Trump Takes Final Shots at Beijing
Outgoing US President Donald Trump is taking his final shots at the Chinese Communist administration during a transition period as he does not admit defeat after losing the election to his democratic rival Joe Biden.
The lame duck American president signed an executuve order to prevent Americans from investing in companies tied to the Chinese army to stop further money flow to the People’s Republic of China.
The decision adds momentum to further US-China decoupling, a new headache for American fund managers and hard-to-implement enforcement.
Washington has so far labeled 31 Chinese companies for the ban, but the blacklist can get longer.
Of these companies, China Mobile, whose shares are traded in both New York and Hong Kong, lost $ 8 billion in market value on Friday alone.
Oil Market
Oil prices fell on Friday under pressure from fuel demand due to concerns about a slow recovery in the global economy and the escalating coronavirus cases. But hopes for a vaccine keep the market on track for gains for a second week.
Tougher restrictions in EU countries and American states on socio-economic activity to cope with the rapidly rising coronavirus cases enflame concerns that fuel demand will remain low.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies known as OPEC+ may be reluctant to implement a planned exit from the output cut deal they reached in spring.
The Algerian energy minister said this week that OPEC+ could extend existing oil production cuts until 2021, or deepen the policy if necessary.
However, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Thursday that global oil demand is not likely to see a significant increase from the release of COVID-19 vaccines until 2021.
Hopes of a solution to the pandemic soared this week’s WTI and Brent contracts, after data showed that American drug giant Pfizer produced an experimental COVID-19 vaccine with German BioNTech with 90% effectiveness rate.
Taiwan Risks
After US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Taiwan “is not part of China”, the Chinese foreign ministry said Friday that it would resist any move that undermines China’s core interests.
The Communist China calls Taiwan its most sensitive issue in its ties with the United States.
The growing support of the Trump administration, such as the sale of weapons, including drones and air defense systems, to the democratic island country is angering Beijing.
“Taiwan is not part of China,” Pompeo said in a US radio interview on Thursday.
The United States is obliged by law to provide Taiwan with necessary means to itself but officially accepts the Communist regime’s stance that Taiwan is a part of China.
