The Great Divide

Another week dominated by the continued process of decoupling. The US and China held trade talks in Shanghai, to symbolically remind all participants of the detente reached in the city in 1973 which started the normalization of relations with the wonderful wordplay of the two sides agreeing there was only one China, but the Americans not getting specific beyond that. The building in which that Shanghai accord was reached and signed no longer exists—demolished in the early 1990s. So it goes. But the talks this time don’t seem to have gotten far. The Chinese announced substantial purchases of US grain, but Trump slapped extra tariffs on Chinese imports. Beyond that, over these next few weeks there are likely to be fewer straws to grasp at in terms of getting a sense of the situation. There appears to be a shrinking range of options.  Summertime and the living is …easy? Not quite. But it is the seaside resort of Beidaihe where the key conversations are going to be held. Wear sunglasses.