Hu Xijin, the Global Times editor whose twitter feed has been described as a weapon used by Beijing to hammer American markets, tweeted yet another warning on Wednesday that the US-China trade war won’t be ending any time soon.
Utilizing dubious English grammar, Hu said that the lack of “scathing” anti-American screeds appearing in the state-controlled Chinese press signals President Xi’s determination to stand his ground, even as President Trump continues to insist that Xi will come to the table and make a deal, possibly as soon as later this month at the G-20 summit.
China’s media intends to start publishing more “heavyweight commentaries criticizing the US,” presumably because the the leadership is tired of waiting for Washington to treat China with “sincerity” and “respect,” as the Global Times and other state-controlled Chinese press organs have repeatedly insisted.
The reintroduction of more heated rhetoric in the Chinese press, as Hu sees is, shows that “Beijing is preparing for China-US ties getting further worsening.”
As far as I know, China’s state media will publish more heavyweight commentaries criticizing the US & demonstrating China’s determination. It’s rare to see scathing attacks against the US in state media. This shows Beijing is preparing for China-US ties getting further worsening.
— Hu Xijin 胡锡进 (@HuXijin_GT) June 12, 2019
The reaction in American equity markets to Hu’s latest tweet was muted, with the main benchmarks remaining slightly in the red – perhaps a sign that traders (both human and robotic) are growing exhausted with analyzing Hu’s rhetoric. Hu has also been preoccupied over the past few days with tweeting about the demonstrations in Hong Kong whee he has accused westerners who support the demonstrations of trying to sow chaos in Hong Kong.
Beijing also appears to be reiterating its determination to stand its ground against the US as the economic data out of China continues to disappoint. Most recently, data showed that China’s auto market had its worst month for sales in its history in May.
May’s drop now marks an entire year of falling sales. The last time China saw retail auto sales rise was back in May 2018. Once again, it confirms that the US tariffs have placed China at the center of a global recession in auto sales.
The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). The data showed a decline of 16.4% for May, following a decline of 14.6% in April and 5.2% in March.
Earlier on Wednesday, Trump again warned that the US will follow up by slapping tariffs on $325 billion in Chinese imports if no trade deal is reached. Trump has continued to insist that he will be meeting with Xi in Osaka, though Beijing has been somewhat more vague about the prospects for a meeting.
via ZeroHedge News http://bit.ly/2Zp7Ne2 Tyler Durden