China Morning Missive Again, I’ll state, #China is the next in line in the Trump world’s foreign policy agenda. Central to that will be Taiwan and it is a bit surprising to find that Trump, the man, is choosing to keep his cards close to his chest. Having said that, I am hearing increased chatter that “Taiwan is in play”. What I don’t yet know is what that exactly means. Will Trump go forth an renunciate the “One China Policy” throwing full American weight behind Taiwan OR will Trump just leave Taiwan to its own devices and view the issue as one that needs to be settled by Beijing and Taipei leaders. The odds, at least as I see it, would point to the latter. Force Taiwan to operate “independently” which would require a massive build up of arms. And where would they purchase that weaponry? Well, American of course. Events are playing out quickly on the China front. Expect more details in the weeks ahead. https://www.reuters.com/world/trump-declines-answer-question-about-china-taiwan-2025-02-26/

Well, this was a surprise. Jumped on Bloomberg this morning and ended up doing a long-ish #China interview. The editors actually decided to put the entire interview online. That never happens especially with me given the messages I focus on and the very direct nature in how I present those messages. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2025-02-26/z-ben-advisors-alexander-us-can-t-strong-arm-china-video

China Morning Missive The greatest benefit from the throngs of Americans jumping on RedNote is how quickly errant tropes of #China have been blown apart. The perfect example is the “social credit score”. I can’t even begin to tell you all how many times I’ve had to explain to clients and others that this simply doesn’t exist. And yet, how many times have you seen headlines and social media commentary on Twitter or elsewhere making the claim that a Chinese social credit score runs the lives of all everyday Chinese. Between RedNote and DeepSeek, there’s been a genuine awareness that most of what the American media covers in regards of China is just articulated fabrications.

Might the public tides be turning? Surprised to find that CNBC posted my #China interview clip on YouTube. Doesn’t always happen. Came in this morning and noticed there were a fair number of comments.  This is just a small sample. Message might be getting through and off just a 90 sec clip.