US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo
US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo

The comments Saturday from US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo are perhaps the most-aggressive the US has ever sounded towards China and it comes after the Biden-Xi summit was a dud that ended with the President calling Xi a dictator.

Now Raimondo is threatening to crack down even harder on computer chips sold to China as the US looks to secure a monopoly on AI.

"China is not our friend," she said and called Beijing "the biggest threat we've ever had."

Ignoring the absurdity of ranking China ahead of the many countries the US has had proper wars with, it speaks to the direction of the relationship. No doubt these comments will get a major airing in China and you have to wonder how long it will be before they drop any pretense of diplomacy.

“The US should stick to the right perception and work with China to deliver on the common understandings reached in the San Francisco meeting,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Monday. The US should “stop seeing China as a hypothetical enemy and saying one thing but doing another,” he said.

The Chinese official recalled that US President Joe Biden "once noted that the US is not seeking to halt China’s economic development or scientific and technological progress."

The China Daily said Washington is increasingly embracing a "zero-sum, burn-it-all approach to global affairs."

China equity valuations are attractive but I have no interest in stepping in fighting the momentum right now.

FXI daily
FXI daily

Meanwhile, I can't imagine a world where China doesn't replace a large part of its US dollar holdings with gold and other alternatives in the years ahead. If someone is calling you