China challenges the USD, and not with the yuan: issues USD debt in Saudi Arabia at a <2bp premium over Treasuries, as the world votes for their trade surplus
also: China's lead in energy infrastructure
The geopolitical question of the hour is this: Will President Donald Trump be a peace candidate, or will he be manipulated into World War III by his Zionist and Looney Tunes evangelical Christian supporters?
A peace candidate will stop the Ukraine conflict with a Minsk 3 agreement that freezes the conflict where the lines are and demilitarizes Ukraine with a promise to stay out of NATO.
A peace candidate will make trade deals with China so that the world's citizens are not punished by a global trade war that will induce famine and depression in the USA and elsewhere. China could also help the US rebuild its infrastructure. The idea of a North American “Fortress of Solitude” is a foolish fantasy. America will decay in isolation and invite hostile aggression.
A peace candidate will lower or drop entirely the sanctions that are not working to destroy Russia or China and use targeted tariffs to help rebuild American manufacturing and strategic industries.
A peace candidate will not even consider imposing further sanctions on Chinese or other countries’ banks that use the SWIFT system to maintain global trade.
The lead story today, covered by Singaporean Sean Foo, has been covered with previous posts from “Inside China Business” and involves China’s moves to supplant the USD as a reserve currency by using it in their banks and extending “Eurodollar” loans in USD.
China has taken this supplantation of the USD to a new level by issuing USD-denominated bonds in Saudi Arabia. The market rewarded them with rates only 1-2bp above US Treasury rates. The buyers showed their trust in China’s ability to repay out of its roughly USD 1 trillion annual trade surplus.
If China develops an alternative to SWIFT, the world could continue to trade in USD, but it would hardly benefit the US, as the US Treasury’s cost of borrowing would increase with a lack of buyers. China could continue to borrow in USD and let the USD remain the “reserve currency.”
The second story today is from Kevin Walmsley at “Inside China Business,” which is about another little-known fact regarding China’s lead in infrastructure. Not only does China lead the world in alternative energy production, but it has also leapt ahead in power transfer via ultra-high-voltage lines. This is on top of their lead in nuclear energy production, national high-speed railway network, and national payment system (with the dreaded social credit score attached—something we don’t want to imitate).
The Neocons and Looney Tunes evangelical End Timers have clarified that they think Armageddon will be good. Bibi Netanyahu is “the man” to get it started, probably with an attack on Iran’s nuclear and oil production facilities.
From the point of view of the “we-must-maintain-unipolar-dominance” old-style Neocons, Armageddon is the excuse for cutting off oil to China and nuking Russia. China’s dependency on oil imports will remain its Achilles heel until it completes enough nuclear power plants to power itself. My pinned post and its links cover the Neocon plan to take down Russia and China in their historical moments of demographic weakness. This plan has been on the books of the psychopathic Neocons for decades.
Pray for peace!