand in the trade war.
• Trump said after his meeting with Xi that Huawei will be allowed to purchase U.S. products — suggesting a softening in Washington’s blacklist of the Chinese tech firm.

By Yen Nee Lee

China appears to be the winner in the trade war, strategist says

Donald Trump has grandiloquently touted his meeting with Chinese dictator Xi Jinping at the weekend as “far better than expected” — but trade and investment experts said Beijing appears to have gained the upper hand in the trade war.
Trump and Xi agreed at the G-20 summit in Japan to withhold from slapping additional tariffs on each other’s products as the two sides return to the negotiating table in a bid to finalize a trade agreement. 

In addition, Trump agreed to allow Huawei to purchase U.S. products and China will buy “large amounts” of American farm produce.
Washington had earlier announced a ban that restricts Huawei’s ability to do business with U.S. firms due to national security concerns. 

Trump’s softer stance on the Chinese tech giant was seen by observers as a major concession that the U.S. has granted China.
“It is looking like, so far, China is coming out as a winner from this G-20,” Francesco Filia, chief executive and chief investment officer at asset management firm Fasanara Capital, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Monday.
“It’s not even clear what they gave up in order to get it,” he said, noting there was a lack of details about what the two leaders agreed on at the meeting.
Filia is not the only one who has expressed skepticism over the U.S.-China trade developments.
Trump standing down on some of his threats to China was “one of the most concerning outcomes at the G-20,” said Danielle DiMartino Booth, chief executive of research firm Quill Intelligence.
“He obviously gave a lot of ground back to China,” she told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Wednesday.

Huawei’s status
Back home, both the U.S. and China governments appeared to tread Trump’s Huawei announcement with caution. 

A statement by China’s foreign minister on the meeting between Trump and Xi didn’t mention Huawei at all, while White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow said the president didn’t intend to grant “a general amnesty” to the Chinese tech firm.
Kudlow said Huawei remained on the so-called entity list, which largely blocks it from buying U.S. products. 

He added, however, that the Commerce Department will grant more licenses to allow American companies to do business with Huawei as long as the transactions don’t threaten national security in the U.S.

The lack of clarity surrounding the president’s comments on Huawei is one reason why reaction in markets following the Trump-Xi meeting “wasn’t actually that strong,” according to Eric Robertsen, head of global macro strategy and FX research at Standard Chartered Bank.
While negative risks surrounding trade have gone away for now, there wasn’t much “meaningful or tangible” outcome from that meeting between the two leaders, Robertsen told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Wednesday.
But Suresh Tantia, senior investment strategist in Asia Pacific at Credit Suisse, said Trump’s Huawei announcement shows that “everything can be negotiated”. 

Corrupted Clown President

More than 60 lawmakers demand ethics investigation into Trump's relationship with China
BY MARY TYLER 

More than 60 Democratic representatives are demanding an ethics investigation into Trump's ties to China, following his recent push to rescue Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE.
Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) posted a letter to David Apol, acting head of the federal government's ethics office, to Twitter on Sunday, stating that the request was prompted by Trump "advocating" for ZTE just days after the Chinese government gave one of the president's business endeavors a $500 million loan.
In the letter, lawmakers say the business dealing between the Trump Organization and China may have violated U.S. laws forbidding public officials from accepting payments or gifts from foreign entities without Congress's approval.
"The Chinese government's loan provides a clear financial benefit to Trump," the letter reads. "Despite the nearly unanimous recommendation by legal experts that he divest from his business interests before assuming the presidency, he failed to do so, instead placing his adult children in charge of day-to-day operations."

NEW: Will be sending this letter with more than 60 colleagues to demand an ethics investigation into @realDonaldTrump advocating for a Chinese company just days after China’s government gave his company a $500 million loan. pic.twitter.com/EC2fbjz4gr— David Cicilline (@davidcicilline) May 27, 2018

Rep. David Cicilline

Because Trump still holds interests in his businesses via a revocable trust — an arrangement that allows him to draw funds at his discretion — the president will be able to oversee the project and "earn a profit if it succeeds," according to the letter.
The project, an Indonesian theme park and development that will house Trump-branded hotels and golf courses, snagged a $500 million loan from China earlier this month.
Three days after the loan was reported, Trump announced that he ordered his administration to buoy ZTE, saving it from financial collapse. 

Trump sought to revive ZTE earlier this month, roiling lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who have sought to fortify restrictions on the company's ties to the U.S.
Despite a wave of bipartisan pushback, Trump on Friday appeared to confirm that his administration had reached a deal to put ZTE back in business.
"I closed it down then let it reopen with high level security guarantees, change of management and board, must purchase U.S. parts and pay a $1.3 Billion fine," he tweeted late Friday. 

"Dems do nothing but complain and obstruct."
Cicilline and the letter's co-signatories raised alarm over the short time frame between the loan's announcement and Trump's hinting at a renewed deal with ZTE.
"We believe that these events raise several potential constitutional and ethical violations," the letter continues. 

"… [T]he extremely short time period between the Chinese's [sic] government's loan and Trump's order to roll back penalties on ZTE warrants a review of any applicable federal ethics regulations."
Lawmakers went on to ask the ethics office to investigate whether the administration improperly secured the $500 million loan from China, whether Trump sought and obtained congressional approval before accepting the loan, and whether Trump or a member of his administration violated federal statute regarding conflicts of interest or ethics in the decision to ease sanctions on ZTE.
"The Trump administration has yet to give a satisfactory answer about the reason behind and the appropriateness of making concessions to ZTE, a Chinese company that illegally sold U.S. technology to hostile regimes," they wrote. 

"The Trump administration has also completely failed to address the suspicious timing between this policy reversal and the Chinese government's loan to a Trump-linked project."
"As you know, the issue of U.S. policy being manipulated by a foreign entity or the personal business interests of a public official is of grave concern to the American people. We ask that you promptly conduct a review of this matter and keep us apprised periodically about the progress of your investigation," the letter concludes.
Lawmakers have expressed previous concerns about ZTE potentially threatening national security. 

A 2012 House Intelligence Committee report warned congressional leaders to be wary of doing business with ZTE and Chinese competitor Huawei.
ZTE was banned by the Commerce Department from buying tech components after it violated U.S. sanctions by selling equipment to North Korea and Iran.

Trump is making China great again

The Trump presidency is a win for China

By Stephen Collinson

Washington -- There's been a whole lot of winning so far during the Trump presidency -- for China.
After accusing China of "raping" American workers and stealing their jobs in his White House campaign, Donald Trump has found it harder to hold Beijing to account as President.
In fact, his unpredictable policy moves and temperament are offering openings to China that could help it fulfill its mission of cementing its rise to superpower status more quickly than expected.
Trump has shown the policy reflexes best suited for a pinball machine when it comes to Beijing, threatening to crush it in trade wars one day and then being ready to make deals the next.
He's obsessed with one economic issue above all others: the $375 billion US trade deficit with China, which appears to be distracting him from goals that include halting Chinese intellectual property theft, which represents a far more serious threat to the American economy.
Trump's decision to anchor US-China relations on a hyper-personal relationship with Chinese dictator Xi Jinping also opens the US President to Chinese manipulation. 

Chinese leaders have long used flattery to court American politicians -- and the current commander in chief seems especially susceptible to such an approach.
Trump's desire to maintain China's help on the North Korea nuclear crisis gives Beijing leverage. 

And his abandonment of US leadership on issues like global warming and global trade has given China the opportunity to claim the former US role as a steady steward of world affairs.
The administration's rejection of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, for instance, allows Beijing to argue to US allies in Asia that Washington's promise to remain engaged in the region as a counterbalance to China's rise is empty.
And while Washington slogs through a daily riot of scandal and chaos, China is pressing forward with its aggressive territorial gambits in the South China Sea in areas also claimed by US allies and is expanding its soft-power trade and investment expansion throughout Eurasia. 

These are developments that rarely make the news in the US but are vital to Beijing's aspirations to challenge American power.
It's not as though the administration has not noticed all these developments.
The Chinese strategy actually validates the strong line that was spelled out in Trump's own new National Security Strategy, which describes Beijing as a competitor to "American power, influence and interests" in Asia and around the world.
Then, on Wednesday, the Pentagon pulled an invite to China to take part in a huge international naval exercise after it landed a bomber on a disputed island in the South China Sea and deployed missile launchers, after previously undertaking not to militarize the area.
But Trump's own approach seems to be at odds with his stated policy.
"While the administration at the bureaucratic level is trying to think and talk about long-term issues, Trump himself is very focused on the short term," said Aaron Friedberg, who served in the office of Vice President Dick Cheney and is now a professor at Princeton University.
The potential damage to US interests is compounded by the fact that China, now led by its strongest President in generations, is rarely accused of playing a short-term game -- and thinks in decades and centuries rather than the blinks of time between US elections.

'Played again'

Trends in US-China relations that seem to favor Beijing have been in evidence in recent days.
Last weekend, Trump shelved his threat of waging a trade war with China.
Ryan Hass, a former State Department and National Security Council staffer who's now with the Brookings Institution, said Trump had judged that he could not afford a rupture with Xi before his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which is planned for June 12.
"Whereas six weeks ago, the administration was running headlong at the trade issue, now it appears to be, at the most charitable interpretation, putting the pause button on things," Hass said.
Of course, temporarily muting US competition in China might eventually be seen as a shrewd tactic should Trump secure a deal to end Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program, an achievement that would rank as one of the biggest US foreign policy coups in decades.
But the reception to a trade deal reached with China over the weekend to avert a looming tariff battle suggests there is disquiet in Washington about ground being lost.
Although it offered concessions on lowering tariffs on auto imports and opening its financial markets, China was not forced to fold on some of the most bitter disputes with the US -- on intellectual property, for instance.
But it appeared to convince Trump to pull back a threat to levy $150 billion in tariffs on Chinese products, after offering to buy an unspecified amount of US agricultural products.
"We have been taken again," trade expert William Reinsch said on the new "Trade Guys" podcast produced by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
"Last summer they played us. They played us again," he said.
Details of the deal are still unclear, and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is expected to travel to Beijing next week to finish it off.
But even the President on Wednesday appeared to admit that it would fall short of expectations.
"Our Trade Deal with China is moving along nicely, but in the end we will probably have to use a different structure in that this will be too hard to get done and to verify results after completion," Trump tweeted.
The President's apparent climbdown has dismayed some Republicans, including his onetime GOP primary foe, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida.
"I have urged @potus to follow his initial instincts on China & listen to those in his administration who understand that a short term trade deal that sounds good but poses long term danger is a #BadDeal" Rubio tweeted Wednesday.
Given Trump's fixation with the deficit and belief that China has been exploiting the US on trade for decades, it's almost inevitable that tensions on the issue will bubble up again -- since the fundamentals of the case have not been solved.

'Great days of my life'

Trump to help Chinese phonemaker ZTE after ban

Another aspect of US-China relations that Beijing is playing to its advantage is Trump's view that relations with other countries are directly reflected in the strength of his personal connections with their leaders.
Trump frequently gushes over the lavish welcome he received during his state visit to China last year.
"I have a great relationship with President Xi. He's a friend of mine. He likes me. I like him. That was two of the great days of my life, being in China. I don't think anybody has ever been treated better in China -- ever in their history," Trump said on Wednesday.
Xi has exploited the "friendship" to save Chinese smartphone manufacturer ZTE, which was facing its demise under US punishments imposed for for infringing US sanctions against North Korea and Iran.
Trump tweeted this month that he had ordered the Commerce Department to give the company a reprieve after being asked to intervene by Xi, even though US intelligence agencies worry that ZTE devices could offer an opening for Chinese espionage agencies.
Trump defended himself on Wednesday, pointing out that it was his administration that "closed" ZTE in the first place, after he was accused of giving away considerable US leverage of the firm for very little in return.
Friedberg suggested that Trump's backward step on ZTE could start to convince China that the President is a "paper clown."
He argued that Trump's style was "all about creating drama and attention and pressure and then cutting some kind of deal."
"But once they (China) have figured that out, then they start discounting the pressure and the noise and so on and they focus just on the bottom line."

Insane Clown President

Trump Blames His "Friend" Xi Jinping for Sabotaging the Kim Jong Un Summit

After that second meeting with Xi this month, Kim Jong Un suddenly moved back to the dark side in his dealings with the United States.
By GORDON G. CHANG

Donald Trump met his South Korean counterpart in the White House on Tuesday, publicly acknowledged his planned summit with Kim Jong Un may never take place, and called out China’s ruler for sabotaging the denuclearization process.
It was about time the American leader recognized his North Korea policy was hitting roadblocks.
Just past noon, Trump faced the press with Moon Jae-in, the South Korean president, who flew in from Asia for a meeting that initially was scheduled for only two hours. 

“This time last week, Moon was coming here with the intention of trying to heavily script what Trump would do in his meeting with Kim,” Victor Cha, senior Asia director for George W. Bush’s National Security Council, told The Washington Post. 

“Now, he’s coming here just to try to save the summit. The mission has really changed.”
Last week, the North Koreans, who this year gave the impression they had turned over a new leaf, began acting like North Koreans again. 

They abruptly canceled high-level talks with Seoul, scheduled for last Wednesday, and cast doubt on their willingness to meet with Trump in Singapore on June 12. 

They cited their displeasure with long-scheduled joint military exercises and with John Bolton, Trump’s new national security adviser.
Moon has since tried to alleviate Kim Jong Un’s concerns, withdrawing, for instance, from the Blue Lightning air-training exercise with the United States and Japan this month. 

Seoul’s tactics have not worked to mollify the Kim regime, however.
Now, analysts want to know what caused the North’s return to the dark side, which took senior Trump officials by complete surprise. 

But the new hostility should have been anticipated. 

It was evident that Xi Jinping, whom Trump called a “friend” yesterday, put the North Koreans up to their new bristling posture.
Trump, in his wide-ranging comments made in the Oval Office with Moon at his side, picked on the Chinese for mischief-making. 

“I will say I’m a little disappointed, because when Kim Jong Un had the meeting with Xi, in China, the second meeting—the first meeting we knew about—the second meeting—I think there was a little change in attitude from Kim Jong Un,” Trump said. 

“So I don’t like that. I don’t like that.”
Nor should he. 

Xi obviously has been up to no good. 

In addition to openly violating U.N. sanctions in recent months, Xi has been schooling Kim in the art of defiance of the international community, especially the United States. 

That second Xi-Kim meeting—held May 7 and 8 in the Chinese city of Dalian—preceded North Korea’s return to bad behavior.
It took some time for Trump to recognize what was going on, but he evidently lost patience with the Chinese at the beginning of this week. 

On Monday morning, Trump took to Twitter to criticize Beijing. 

“China must continue to be strong & tight on the Border of North Korea until a deal is made,” the president warned. 

“The word is that recently the Border has become much more porous and more has been filtering in.”
The “porous” comment is an understatement. 

Over the last two months, China’s sanctions enforcement has markedly deteriorated. 

Moreover, Beijing has ramped up support for the North Korean economy. 

In the last few weeks, for instance, gas and diesel prices in the northern part of North Korea have fallen dramatically, which could not have happened unless China had been pumping substantially more oil into the North through its pipeline.
Beijing says it wants North Korea to denuclearize, but most of all it does not want to be left out of decision-making affecting the region. 

“China’s biggest nightmare is North Korea having a closer relationship with the United States and South Korea than it does with China,” prominent China-watcher Bonnie Glaser of the Center for Strategic and International Studies told The Washington Post.
Yes, Xi Jinping has been trying to convince Trump—and Moon—that every plan to denuclearize North Korea runs through the Chinese capital. 

Xi apparently got Kim to act up to create a need to consult Beijing—how else to explain the sequence of events this month?—but this cynical plan can blow up in Xi’s face.
Trump has, for a year, been publicly saying he is willing to go easy on trade issues with China if Beijing is helpful on North Korea. 

He repeated this theme Tuesday in his chat with the press.
“When I think of trade with China, I’m also thinking about what they’re doing to help us with peace with North Korea,” Trump said. 

“That’s a very important element.”
But what happens to Trump’s treatment of Chinese trade issues when he thinks Beijing is not helping? 

Many have commented that what Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin terms the “very comprehensive framework” for a China trade deal looks unsatisfactory. 

In short, the framework rewards America with little to which it was not already entitled and grants China large rewards, among them sanctions relief for ZTE Corp., the embattled Chinese telecom-equipment maker, and a decision not to impose tariffs under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 for stealing American intellectual property. 

Many analysts say, based on the 2017 update to the IP Commission Report (PDF), that China’s theft amounts to hundreds of billions of dollars annually.
Some may think the generous Trump position on trade is the price for Beijing’s help to defang the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. 

If Trump, however, thinks the Chinese are standing in the way of a NoKo settlement, he could take an especially tough attitude on trade.
Two China crises—one on North Korea and the other on trade—are intersecting, and feeding off each other. 

They both could escalate fast.

Insane Clown President

Bannon Condemns Mnuchin’s Trade Truce as China Giveaway

By Kevin Cirilli

Former Trump political strategist Steve Bannon condemned a weekend truce in the U.S. trade dispute with China as a capitulation, signaling dissatisfaction among Trump’s allies.
Bannon targeted Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker, for his role in the trade talks. 

Donald Trump “changed the dynamic regarding China but in one weekend Secretary Mnuchin has given it away,” Bannon said in an interview.
The Trump administration said it would hold off on tariff threats after the two nations agreed to “substantially” reduce the U.S. merchandise trade deficit with China, which last year hit a record $375 billion. 

Beijing "promised" to “significantly” increase purchases of U.S. goods and services, but there was no dollar figure attached, despite White House assurances that China would cave to its demand for a $200 billion annual reduction in the trade gap.
Trump on Monday defended the negotiations. 

“China has agreed to buy massive amounts of ADDITIONAL Farm/Agricultural Products -- would be one of the best things to happen to our farmers in many years!” he said in a series of postings on Twitter. 

“On China, Barriers and Tariffs to come down for first time.”
“We’re putting the trade war on hold,” Mnuchin said Sunday after the two sides released a joint statement a day earlier. 

“Right now, we have agreed to put the tariffs on hold while we execute the framework.”
Bannon said the comment from Mnuchin, who took the lead in trade talks with Chinese vice premier Liu He, showed the Treasury secretary “misses the central point” of the economic competition.
“They’re in a trade war with us and it hasn’t stopped,” Bannon said. “Mnuchin has completely misread the geopolitical, military, and historical precedence and what Trump had done was finally put the Chinese on their back heels.”
A Treasury spokeswoman didn’t immediately answer a request for comment.
Bannon suggested Mnuchin’s views on trade were out of sync with Trump’s populist political base. He compared him to Hank Paulson, who espoused a pro-China agenda as Treasury secretary under George W. Bush.
Paulson encouraged Mnuchin to travel to Beijing for a first round to trade negotiations and Mnuchin in turn lobbied Trump to authorize the trip, said a person familiar with the matter.
“You might as well have Hank Paulson doing this,” said Bannon, who is traveling to Italy this week to meet with Matteo Salvini of the Northern League about the populist party’s electoral success.
Other Trump loyalists echoed Bannon. 

Dan DiMicco, a trade adviser for Trump’s campaign and transition, joined in the criticism.
“Chinese r laughing at us again,” he said in a tweet. 

“They have never delivered on 1 promise in the past. Appeasement is the devils friend. Now we get to export our natural resources like an island nation. Soil & Water via agriculture. Energy instead of value added Mfg products!”

Insane Clown President

U.S. lawmakers push back on Trump talk of helping China's ZTE

By Patricia Zengerle, Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON -- U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday rejected any plan by Donald Trump to ease restrictions on China’s ZTE Corp, calling the telecommunications firm a security threat and vowing not to abandon legislation clamping down on the company.
Trump on Monday had defended his decision to revisit penalties on ZTE for flouting U.S. sanctions on trade with Iran, in part by saying it was reflective of the larger trade deal the United States is negotiating with China.
“I hope the administration does not move forward on this supposed deal I keep reading about,” Republican Senator Marco Rubio said. 

Bilateral talks between the world’s two biggest economies resume in Washington this week.
The Trump administration is considering an arrangement under which the ban on ZTE would be eased in exchange for elimination of new Chinese tariffs on certain U.S. farm products, including pork, fruits, nuts and ginseng, two people familiar with the proposal said. 

The potential arrangement was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
“They are basically conducting an all-out assault to steal what we’ve already developed and use it as the baseline for their development so they can supplant us as the leader in the most important technologies of the 21st century,” Rubio said at a Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Asia policy.
Trump had taken to Twitter on Sunday with a pledge to help the company, which has suspended its main operations, because the penalties had cost too many jobs in China. 

It was a departure for a president who often touts “America First” policies.
The Commerce Department in April found ZTE had violated a 2017 settlement created after the company violated sanctions on Iran and North Korea, and banned U.S. companies from providing exports to ZTE for seven years.
U.S. companies are estimated to provide 25 percent to 30 percent of components used in ZTE’s equipment, which includes smartphones and gear to build telecommunications networks.

CYBERSNOOPING
The suggestion outraged members of Congress who have been pressing for more restrictions on ZTE. U.S. lawmakers alleged equipment made by ZTE and other Chinese companies could pose a cyber security threat.
“Who makes unilateral concessions on the eve of talks after you’ve spent all this time trying to say, correctly in my view, that the Chinese have ripped off our technology?” Senator Ron Wyden, the senior Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, which oversees trade policy, told Reuters.
Wyden, who is also on the Intelligence Committee, was one of 32 Senate Democrats who signed a letter on Tuesday accusing Trump of putting China’s interests ahead of U.S. jobs and national security.
Republican Representative Mac Thornberry, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said at a Bloomberg event on Tuesday he did not expect lawmakers would seek to remove a ban on ZTE technology from a must-pass annual defense policy bill making its way through Congress.
“I confess I don’t fully understand the administration’s take on this at this point,” Thornberry said. 

“It is not a question to me of economics, it is a question of security.”