Op-ed:
Thanks
to President Trump, China appears to be trying to reign in the insane
North Korean man-child Kim Jong-un for China’s President Xi Jinping
understands well that the U.S. could and most likely will take
unilateral action against the North Korean dictator if he keeps up his
saber rattling and rocket launching.
In
other words, while both China’s government and her people know they
would suffer and suffer greatly on the economic front if war did indeed
break out, they also know that both prestige and regional influence not
only comes into play, but that sometimes those two factors trump even
the economic scenario. And that is why President Trump tried to put the
ball back in our court when he told President Xi in a recent telephone
conversation that “a trade deal with the U.S. will be far better for them (China) if they solve the North Korean problem!”
But
if truth be told an actual outward switching of sides will not be that
simple for China to do what with China being a big brother, a mother, a
father, and an overseer all rolled into one in regards to North Korea.
And this is but a symbiotic relationship that started when China’s
Chairman Mao sent more than a million Chinese troops to fight in the
Korean War, and that very act directly afforded Kim Jong-un’s
grandfather, Kim Il-sung, the ability to keep control of the northern
half of the Korean peninsula. But as the years have unfolded, China ever
so slowly has started to see and digest the reality that the current
regime of Kim Jong-un has done absolutely nothing to benefit China’s
growing national interests nor for its growing economy...in fact the
man-child has actually harmed China’s long-coveted super-power status in
certain key ways.
Thankfully,
that scenario changed for the U.S. when President Trump recently
ordered U.S. warships and aircraft carriers to the waters off North
Korea’s coast.
Fact:
China, thanks to rapid industrialization, is the world's largest
economy with $21.27 trillion in 2016 (with the allowing for adjusted
purchasing power parity which is simply the exchange rate between two
currencies equaling the ratio of the currencies' respective purchasing
power); the European Union is second at $19.1 trillion; and the United
States, thanks to Obama’s total economic disasters, is now in third
place at $18.5 trillion. But even with this China’s economic growth
slowed to 7.7% last year, it continues to show some signs of
decelerating further. This has certain trading partners worried,
especially those that export a lot of resources to China...trading
partners like Brazil and Australia.
Fact:
as of this past February the U.S. debt to China stands at $1.059
trillion and climbing...as in 27.8% of the $3.8 trillion in Treasury
bills, notes, and bonds held by foreign countries. The rest of the $19.9
trillion national debt is owned by either the American people or by the
U.S. government itself, and that once thought unimaginable number of
monies owed is again thanks to the free-for-all spending of one Barack
HUSSEIN Obama.
And
much to the chagrin of so many, it appears on the surface that it is
China who holds the upper hand in regards to the above facts for China's
role as America's largest banker, if you will, gives her needed
bargaining leverage no matter how the media tries to claim it does not.
And China quite often, and not so quietly, states that it will sell off
part of its U.S. holdings (and that includes its land holdings) if we
continue to pressure her to raise the yuan's value. In fact, since 2005,
China raised the yuan's value by 33% against the dollar, and between
2014 and 2015, the dollar's strength increased by 25% causing China to
allow the value of the yuan to decline. And why did they allow
this...simply...this decline allowed China’s exports to remain
competitive with Asian countries that did not tie their currency to the
U.S. dollar.
And
then China, a country who has now for all intents and purposes actually
embraced capitalism, can always choose to rid itself of its U.S.
Treasuries which would negatively affect U.S. financial markets by its
causing so-called downward ‘shifts’ in the dollar or interest rates.
So
how and why does all this affect China’s sudden cooperation in reigning
in North Korea’s man-child Kim Jong-un...or at least their trying to.
First, China is North Korea’s chief economic so-called ‘pipeline’ and
that means they supply Kim Jong-un with the oil and coal needed to keep
his country operational, meaning if said oil and coal is not supplied
then the North Korean economy...no matter how unstable it already
is...would totally collapse in full.
And
how does this new cooperation in turn affect the U.S...it allows the
U.S. to have leverage over both any new trade agreements reached as the
Chinese now know they need the increased trade and resulting cash flow
in case Kim Jong-un does the unthinkable...as in turn on the so-called
Chinese hand that feeds them. And that possibility is now starting to
loom large what with China now doing what Kim Jong-un never thought they
would do...as in suspend all imports of North Korean coal for the rest
of this year.
_______________________________________________________
Today, Tuesday, April 25th from 7 to 9pm EST on American Political Radio, RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS Craig Andresen and Diane Sori discuss who has the upper hand in regards to North Korea, misplaced indignation from both sides of the political isle, and important news of the week.
Hope you an tune in at: http://bit.ly/2cpXuRd
The Upper Hand Remains Ours
By: Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / Right Side Patriots

And with President Xi saying that China "is
committed to the target of de-nuclearization on the peninsula,
safeguarding peace and stability on the peninsula, and advocates
resolving problems through peaceful means," it becomes apparent
that Xi knows that to do so would benefit China’s economic
pocketbook...but is there actually more to his words and even more at
stake than seen at first glance.
And yes...there is more at stake...much
more...what with Kim Jong-un now threatening not just South Korea and
Japan but threatening also to do a “mighty pre-emptive strike against the U.S.”...that
is if his rockets do not keep falling into the sea. And these recent
threats have seen China moving its military towards their shared border
because Xi is wise enough to know that first, a war on the Korean
peninsula would not serve China’s said pocketbook nor its pecking order
on the world stage well and second, he also knows that a loony man-child
like Kim Jung-un could just as easily turn on China... the very country
that made and still finances his dictatorial bed.

Translation: Trump made it clear that China must,
no matter the cost to them, reign in Kim Jong-un for China not only
needs bi-lateral trade deals and investments with the U.S., but with us
now flexing our military muscle the dynamics in both the Middle East and
the Far East have changed...as in the U.S. is now leading from the
front having replaced Obama’s leading from behind.
And that particular dynamic has common sense
dictating that if China was smart they would switch sides in the North
Korean standoff or at least call for the man-child to stand
down...something they now seem somewhat to be doing.

How so...with North Korea having the nuclear
bomb...albeit at this time minus a successful delivery system...which in
time please know they will get...and with North Korea lying on China’s
eastern border...they can and do try to pretend that they are a major
power broker. And as such with both threats and accusations they have
held the true power brokers at bay...power brokers including China,
Russia, and until just recently these United States.
So, if an actual switching of sides by China
might not be realistically feasible at this given point in time what
with Chinese so-called ‘saving face’ also coming into play...know that
in the near future it just might happen. And why...because China can
ill-afford having a loon next door going ‘rogue’ without warning, and
because the Chinese know that the U.S. dollar is mightier than North
Korea’s saber rattling sword.
And how so...first let’s look at a few key number
facts* about both China’s and our U.S. economy and see who, if anybody,
actually holds the much needed upper hand and why they do so.

But for China this slowdown in growth is not
necessarily a bad thing as a slowing down usually does happen after
years of rapid growth. And China has had an eight-fold increase in
living standards in a mere 30 years...an increase that took the U.S. 122
years and Japan about 80 years to achieve. Or as economist Barry
Naughton states, “China’s growth is slowing in part because it has graduated early.”

Fact: China exported about $482 billion in goods
to the U.S.in 2015 (the latest finalized numbers available), more than
any other country who exported goods to the U.S., and that is according
to the Office of the United States Trade Representative. However, we
exported just $116 billion in goods to China during the same year,
putting our goods trade deficit at $366 billion.
Fact: China buys U.S. debt to support the value
of the dollar. And why...because China ties in its currency (the yuan)
to the U.S. dollar, and devalues said currency when needed to keep its
export prices competitive.

So where exactly does our economic upper hand
come in or do we actually have one at all? First, to outwardly gain the
economic upper hand within a short period of time some say we can always
place tariffs of up to 45% (remember President Trump spoke about that
during the campaign) on goods coming into the U.S. from China. However,
doing this would actually hurt both our countries as we are a prime
export market for Chinese goods, and so in turn U.S. companies would
lose access to China's growing middle class.

So where does our economic upper hand really
lie...it lies with the fact that as China’s economy continues to develop
no matter a temporary slowdown, they are now being forced to pay their
workers more which in turn sees low-cost manufacturing jobs leaving
China for even lower-cost countries like Vietnam, Bangladesh, and even
(gasp) Mexico. And as per The Washington Post, China has also exhausted
most of what economists call 'catch-up' growth from acquiring
the technologies of more advanced markets for as countries catch up and
get richer, their economic growth just tends to slow...and might I add
while our economic growth is finally moving forward instead of just
holding steady.

Second, if that collapse did happen the Kim
family dynasty would obviously come to an end, which in turn could lead
to a unified Korea (which by the way will eventually happen) led by the
South, which is home to tens of thousands of American soldiers sitting
right on China’s border. And lastly, that would be coupled with
countless numbers of refugees from the north flooding into China which
would negatively impact their economy...that is unless beneficial
economic trade agreements were reached between Beijing and
Washington...trade agreements that would bring into China enough cash to
balance out all the new mouths they would now be forced to feed.

So in the end when push comes to shove, China
does need us more than we need them for the dollar is indeed mightier
than Kim Jong-un’s ever threatening sword.
__________________________________
*Number facts cited from Real Money, The Washington Post, and The Balance
Copyright © 2017 Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor _______________________________________________________
Today, Tuesday, April 25th from 7 to 9pm EST on American Political Radio, RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS Craig Andresen and Diane Sori discuss who has the upper hand in regards to North Korea, misplaced indignation from both sides of the political isle, and important news of the week.
Hope you an tune in at: http://bit.ly/2cpXuRd
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