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China and Russia move closer as Trump’s America flexes against China…..

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Under most of the modern era US President’s America has been moving to keep China and Russia to use trade as a means to work WITH the two authoritarian countries….

With the Trump administration that has changed….

Almost banging the table like Nikita Khrushchev….

Donald Trump has moved against the Chinese forcefully in trade, something China feels it needs to do keep its economy and people in good health….

Both China and Russia HAVE seemed to undermine the America economy and technology in underhanded ways…(The Russian’s in politics also)

The exposure from the American Intelligence community, media attention and finally Robert Mueller probes have uncovered the Russian efforts to co-op Trump….and Trump HIMSELF thru his ‘in your face’ trade campaign against China have seeming pushed China and Russia move closer….

This something that is not going to good for America and Western Allies, as it could lead to bad ole’ days of the military and economic  Cold War…..

But the push and shove has ALREADY begun….

While Washington prepares for new cold wars, America’s two major rivals are warming up to one another.

Driving the news: Today alone, the Trump administration laid out an Africa strategy that is tied almost entirely to blocking Chinese and Russian influence, and President Trump used the word “China” 20 times in a relatively brief Fox News interview. U.S. foreign policy is increasingly defined by confrontation and competition with China and with Russia. But what about the third leg of that “great power” triangle?

I sat down yesterday with Alexander Gabuev, a China expert at Carnegie Russia, who told me the two giants are moving closer together — in part as a response to an increasingly confrontational Washington.

  • Gabuev says there are “three elements of geopolitical tinder that allow Russia and China to swipe right every time” — the need for security on their 2,000-mile border, the complementary natures of their economies and the similarities in their authoritarian approaches.
  • Those elements provide the foundation for a relationship that is growing deeper and is characterized by the phrase, “not necessarily for each other, but never against each other.”

The long-standing issues of tension — like competition for influence in Central Asia or China’s copycat approach to Russian military technology — have largely been put aside, Gabuev says.

  • On military tech, he says, the Kremlin has decided that “China will get there in 5 or 10 years on their own, so we either sell it to them now or lose out.” Likewise, they’re resigning themselves to the reality of China being a dominant economic player in their backyard.

What it looks like …

  • In September, China took part for the first time in Russia’s Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) and its massive Vostok war games.
  • Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin emphasized their cooperation and mutual respect at EEF, going so far as to don aprons and make pancakes. China’s ambassador to Russia, Li Hui, said, “At present, China-Russia relations are at their best in history.”
  • Putin and Xi met again at the G20 on Nov. 30, though their conversation was overshadowed by Trump’s high-stakes dinner with Xi and last-minute cancellation of his Putin meeting.

What we’re witnessing is not a true alliance, but a partnership defined by pragmatism…

More….

Beneath the American media ‘all things Trump’ reporting?

Things ARE escalating between America and China, which is pushing China closer to Russia….

The escalation of the U.S.-China trade war into tit-for-tat arrests suggests a new stage of hostility in their rivalry for technological and economic dominance in the coming decades.

Why it matters: Everyone is a potential target in this brinkmanship as nerves fray, the global order erodes, and the old rules of international engagement are thrown out.

The backstory: In recent days, China has detained two Canadian citizens — Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor — for “engaging in activities that endanger China’s national security,” a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said.

In interviews with Axios, U.S. experts interpreted the detentions as direct retaliation for an arguably provocative new American approach toward China.

  • In October, Belgian police arrested Yanjun Xu, a Chinese intelligence officer accused of economic espionage in the U.S., on the request of American authorities. He has already been extradited to the U.S.
  • On Dec. 1, Canadian authorities arrested Meng Wanzhou, CFO of Chinese phone giant Huawei, and daughter of the company’s founder. Meng allegedly violated U.S. banking fraud laws and sanctions against Iran. The U.S. is seeking her extradition.

“By making a prominent example of Canada, Beijing is sending a message globally,” Dennis Wilder, the National Security Council’s senior director for East Asia under George W. Bush, tells Axios.

“Foreign businesses and other entities operating in China need to recognize that there are no more ‘grey areas’ in the Xi Jinping era when it comes to conforming to the letter of Chinese law. You might get away with it in the near term, but then you will be a convenient target when tensions with your home country escalate.”
— Chris Johnson, Center for International and Strategic Studies….
image…express.co.uk

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