Bit of a cope title, but the article itself is surprisingly "realistic" considering it's coming from a publication that usually puts out articles full of ass-kissing praise for the US and pure hatred for China.

In fact it's precisely knowing the bias of this paper that makes this article interesting: it's a view into how even some of the US's staunchest international supporters are looking at this whole tariff debacle.

"In a surprising shift, US President Donald Trump has hit the brakes on a broad wave of new tariffs, opting instead for a 90-day pause that has sparked both celebration and scepticism across global markets.

The move, which comes after days of strong rhetoric promising sweeping economic confrontation, raises an important question: Is this a calculated manoeuver in the art of negotiation or a reluctant retreat in the face of mounting resistance? Mr Trump’s leadership has always hinged on unpredictability and bravado, a strategy that has served him both as a disruptor and a divider. This recent tariff manoeuver is no exception.

After weeks of firm posturing, with threats of harsh penalties for trading partners, the sudden shift to negotiation signals either a strategic pause for leverage or a reactive course correction amid political and economic pressure. Regardless of the motive, the decision has tangible consequences. Markets rebounded almost instantly ~ a clear indicator that investors feared the fallout of an all-out trade war.

Treasury yields had been slipping, and corporate leaders were increasingly vocal about the uncertainty such tariffs were injecting into supply chains. Even Republican allies began questioning the wisdom of escalating trade conflicts without clear objectives or timelines. The pressure was not just international; it was coming from within. The administration insists this was always part of the plan: escalate tensions, create leverage, and then open the door to bilateral negotiations. That narrative may appeal to loyalists, but it overlooks the chaos that preceded the announcement. Trading partners were left scrambling, unsure of who was included in the pause, what sectors would be affected, and how to interpret a policy change communicated via social media posts rather than formal statements.

This approach may serve short-term political optics, but it undermines the predictability that global trade relies on. Allies and adversaries alike need consistency in order to engage in meaningful negotiations. When policy feels more like performance, long-term strategic partnerships risk being sacrificed for momentary applause. Critics have long accused Mr Trump of governing through crisis ~ a cycle of provocation followed by partial retraction, all while claiming victory. In this case, that pattern appears intact. While the pause might look like a step back, it leaves in place a 10 per cent blanket tariff and an even harsher 125 per cent levy targeting China.

These measures alone are substantial, yet they’ve been overshadowed by the larger retreat, suggesting that shock remains a favoured tactic. What remains unclear is whether this approach is sustainable. By alarming allies and unsettling markets, Mr Trump risks making future cooperation harder to secure. Trust, once eroded, is difficult to rebuild, especially when trade partners feel like pawns in a political game. As the 90-day window ticks down, the world will be watching not only the outcomes of negotiations but also whether this moment of restraint signals a new direction ~ or simply a pause before the next storm."

The People's Bank of China suddenly announced that the digital RMB (Renminbi, Chinese Yuan) cross-border settlement system will be fully connected to the ten ASEAN countries and six Middle Eastern countries, which means that 38% of the world's trade volume will bypass the SWIFT system dominated by the US dollar and directly enter the "digital RMB moment". This financial game, which The Economist called the "Bretton Woods System 2.0 Outpost Battle", is rewriting the underlying code of the global economy with blockchain technology.

While the SWIFT system is still struggling with the 3-5 day delay in cross-border payments, the digital currency bridge developed by China has compressed the clearing speed to 7 seconds. In the first test between Hong Kong and Abu Dhabi, a company paid a Middle Eastern supplier through digital RMB. The funds no longer went through six intermediary banks, but were received in real time through a distributed ledger, and the handling fee dropped by 98%. This "lightning payment" capability makes the traditional clearing system dominated by the US dollar instantly look clumsy.

What makes the West even more frightened is the technical moat of China's digital currency. The blockchain technology used by the digital RMB not only makes transactions traceable, but also automatically enforces anti-money laundering rules. In the China-Indonesia "Two Countries, Two Parks" project, Industrial Bank used digital RMB to complete the first cross-border payment, which took only 8 seconds from order confirmation to funds arrival, 100 times more efficient than traditional methods. This technical advantage has enabled 23 central banks around the world to actively join the digital currency bridge test, among which Middle Eastern energy traders have reduced settlement costs by 75%.

The deep impact of this technological revolution lies in the reconstruction of financial sovereignty. When the United States tried to sanction Iran with SWIFT, China had already built a closed loop of RMB payments in Southeast Asia. Data shows that the cross-border RMB settlement volume of ASEAN countries exceeded 5.8 trillion yuan in 2024, an increase of 120% over 2021. Six countries including Malaysia and Singapore have included RMB in their foreign exchange reserves, and Thailand has completed the first oil settlement with digital RMB. This wave of "de-dollarization" made the Bank for International Settlements exclaim: "China is defining the rules of the game in the era of digital currency."

But what really shocked the world was China's strategic layout. Digital RMB is not only a payment tool, but also a technical carrier of the "Belt and Road" strategy. In projects such as the China-Laos Railway and the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed ​​Railway, the digital RMB is deeply integrated with Beidou navigation and quantum communication to build a "Digital Silk Road". When European car companies use digital RMB to settle freight through the Arctic route, China is using blockchain technology to increase trade efficiency by 400%. This virtual-real strategy makes the US dollar hegemony feel a systemic threat for the first time.

Today, 87% of countries in the world have completed the adaptation of the digital RMB system, and the scale of cross-border payments has exceeded 1.2 trillion US dollars. While the United States is still debating whether digital currency threatens the status of the US dollar, China has quietly built a digital payment network covering 200 countries. This silent financial revolution is not only about monetary sovereignty, but also determines who can control the lifeline of the future global economy!

This is very big news. It means De-dollarisation in a big way. It can completely re-set the world!

Source: https://xcancel.com/rajivmehta19/status/1908220249180098581

Every single time it has been implemented it has been a success; drastically improving the conditions of the vast majority of the lives of the people in those countries, establishing the world’s most proven successful education system, offering the only avenue for nations to escape imperialism, overthrow occupation, and develop up and out of poverty from under conditions of exploitation, eliminating unemployment, progressing science and culture more than ever before in their nation’s timeline of existence, and providing the most value-efficient and successful healthcare systems the world has ever seen.

Continuing to this day, Marxist-Leninist governments remain, in nearly every case, the absolute best government in their respective nation’s entire histories — especially for the poor and minorities — and are deeply missed by the majority of people that lived under communism (and no longer do), who also overwhelmingly regret it’s end. Communists saved the world from Hitler and fascism, took humans to space; they united and advanced China from a backwards, subservient nation to the position of the next world superpower. Communism made Cuba an international leader in medicine, who recently saved the much richer Italy during COVID-19, developed the DPRK into a cutting edge nuclear power, and liberated more of the planet from the most powerful empires in the world — more often and more successfully — than any other ideology or system, ever before and ever since.

Capitalism has violently forced its way into nearly every facet of every corner of the world, and socialist states are the only projects that have ever threatened to resist, repel, and overturn that domination, and it is only Marxist-Leninist projects that have ever neared the completion of that objective, thus far, in history. Communism works, and it works so effectively, all the time, so much so that the only way to get it to stop working is to have the most powerful empires in existence intervene in opposition to it, and even they can only boast mixed success. Communism has always worked, it will always work, and it continues to work right now, even as you continue to deny it.

"Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Tuesday that China firmly opposes the US' long-term abuse of illegal unilateral sanctions and so-called long-arm jurisdiction, which grossly interferes in other nations' internal affairs.

Guo urged the US to cease meddling in Venezuela's domestic affairs, revoke its illegal unilateral sanctions against Venezuela, and take more actions conducive to peace, stability, and development in Venezuela and other countries."

"Among the American public overall, the Democratic Party’s favorability rating stands at just 29% – a record low in CNN’s polling dating back to 1992 and a drop of 20 points since January 2021, when Trump exited his first term under the shadow of the January 6 attack at on Capitol. The Republican Party’s rating currently stands at 36%."