WAR BY OTHER MEANS

Tokyo knows who the enemy is.

Japan’s government will start paying its companies to move factories out of China and back home or to Southeast Asia, part of a new program to secure supply chains and reduce dependence on manufacturing in China.

Fifty-seven companies including privately-held facemask-maker Iris Ohyama Inc. and Sharp Corp. will receive a total of 57.4 billion yen ($536 million) in subsidies from the government, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry saidFriday. Another 30 firms will receive money to move manufacturing to Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand and other Southeast Asian nations, according to a separate announcement, which didn’t provide details on the amount of compensation.

Shorter Why You Got Trump.  Can you imagine President Romney or President Jeb! even contemplating a move like this one?  Because I sure as hell can't.

Beijing is angered over a proposed U.S. travel ban on all Chinese Communist Party members. Washington’s decision to blacklist millions of card-carrying Communists will be an ‘affront’ to China, Chinese media reported citing country’s Foreign Ministry.

“The leadership of the Communist Party is the fundamental feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics,” Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying declared on Friday, adding that country’s Communist Party “made a huge contribution to the advancement of mankind.”

The remarks came after the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and other U.S. media outlets reported that the White House was considering a travel ban on more than 90 million member of President Xi Jinping-led Communist Party. “The Trump administration is considering banning travel to the United States by all members of the Chinese Communist Party and their families,” the news agency Reuters reported on Friday. The proposed travel ban coincides with the suppression of civil liberties and the crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.

Look.  China is not this country's friend and as long as its communists remain in power, it is never going to be this country's friend.  Ever.  Beijing may have meant to deliberately release the Chinese Flu into the atmosphere or it may have been an accident but in either case, lying through its teeth about it from the start was an act of war and not just against us.

We don't have to send in the troops; there are a million little ways we can express reality short of guns.  But at some point, we have to recognize reality.  And aside from Ted Cruz, perhaps, there isn't a single member of Professional Conservatism^TM who understands that China is currently our foremost national enemy.

Hence...Trump.

UPDATE: Hittin' home.

UPDATE: From Britain.

UPDATE: Kiss our asses.