This may be a small point, but it may also be a telling one.
In a meeting with the press club (in late October, I think) Kudlow informed the reporters that China simply had not responded (as in "replied") to anything from the U.S. He seemed astounded by this, and said "nothing, nada, we have heard nothing from them."
(Well, my guess is that China did not know what to say and whom to say it to, since they were dealing with a diverse bunch of nut jobs with seemingly reasonable requests from an economic point of view, but with zero poise and even less tact. Further, the nut jobs seemed to change their minds willy-nilly and have potentially destructive and extreme demands.)
The US chumps are accustomed to people (esp. people in all of Asia, perhaps) jumping every time they ask them to jump. Hence the surprise in Kudlow's voice.
Again, little noticed is the fact that it was DJT who dialed Xi on November 1. While this fact was never made public, it shows you who really wanted something. Whether this was to create some spin for Nov 6 or for genuine reasons is anybody's guess, but nevertheless, DJT had to swallow hard and make a call. I doubt this is the "usual" mode of operation for the U.S. Now contrast that with all the bombastic trade statements coming out of this person recently. That dissonace paints a picture: the side that wants to talk more is the side that wants more, and the "wanting more" always puts you in a losing position. |
