Early Friday morning in Asia, CNN quotes US President Donald Trump’s most senior intelligence official John Ratcliffe while stating that China is preparing for “an open-ended period of confrontation with the US,” urging bipartisan action to address “the greatest threat to America today” and to “democracy around the world since World War II.”
The report also quotes anonymous sources while saying, US President-elect Joe Biden is well aware of the challenge Beijing presents, but believes Trump’s approach — particularly taking action without consulting allies — has undermined the ultimate goal of competing with China.
Before a few hours, news rolled out that the Trump administration confirmed the blacklisting of four Chinese firms, namely the chipmaker SMIC, oil form CNOOC, China Construction Technology and China International Engineering Consulting Corporation by identifying the linkages with the Chinese military.
On the positive side, the Wall Street Journal reports that the US Justice Department is in talks with Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou to allow her to return to China if she agrees to some wrongdoing. A deal could pave the way for the release of two detained Canadians.
FX implications
While the negatives concerning China are mostly known, news for the Huawei Finance Chief offers positive support to the market sentiment. As a result, S&P 500 Futures prints 0.10% intraday gains by press time.
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