US-China: From Trade War to Hot War?

On today’s episode of Double Down, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert talk to Dan Collins, a twenty year resident of China who has now returned to the US, for his take on the US-China trade war.

As Trump's trade war against China heats up, some are asking whether or not the two sides are underestimating the willingness of the other side to take military action. Dan Collins thinks that possibility is unlikely not only because of the size and technological capabilities of China's military but because they have many times more submarines and other naval capacity in the region — including the actual construction of islands used as military facilities. On the other hand, China sees the US trade war as part of a bigger story to contain China and to prevent them from advancing or growing past their current huge potential. Collins says that when China entered the WTO in 2001, it was a one trillion dollar economy and now it is a $13 trillion one and yet is able to receive the same advantages afforded to developing economies but, on his return to the US, he notes that it is very much the latter which looks like the developing economy with a much more dilapidated financial and transport infrastructure. Tune into Double Down to hear more answers from Chris Cook.