{"id":43193,"date":"2013-10-20T21:49:09","date_gmt":"2013-10-21T01:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/countingpips.com\/forex-news\/?p=43193"},"modified":"2013-10-20T21:49:09","modified_gmt":"2013-10-21T01:49:09","slug":"china-has-the-usa-in-its-crosshairs-buy-gold-and-silver-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/2013\/10\/20\/china-has-the-usa-in-its-crosshairs-buy-gold-and-silver-now\/","title":{"rendered":"China has the USA in its Crosshairs \u2013 Buy Gold and Silver Now"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By <a href=\"http:\/\/www.MoneyMorning.com.au\" target=\"_blank\"><u>MoneyMorning.com.au<\/u><\/a> <\/p>\n<p>You should stock up on<strong> gold and silver<\/strong> while you can &#8211; in particular, physical precious metals and high-end  mining shares. <\/p>\n<p>In the short and medium terms, prices  of precious metals will do whatever they do. Up a little, down some and  sideways for a while. Day to day, you just never know. The price chart bounces  around. But long term? Hold gold. Hold <a href=\"http:\/\/www.moneymorning.com.au\/category\/gold-and-silver\/silver\" title=\"more on silver\">silver<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>In fact, today there&#8217;s more reason to hold precious metals&#8230; <\/p>\n<p>Why <a href=\"http:\/\/www.moneymorning.com.au\/20111210\/how-to-buy-gold-and-silver.html\" title=\"how to buy gold and silver\">buy gold and silver<\/a>, especially  after the sell-down of the past year or so? Start with the fact that Chinese are buying lots of gold. Lots! Here&#8217;s the latest chart of <strong>Chinese gold imports <\/strong>from Hong Kong, showing strong, steady accumulation over the past two years:<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/portphillippublishing.com.au\/images\/MPR20131021a.jpg\" width=\"349\" height=\"302\"><br \/>\n<em><a href=\"http:\/\/portphillippublishing.com.au\/images\/MPR20131021a.jpg\" target=\"_blank\">Click to enlarge<\/a><\/em><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p> Since  September 2011, China imported 2,116 tonnes of <strong>gold<\/strong>. So in just two years,  China has imported just under the equivalent of the entire gold reserves of  France (2,435 tonnes) or Italy (2,451 tonnes). <\/p>\n<p>Or look at  it this way. While Western buyers and monetary players disdain gold and sell it  &#8211; for example, while large Western stakes like SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) are  liquidating gold holdings &#8211; the Chinese are <a href=\"http:\/\/www.moneymorning.com.au\/category\/gold-and-silver\/gold\" title=\"more on gold\">buying gold<\/a>, and then some. <\/p>\n<p>Evidently,  the People&#8217;s Bank of China (PBOC) is making good on its quietly stated  long-term goal of creating a gold-backed national currency. That, and China is  making all manner of bilateral trade deals with a host of nations, in which  nations trade with China using their own national currencies and the Chinese  renminbi. This cuts the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.moneymorning.com.au\/category\/financial-system\/currency-market\/us-dollar\" title=\"more on the US dollar\">US dollar <\/a>out of the cycle. <\/p>\n<p>So why are  the Chinese so eager to buy and import gold? Why make bilateral trade deals?  Why don&#8217;t the Chinese want to use the dollar? Don&#8217;t the Chinese know that  yellow metal is just a so-called &#8216;barbarous relic&#8217; in the eyes of many Western  economists and political gurus? <\/p>\n<p>Recently, we  had a stunning glimpse of how the highest levels of policymakers think in  Beijing. Basically, top echelons in China are worried about the overall  security of the US dollar and, by extension, China&#8217;s vast holdings of dollar-based  assets. <\/p>\n<h2>Strong Rhetoric to  &#8216;De-Americanize&#8217; the World<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>We live in &#8216;<em>alarming days,<\/em>&#8216; according to an article  this week in Xinhua, China&#8217;s absolute news agency of record &#8211; in that it  represents the views of the ruling Communist Party. <\/p>\n<p>Apparently,  the Chinese chose an opportune time to float a trial balloon that we&#8217;ve been  awaiting for quite some time. Communist Party leadership wants to get a sense  of what the world thinks about taking down the US &#8211; and the almighty dollar &#8211; a  few notches. As I said, <strong>buy gold and silver<\/strong>. Beat the rush. <\/p>\n<p>Indeed,  Xinhua minces no words: &#8216;<em>The destinies of  others are in the hands of a hypocritical nation,<\/em>&#8216; meaning the US, of  course. And that&#8217;s just the start. There&#8217;s more, and it plays out like a  barbed-wire back rub. <\/p>\n<p>Chinese  editors at Xinhua come down hard on &#8216;<em>cyclical  stagnation in Washington<\/em>&#8216; over the federal budget. The US government has  repeatedly failed to bring spending and debt under control. This has, according  to Xinhua, &#8216;<em>left many nations&#8217; tremendous  dollar assets<\/em> [China&#8217;s, certainly] <em>in  jeopardy and the international community highly agonized.<\/em>&#8216; <\/p>\n<p>Overall,  states Xinhua, the world has an American-made financial problem that must &#8216;<em>be terminated<\/em>&#8216;. Wow. When Chinese  communists use the word &#8216;terminated&#8217;, my instinct is to drop what I&#8217;m doing and  clean my collection of assault rifles. That, and stock up on precious metals  like gold, silver and&#8230;brass, if you know what I mean.<\/p>\n<p>This China  thing is not heading in a good direction for the US. Don&#8217;t take my word on it.  Here are numerous other excerpts to ponder from Xinhua: <\/p>\n<p>&#8216;<em>As U.S. politicians of both political  parties are still shuffling back and forth between the White House and the  Capitol Hill without striking a viable deal to bring normality to the body  politic they brag about, it is perhaps a good time for the befuddled world to  start considering building a de-Americanized world.<\/em>&#8216;<\/p>\n<p>***** <\/p>\n<p>&#8216;<em>With its seemingly unrivaled<\/em> [sic] <em>economic and military might, the United  States has declared that it has vital national interests to protect in nearly  every corner of the globe, and been habituated to meddling in the business of  other countries and regions far away from its shores.<\/em>&#8216; <\/p>\n<p>*****<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;<em>Meanwhile, the U.S. government has gone to  all lengths to appear before the world as the one that claims the moral high  ground, yet covertly doing things that are as audacious as torturing prisoners  of war, slaying civilians in drone attacks and spying on world leaders.<\/em>&#8216; <\/p>\n<p>*****<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;<em>A new world order should be put in place,  according to which all nations, big or small, poor or rich, can have their key  interests respected and protected on an equal footing&#8230; For starters, all  nations need to hew to the basic principles of the international law, including  respect for sovereignty and keeping hands off domestic affairs of others.<\/em>&#8216; <\/p>\n<p>***** <\/p>\n<p>&#8216;<em>Furthermore, the authority of the United  Nations in handling global hot-spot issues has to be recognized. That means no  one has the right to wage any form of military action against others without a  U.N. mandate.<\/em>&#8216; <\/p>\n<p>***** <\/p>\n<p>&#8216;<em>Apart from that, the world&#8217;s financial  system also has to embrace some substantial reforms.<\/em>&#8216; <\/p>\n<p>***** <\/p>\n<p>&#8216;<em>What may also be included as a key part of  an effective reform is the introduction of a new international reserve currency  that is to be created to replace the dominant U.S. dollar, so that the  international community could permanently stay away from the spillover of the  intensifying domestic political turmoil in the United States.<\/em>&#8216; <\/p>\n<p>***** <\/p>\n<p>&#8216;<em>Of course, the purpose of promoting these changes  is not to completely toss the United States aside, which is also impossible.  Rather, it is to encourage Washington to play a much more constructive role in  addressing global affairs.<\/em>&#8216;<\/p>\n<h2>Refuting the Pillars  of US Policy<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>Note that  last item, about not &#8216;completely&#8217; tossing the US aside. Gee, thanks&#8230;I think.  Then again, the Chinese have reason to worry about US finances. China is the  biggest foreign holder of US Treasury bonds, worth a total of $1.28 trillion  according to public American data. <\/p>\n<p>And note  that second-to-last item about &#8216;<em>a new  international reserve currency<\/em>&#8216; to replace the dollar. <\/p>\n<p>In general,  a commentary such as this in Xinhua means that powerful political factions in  Beijing &#8211; Communist Party and\/or military &#8211; hold the expressed opinions.  Oft-times, a strong Xinhua piece means that the entire Chinese leadership holds  the opinion and seeks to determine how it plays out around the world. (The news  article has gone viral.) <\/p>\n<p>Looking  back, Chinese leadership has never been bashful about criticising the course  and wisdom of US policy. Still, over many years, top Chinese echelons have usually  limited severe criticism of the US to lower-level players &#8211; academics, midlevel  ministers, retired military officers or well-regarded business people. <\/p>\n<p>No senior  Chinese agent has ever made a comprehensive, point-by-point refutation of the  pillars of US policy, accompanied by the suggestion to rebuild the entire  system of global trade and relations between nations. Until now. <\/p>\n<p>This new  &#8216;official&#8217; Chinese commentary &#8211; from the top level &#8211; utterly deconstructs US  policy in ways that go back to the end of the Cold War. Reading between the  lines, one can see jabs at US policy as far back as Desert Shield and Desert  Storm of 1990 and 1991. Or US intervention in the Balkans, and certainly  bombing Serbia in 1999. The Middle East wars of the past decade &#8211; to include  the Arab Spring coups and Libya takedown &#8211; are doubtless in the Chinese  crosshairs as well. <\/p>\n<p>US  policymakers love to change labels on what they do from time to time, because  it supports the myth that the nation is doing things differently under new  presidents with &#8216;new ideas&#8217;, implemented by new stables of diplomats, generals  and admirals. For example, the idea of so-called &#8216;nation building&#8217; (at the  point of a gun, some say) is now labelled &#8216;responsibility to protect&#8217; (R2P).  Either way, in Chinese eyes, it&#8217;s just garden-variety old US imperialism. <\/p>\n<p>The Xinhua  article criticizes how the US stakes out moral high ground to justify illegal  detentions, summary executions by drones and torture of prisoners. At another  point, the author claims that the so-called &#8216;Pax Americana&#8217; is a subterfuge to  foment instability, American meddling, wars and worldwide chaos justified by  lies. No sugarcoating here. <\/p>\n<p>Also  implicit in the article is the idea that Chinese leaders are galled at the  uncertainty of return on their trillion dollars and more of US bonds.  Apparently, Chinese leaders are uncertain about the monetary security of US  bonds, and they fear a massive loss of value over time. <\/p>\n<h2>The Big Takeaways<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>There are  several critical items to note here. The Xinhua article is the first in which  senior Chinese players have dared go public with a bitter, sharp-edged  denunciation of the US-managed international system. <\/p>\n<p>The Xinhua  article does not &#8216;just&#8217; stop there, either. The authors label American policies  as destructive moral failures. The article openly calls on other nations across  the globe to restructure politics and economics. The next version of global economy will be a dramatic reduction in the role of the US and its dollar as  the world reserve medium of exchange and measure of value. <\/p>\n<p>The Chinese  are clear that their eventual aim is to topple the US from its position of  global leadership in most respects. The rhetoric betrays intense Chinese  frustration with the US. Things have reached the boiling point. From the  Chinese perspective, the US government is toxic for world business, while  American military power is unleashed at political whim to promote global  instability. <\/p>\n<h2>Looking Ahead&#8230;<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>Now what?  Well, we wait. Chinese leadership will let the Xinhua article have its day in  the sun and then gauge whether other national leaders share these views. Stand  by to see a flood of proposals from across the world about alternatives to US  hegemony. <\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;re  looking at tough days ahead for the US position in the world. We&#8217;re fortunate  to have the shale energy revolution going on and a rebirth in<a href=\"http:\/\/www.moneymorning.com.au\/category\/technology-and-innovation\" title=\"more on technology\"> technology<\/a> and  manufacturing. But can this counter the chronic mismanagement of the country  that comes out of Washington, DC? We&#8217;ll likely all live long enough to find  out. <\/p>\n<p>These are  interesting times. Or as Xinhua states, &#8216;<em>alarming  days<\/em>&#8216;. Meanwhile, buy <a href=\"http:\/\/www.moneymorning.com.au\/gold-silver\" title=\"more on gold and silver\">gold and silver<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Byron King<\/strong><br \/>\n    <strong>Contributing Editor, <em>Money Morning<\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/plus.google.com\/106516983215198267222\/about\" title=\"Join Money Morning on Google Plus -- and read about the things we can't always fit into our regular essays\"><u>Join Money Morning on Google+ <\/u><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>Author information<\/h3>\n<div class=\"ts-fab-wrapper\" style=\"overflow:hidden\">\n<div class=\"ts-fab-photo\" style=\"float:left;width:64px\"><img alt='Byron King' src='http:\/\/1.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b6701ffa80ff548ad203d0b3ac431842?s=64&amp;d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D64&amp;r=G' class='avatar avatar-64 photo' height='64' width='64' \/><\/div>\n<p><!-- \/.ts-fab-photo --><\/p>\n<div class=\"ts-fab-text\" style=\"margin-left:74px\">\n<div class=\"ts-fab-header\">\n<div style=\"font-size: 1.25em;margin-bottom:0\"><strong>Byron King<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- \/.ts-fab-header --><\/p>\n<div class=\"ts-fab-content\" style=\"margin-bottom:0.5em\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"ts-fab-footer\"><\/div>\n<p><!-- \/.ts-fab-footer --><\/div>\n<p><!-- \/.ts-fab-text --><\/div>\n<p><!-- \/.ts-fab-wrapper --><\/p>\n<div class=\"feedflare\">\n<a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/MoneyMorningAustralia?a=LC2YHJBk5aU:5J8VtnGu8Vs:yIl2AUoC8zA\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/MoneyMorningAustralia?d=yIl2AUoC8zA\" border=\"0\"><\/img><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/MoneyMorningAustralia?a=LC2YHJBk5aU:5J8VtnGu8Vs:V_sGLiPBpWU\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/MoneyMorningAustralia?i=LC2YHJBk5aU:5J8VtnGu8Vs:V_sGLiPBpWU\" border=\"0\"><\/img><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/MoneyMorningAustralia?a=LC2YHJBk5aU:5J8VtnGu8Vs:gIN9vFwOqvQ\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/MoneyMorningAustralia?i=LC2YHJBk5aU:5J8VtnGu8Vs:gIN9vFwOqvQ\" border=\"0\"><\/img><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~r\/MoneyMorningAustralia\/~4\/LC2YHJBk5aU\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By MoneyMorning.com.au You should stock up on gold and silver while you can &#8211; in particular, physical precious metals and high-end mining shares. In the short and medium terms, prices of precious metals will do whatever they do. Up a little, down some and sideways for a while. Day to day, you just never know. &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/2013\/10\/20\/china-has-the-usa-in-its-crosshairs-buy-gold-and-silver-now\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;China has the USA in its Crosshairs \u2013 Buy Gold and Silver Now&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43193\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}