'Two accelerating trains coming toward each other'

According to a report from The Hill this morning, "Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi this week urgently called on its ally to end all missile tests and for the U.S. and South Korea to suspend joint military exercises." The Chinese see the magnitude of the danger in which an unstable U.S. President Donald Trump and confrontational North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un are on a collision course.

The Chinese hold the cards in deescalating the nuclear war crisis that is brewing in Asia. If President Trump were more deliberate in preparing and staffing his Presidency before having launched an undiplomatic tweet storm, the U.S. would be in a more stable position from which to engage the Chinese as partners in peacemaking.

Instead, Trump attacked the Chinese. The South Korean President was impeached for corruption, and that further destabilizes the situation. Add to that, President Trump's own shaky legitimacy as he has failed to come clean on Emolument Clause violations with continuing conflicts of interest.

As it stands, China holds the cards: 1) the keys to America's debt, 2) the keys to Trump's 38 patents, 3) the keys to diplomatic pressure over North Korea, and 4) the gateway to Russian (even though Trump believes that he has the keys to the front door.)

THE WEEKEND ROUNDUP  

Not even two months into office and with only a skeleton national security team in place, U.S. President Donald Trump is facing what could be the most perilous nuclear-related military confrontation since the Cuban Missile Crisis over half a century ago.
Fearing an outbreak of “actual war” as North Korea has threatened, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi this week urgently called on its ally to end all missile tests and for the U.S. and South Korea to suspend joint military exercises. He warned that the U.S. and North Korea are “like two accelerating trains coming toward each other, and neither side is willing to give way.” 

The potential calamity that could result from a clash between the two most unpredictable leaders in the world makes the search for a breakthrough more urgent than in previous crises." 

The Hill