China As A Force For Peace

Remember “Liberation Day”? That was back in April, 2025, when Trump launched his tariff shock and awe. The world, he announced, would be beating a path to his door, lining up to “kiss my ass.” Presumably that included China’s Xi Jinping—who, by Trump’s account, is a friend. After all, Trump’s SecTreas, Bessent, the former Soros consigliere, boasted that China would have to “eat the tariffs” because China was “playing with a pair of 2s.” Times sure have changed, and when China announced this week that its banks wouldn’t be buying more treasury bonds—in fact, would be selling down what they had—Bessent was out there front and center eating crow yesterday:

Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand

11h

Really quite extraordinary how humbled Bessent has been by China.

Reminder that this is the same guy who

- At the beginning of Trump 2.0 tariffs, when China retaliated, said that China made “a big mistake... they have a losing hand... they’re playing with a pair of twos.” (https://cnbc.com/2025/04/08/treasury-secretary-bessent-says-chinas-escalation-was-big-mistake-country-playing-with-losing-hand.html…)

- Said at the beginning of the tariffs that a group of other countries - specifically Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and India - would join the U.S. in a deal aimed at a “grand encirclement” of China (https://bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2025-04-12/bessent-has-a-grand-encirclement-plan-for-china-bloomberg-new-economy…)

- After China retaliated with rare earths in October he framed it as “China versus the world” and said that the U.S. would rally “substantial global support” against China on this. (https://foxbusiness.com/media/treasury-secretary-bessent-accuses-china-financing-war-us-china-trade-tensions-escalate…)

He was proven completely wrong on all counts.

And now he’s adopting a very different tone, speaking of “mutual respect” and “fair competition” as a goal. As the saying goes, reality is the best teacher...

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent @SecScottBessent

Thanks to the mutual respect between @POTUS and President Xi, the U.S.–China relationship has reached a stable but competitive point.

Our goal is fair competition and de-risking, not decoupling. It is clear that China must rebalance, and their persistent $1 trillion trade surplus must be addressed.

Never forget—because the Chinese surely haven’t—that Bessent, the Soros consigliere who helped crush the British pound, also tried to crush the Hong Kong dollar. China thwarted Bessent, so this is a grudge match. Trump putting Bessent in charge of bullying China was not the move of a stable genius. Rest assured there is no respect in China for Bessent, and probably not for Bessent’s boss, either. China doesn’t trust this US regime farther than they could throw it. If Trump and Bessent didn’t want decoupling they should have thought twice about some of their anti-China antics.

But, as we were saying just the other day, all this is connected. It’s all part of the global war. Yes, China is providing Iran with intel and military hardware for its defense against the Anglo-Zionist combine. But just as—or more—potently, China is, with a poker face and a hand chock full of high cards, waging economic and financial war against the America that has repeatedly vowed to crush China.

Of course the decoupling is part of that. Moreover, sooner or later the AI bubble in the US will start deflating, and the consequences for the dollar will be ghastly:

Philip Pilkington @philippilk

6h

2026 started with the Sell America trade. Now it has progressed to the Sell AI trade. But equities sales abroad are the key component propping up the trade deficit and hence the USD.

But here’s something else to keep in mind as Trump talks up war with Iran—something that China and Russia are adamantly determined to thwart.

Will Schryver @imetatronink

 For several months now, all new-build USAF F-35As have been delivered with no radars.

Why? Because the air frames were built to accommodate the new APG-85 radars, but the APG-85 is delayed. And the new mounts will not accommodate the old APG-81 radars.

Absolutely incredible.

The nose of the F-35As—and some are being deployed to the Middle East—are stuffed with ballast for balance purposes. But according to Grok there’s more to this story:

Is it true new F-35s are being delivered without nose radars because a promised upgrade is not yet available?

Yes, it is true that recent new F-35 deliveries (specifically to U.S. military services) have been arriving without installed nose radars, due to delays in the promised upgrade to the AN/APG-85 radar.

The F-35 program planned to introduce the advanced AN/APG-85 radar (developed by Northrop Grumman as a next-generation upgrade over the existing AN/APG-81, featuring improved capabilities like Gallium Nitride technology) starting with production Lot 17 aircraft around 2025. However, integration challenges—including differences in mounting structures, power, cooling, and other incompatibilities between the APG-81 and APG-85—have caused significant delays. The APG-85 is not yet ready for fielding, and the new airframes are built with APG-85-compatible mounts that cannot accommodate the older APG-81 radar as a fallback.

As a result, since around June 2025, new F-35s (particularly F-35As for the U.S. Air Force) have been delivered without any radar in the nose. To maintain proper aircraft balance and center of gravity during flight, temporary ballast (counterweights) has been added to the nose section.

These radar-less aircraft can still fly and operate in limited roles—such as when flying in formation with other F-35s equipped with APG-81 radars and using data links for shared sensor information—but they lack independent radar capability.

…

DaiWW @BeijingDai

4h

I bet 10 yuan that these barbell pieces are also produced in China.

Guess what? You can’t incorporate “Gallium Nitride technology” without gallium nitride—and China isn’t selling gallium nitride or other rare earths to the US for military applications.

Kathleen Tyson is getting dizzy from—quite rightly—running victory laps:

Kathleen Tyson @Kathleen_Tyson_

8h

@LukeGromen was right about Trump lashing out like a cornered animal.

And so was I in saying in April 2025 that

****China’ ban on Rare Earth Element export for military use will export global peace by denying the war addicted West the materiel for war. ****

My most comprehensive thread on the Rare Earth Elements export ban on military use from last June:

Jun 1, 2025

China will not relax its rare earths export ban because it is the key to achieving global peace and security for both West and East Asia.

How long can the US military function without those rare earths? I’m not an expert, but we’ve all read those stories about how, for every flight hour of our high tech aircraft, about a gazillion hours of maintenance goes into them. I’d be willing to bet that that includes a lot of replacement parts that incorporate those rare earths that China isn’t sending us. So how long can the US keep a war going? Speaking of which, this is called a message:

RKM @rkmtimes

5h

JUST IN Panic on Board the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, when suddenly, an Iranian reconnaissance drones successfully approached the aircraft carrier, circled around it, then left, and US #CENTCOM failed to intercept.

Now speaking of Luke Gromen, I highly recommend this 1 minute video clip. It’s about the US as a cornered animal. Is Gromen right? We’re about to find out.

Mark @Mark4XX

WHY TRUMP IS ESCALATING EVERYWHERE RIGHT NOW – THE CORNERED ANIMAL THEORY

A chilling perspective from macro expert Luke Gromen: What looks like reckless aggression from Washington might actually be the desperate reaction of a superpower running out of critical supply chains—fast. The theory? America is acting like a cornered animal because time is running out.

THE CORNERED ANIMAL THEORY EXPLAINED

 A cornered power lashes out hardest when options shrink and survival is at stake.

 If US leaders believe key defense supply chains could collapse in 8–12 months, flipping the global table makes twisted strategic sense.

 Better force mutual economic pain now than face solo defeat and humiliation later.

THE HIDDEN DESPERATION: CRITICAL MINERALS & DEFENSE

 The US is dangerously reliant on China for rare earths, silver, and other minerals essential for F-35 jets, missiles, semiconductors, and solar tech.

 Gromen warns: “We’re going to run out of the ability to make weapons in 8 months.”

 Building domestic capacity takes 10+ years—leaving a lethal gap that escalation tries to buy time for.

WHY THE AGGRESSION MAKES SENSE FROM THIS VIEW

 Public moves like Greenland pressure, tariff threats, and forcing allies to “choose US or China” look irrational… unless you’re racing against a ticking clock.

 Force partners to pick sides and cut China off before the shortage becomes public and catastrophic.

 Escalation isn’t about winning chess—it’s about knocking over the board so no one wins cleanly.

THE SCARY REALITY CHECK

 Escalating with China won’t fix shortages; it accelerates pain for everyone—including America and Europe.

 Mutual collapse becomes preferable (in some eyes) to watching the US military-industrial edge vanish alone.

 Gromen: “If we can’t win the chess game, then we’re going to flip the entire table.”

SILVER & GOLD AS THE QUIET EVIDENCE

 US declared silver a critical mineral—then physical demand exploded.

 Gromen speculates NATO (especially US) could be quietly scooping up physical silver and gold to plug holes.

 Gold treating the West like an emerging market for 3.5+ years signals deep structural weakness.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Trump’s constant escalation isn’t random chaos or pure 5D chess—it may be the frantic behavior of a superpower whose military supply lifeline is fraying faster than anyone admits, forcing Washington to burn bridges before the weakness becomes irreversible.

Terrifying if true: the louder the bark, the closer the bite.

Now, don’t take all of that as gospel. For example, the bit about the US quietly scooping up gold? We know that the US was exporting gold last year. But the desperation seems to be true. Will China’s moves be enough to head off a crazy Middle East war?