Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- May 13, 2019

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in Beijing. Photo: AFP

David P. Goldman, Asia Times: Washington Plays Monopoly, Beijing Plays Go

China’s emerging high-tech giants don’t rely on the US market, creating an opening to undermine American leadership in key industries

The US and China are fighting a trade war, contrary to my expectations, and to the consternation of equity markets, which on Monday had their worst day since January 3. The broad market gauges fell by 2.5%, and the tech sector fell by 3%, led by semiconductors.

In tweets Monday morning and again during a press briefing with visiting Hungarian President Viktor Orban, President Trump reiterated his view that China’s economy was weak while America’s economy was strong. He believes that tariffs will shift trade out of China and to some extent back to the United States.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- May 13, 2019

Trump Is Right to Battle China on Trade, But Now Comes the Hard Part -- Salvatore Babones, National Interest

Tariff increases muddy prospects for US-China trade peace -- Paul Wiseman, AP

Why tariff war threatens Beijing’s global economic ambitions -- Joe McDonald, AP

How China’s military upgrade and trade tensions are challenging the US in Indo-Pacific -- Ankit Panda, SCMP

Why send a US aircraft carrier to the Gulf? -- Jon Gambrell, AP

If the U.S. Is Going to War With Iran, Congress Needs the Evidence -- Steven Simon and Richard Sokolsky, Politico

Iran 'Facing All Out War' As U.S. 'Aims To Fix Its Destabilizing Influence' -- Zak Doffman, Forbes

Iran-US tensions are reaching new heights – and neither is likely to blink -- Martin Chulov, The Guardian

Erdogan Just Committed Political Suicide -- Henri Barkey, Foreign Policy

Netanyahu and Hamas May Both Win Their Prize -- Bernard Avishai, New Yorker

Lost Calcutta -- Maya Jasanoff, New York Review of Books

Gaza escalation; a prelude to Hamas-Israel war? -- Ben Caspit, Al-Monitor

In Venezuela, Geopolitics Obscure the True Prize: Oil -- Max Hess, Moscow Times

Merkel's anti-NATO legacy -- Jed Babbin, Washington Times

The Case for Deploying U.S. Land-Based Missiles in Asia -- Toshi Yoshihara & Jacob Cohn, National Interest

US schedules Pompeo’s first visit to Russia. This is why -- M.K. Bhadrakumar, Asia Times