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The war drums are beating again… but the real target is your bank account.
The two-minute CNN clip below features the latest international conflict: the U.S. versus China in the South China Sea.
A reporter hitches a ride aboard a U.S. Navy reconnaissance plane passing near the Spratly Islands. Six different nations claim control over these “islands”… which are little more than glorified reefs 600 miles south of China.
But oil and gas lie beneath the Spratlys. And they provide a fixed location for “power projection” into a major global shipping corridor. That’s why China is busy filling in the reefs with sand and building airstrips.
Before long, an agitated Chinese voice pops over the plane’s radio: “This is the Chinese navy, please go away quickly.” Before leaving, the cameraman catches the dozens of Chinese ships busy in the construction project 15,000 feet below.
The dramatic scene leaves the viewer with a sense of impending conflict. China is the new “boogeyman.”
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Why are we seeing this at all…? When I deployed in overseas missions, my superiors scolded me for carrying a sea bag instead of civilian luggage. Or for having my hair cut too short. These little “tells” were tipping our hand. That’s how serious they took “operational security” (or OPSEC). And, yet, here we have a camera crew filming aboard a classified aircraft, exposing intimate details of the mission to the entire world… This was not some slick CNN producer’s handiwork. You don’t just talk your way onto a U.S. spy plane. This was publicized because the U.S. wanted it publicized. Period. |
It didn’t take long for other notables to hop on the “Chinese boogeyman” bandwagon…
The Wall Street Journal published the infographic below:
The Chinese do have the largest military numbers in the region… but the vast majority of these forces are antiquated. Some are still Korean War-era weaponry. And, keep in mind the table compares entire countries’ armed forces… against just one U.S. carrier strike group (CSG). The U.S. has 11 CSGs in total.
But that didn’t stop billionaire trader George Soros from saying the South China Sea hotspot is edging the globe toward World War III…
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If there is conflict between China and a military ally of the United States, like Japan, then it is not an exaggeration to say that we are on the threshold of a third world war. |
He offered a solution to the bankers and bureaucrats assembled at a recent World Bank conference: Let China’s currency, the yuan, into the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) basket of reserve currencies. It would join the dollar, pound, euro, and yen. Soros says this would force China to “play nice” with the West. Without this concession,
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There is a real danger that China will align itself with Russia politically and militarily, and then the threat of a third world war becomes real… |
Bottom line: The overhyped U.S.-China military conflict is a distraction…
The real target in this “war” is your bank account.
China’s eventual move into the IMF’s basket of currencies will weaken the other four currencies—including the U.S. greenback. (Soros is most famous for “breaking” the British pound in 1992… and we suspect he has a large stake in seeing the Chinese yuan rise today.)
Be sure to diversify your assets beyond just U.S. dollars. Our 2015 Asset Allocation Guide shows you where to place your assets for maximum safety… while maintaining solid yield in a 0% world.