Summary: I joined host Kelly Evans on CNBC’s The Exchange, to talk about today’s massive pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong and to explain why Trump and Xi pulling half a rabbit out of a hat in Osaka is positive for the global economy and financial markets. You can see a brief video clip of the conversation by clicking here.
On Monday, 22 years after Britain handed over Hong Kong to the PRC, 500,000 pro-democracy demonstrators shut down the city and ransacked the Legislative Council building. I admire the courage of the demonstrators. But I also know that Chinese leaders in Beijing are not going to alter their long-term objectives.
People who want to fully grasp the forces at work in Hong Kong need to take the time to read about Chinese history of the Opium Wars in, roughly 1840 and 1860, which culminated in the Treaty of Nanking in 1842 and the Treaty of Tientsin in 1858, which every school child in China knows as the Unequal Treaties. It is a particularly ugly piece of history.
Regarding the half a rabbit, on Saturday Trump/Xi shook hands at the G20 meetings to resume the trade talks and to allow US firms to do some business with Huawei. It is a good start and I wish the trade team every success. As I have written before, there is a trade deal there to so. We just have to bring it in for a landing.
JR
