Bannon in Beijing

[zhaoyun]

Steve Bannon was recently in Beijing and held a secret meeting with Wang Qishan, one of the Chinese government's most powerful figures, behind the gates of Zhongnanhai, Beijing's Kremlin.

It's interesting because before the trip, Bannon was saying economic rivalry with China should be the US's first priority (which is true IMO) but when he went to Hong Kong two weeks ago to deliver a keynote speech, he softened his stance and said that Trump greatly respected Xi Jinping (which is not contradictory to what he said before but it was spun that way). But afterwards, he was requested to go to Beijing for a secret meeting, I am guessing because the Chinese government recognized him as the primary advocate for American nationalism and wanted to understand the movement.

IMO, Bannon is a racist undoubtedly, but not a White supremacist. He was also one of the most pragmatic in the White House and probably because of his years dealing in business in China (he lived in HK and Shanghai for years), realized that the US would need to replicate some of the economic nationalism that is encoded in China's policy making to compete. He's also the most attuned to the reality of China's development and it's likely impact on the world. Obviously, I don't agree with Bannon's racialist view of the world, but I do agree that the US needs to significantly reform its policy making and focus on rebuilding its economic core. However, it seems like that view is quickly receding as a focus in the Trump administration. Still curious to know what the content and outcome of this secret meeting was about. In the end, Bannon's own relationship with China I think symbolizes the complexity of the larger Sino-US relationship over all. Interesting time in history.

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2112437/secret-meeting-steve-bannon-beijing-adds-speculation

https://www.ft.com/content/5cdedd84-9f0c-11e7-8cd4-932067fbf946?emailId=59c433438d69450004d11c2f&segmentId=ce31c7f5-c2de-09db-abdc-f2fd624da608

[Kamal900]

He's far from a White supremacist, but he is an American patriot, and he puts American interests first before Israel which is why he got kicked out in the first place. While many Chinese people are oblivious about Jews and whatnot since they think that they are rich simply because they're smart or whatever, though not all of them have this perception, and even some Chinese professors even claim that American society is neither free or independent which is a great contradiction on what many American politicians claim otherwise. Mark Weber, who is a revisionist historian that talks against the official narrative of WW2, praised China as well which he remarks that democracy as a system doesn't guarantee prosperity and stability in the nation.