Re: Deep in it
Try an interesting thought experiment. Cause and effect.
Cause: USA was widely reported as turning screws on China trade, hoping that this will force China to force North Korea to the negotiating table. (ie; https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/12/north-korea-test/547073/)
Effect: Some pressure applied by China. Some sanctions ignored, notably ZTE ignores sanctions and continues to provide networking equipment, oil continues to flow (but through ships transferring oil to each other at sea)
Cause (March 2018): USA starts throwing weight around. Ships breaking sanctions have previously been identified and seized. Local countries to NK have also been encouraged to step up maritime patrols to catch sanction violations. Sanctions are announced that will (completely legally) bankrupt the Chinese company ZTE.
Effect (on China, March 2018): Ignored by media, so obviously the impending loss of major companies had no impact on China.
Cause (Through China in March 2018): Again, obviously none, because the media didn't report on it.
Effect:(April 2018) : NK "spontaneously" announces that it wants peace talks.
Cause: (May 2018) NK sets peace talks date. Foreign prisoners are released as a show of good faith.
China's leader asks nicely if those ZTE sanctions could go away, obviously just because he's nice.
Obviously because he's just nice Trump agrees, and commands that sanctions not be implemented.
It should not take an intellectual genius to spot what's missing here, and it equally does not take an intellectual genius to spot why the media wouldn't report it.
Simply, publishing that Trump forced China to force North Korea to the negotiating table would be positive news about Trump, and the media has long since demonstrated that they only publish negative news about Trump, and so the only way to attack Trump is to ignore the obvious quid pro quid and then run an attack story on him releasing the sanctions as being bad for American business, or him being stupid for implementing them in the first place.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
