Lone Candle
Champion of Truth
Trump’s deal with China has made things less bad than they were before the meeting, but they are still way worse than they were before Trump engaged in a trade war with China.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dr-gB3BNykQ
“Over the last eight months, the Trump administration has run roughshod over Congress and its constitutional prerogatives. Trump’s decision to ignore the TikTok ban on his first day in office may seem minor in the grand scheme of things, but it foreshadowed a series of far more aggressive moves to usurp much of lawmakers’ constitutional authority: dismantling congressionally-created agencies, redirecting congressionally appropriated funds and implementing a massive tax hike on the American public in the form of Trump’s chaotic tariff regime.
The vast majority of this was made possible by congressional Republicans, who have largely turned a blind eye to all of Trump’s gambits, and by the Republican appointees on the Supreme Court, who have handed Trump a series of victories this year in his wide-ranging efforts to both unilaterally slash the federal government while dramatically expanding the powers of the presidency.
The acquiescence to Trump’s TikTok reprieve this year has been a far more bipartisan affair, but it has been a constitutional farce all the same, and it is not over yet.”
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/09/19/tiktok-trump-xi-deal-law-column-00571832
“despite its scale, the bloc remains ideologically and strategically fragmented. “It’s a group of countries that hate each other,” Burack said bluntly. “China is harming many of them through unfair trade practices. There’s not a lot of incentive for real unity.”
The alliance’s aspirations to challenge the U.S. dollar through alternative payment systems and a potential BRICS currency have gained media traction — but experts caution against overestimating this threat.
“There’s been a lot of fearmongering about a BRICS currency,” said Burack. “But the interests of these countries are completely divergent. There’s more smoke than fire when it comes to a currency challenge to the dollar.””
…
“While its cohesion remains questionable, BRICS poses a long-term challenge to U.S. influence — particularly in regions where Washington has retreated diplomatically and economically.
“China filled the void left by the U.S. in places like Africa,” said Briggs. “Now it controls about 38% of the world’s minerals. Meanwhile, Russia’s economy has doubled despite sanctions, because they preemptively reduced reliance on the dollar.”
Yet Chang sees India as a brake on any aggressive anti-Western tilt. “BRICS has an ‘I’ in it—and that’s India. Modi doesn’t want to be part of an anti-Western bloc. As long as India’s in BRICS, the rest of the world is safe.””
https://www.yahoo.com/news/xi-jinping-surprise-no-show-140004411.html
Asking what Xi wants is the wrong question because the appetite grows in the eating. Even if Xi just wants to dominate East and Southeast Asia right now, once China has gained that, their appetite will grow and they will want more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aQfzDs7RzI
“He’s insisting on one-on-one talks with China’s leader, Xi Jinping — and this has stifled other diplomatic efforts to halt the worsening trade war between the two global powers.
The president won’t authorize White House delegates to engage with Chinese officials in Beijing about a detente, according to two former senior State Department officials and an industry official, who were granted anonymity to discuss sensitive ongoing discussions. The Senate has yet to confirm an ambassador to China; Trump has not appointed anyone else to lead talks with Beijing; and the White House isn’t reaching out to the Chinese embassy to begin discussions.
The absence of any substantial outreach has frozen meaningful communications between the two countries and threatened the likelihood of a near-term solution.”
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/19/trump-xi-china-trade-negotiations-00299645
The leader of China believe in Marxist-Leninist principles and sees capitalist and foreign capitalist countries as enemies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGq-A6Ap8oI
“You are Chinese and a characteristic of being Chinese is embracing the Chinese Communist Party.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0K1INaqj1Ik
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuZee1M45Gg
China is militarizing the belt and road initiative.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSbBgr8rvs4