China Morning Missive

Nothing at all surprising about this move, even as the chorus continues to call for “fiscal stimulus”. The fact that China’s central bank remains cautious on rates tells you all you need to know.

Pragmatism is the name of the game. Don’t expect any material moves to support the local economy until Beijing has a clearer understanding of what, exactly, the Trump administration wants from this trade war.

TikTok is the canary in the China trade war coal mine.

If the Trump team is unable to secure a deal on the social media platform then the two parties remain at a stalemate.

The Chinese know how central TikTok is to a wide swath of Americans. If no deal is to be secured, as part of a much larger trade deal, then the Chinese will just burn it to the ground. Once that path is taken, the Chinese will blame the outcome on Trump.

I will also repeat that the Chinese side hasn’t even begun to play hardball with Trump. Once you see headlines about “export controls” on items beyond rare earths then you will know the game has been taken to the next level.

Art Critique: “Like a Fragment of Eternity”

“Like a Fragment of Eternity” is a sumptuous oil on canvas that transcends mere landscape depiction to evoke an experience suspended between time and the infinite. The sky, rendered in layered glazes of cerulean, turquoise, and slate gray, occupies much of the scene: its clouds—fluid and turbulently arranged—suggest both the vastness of the cosmos and the deep stirrings of the soul. Below, the sea casts silver‑rosy reflections across the horizontal plane, its ripples guiding the viewer’s gaze toward a horizon bathed in golden light.

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Composition and Spatial Breath

By positioning the horizon low, the artist grants the sky a monumental presence, immersing the observer in an almost dreamlike dimension. The solitary boat, placed slightly to the right of center, becomes a point of absolute calm: a human “fragment” within nature’s immensity that echoes the painting’s title. This asymmetrical balance creates a dialogue between the stillness of the boat and the majestic expanse of the heavens.

Brushwork and Painterly Matter

A contrast between wispy, translucent strokes shaping the high clouds and denser, impasto‑like touches in the deeper shadows and on the water’s surface lends both depth and emotional tension. The band of twilight light is softly blended, merging seamlessly with the cooler surrounding tones and amplifying the sensation of a moment caught in eternity.

Light, Color, and Emotional Harmony

At the heart of the work pulses a golden glow that embodies the subtitle “fragment of eternity”: a nexus where the finite meets the infinite, the here meets the elsewhere. Warm hues of peach and gold converse with blues and grays, creating a harmonic tension that is at once soothing and vibrant with latent energy. The sea, mirroring the sky, intensifies this chromatic resonance, transforming into a second firmament.

Symbolic Resonance

Though diminutive, the lone figure in the boat personifies the human spirit suspended between the visible and the invisible, between past and future. The image invites reflection on the nature of the ephemeral and the possibility of capturing, in a single instant, a fragment of eternity. The painting thus becomes an invitation to meditation and inner dialogue—a reminder of our fragile grandeur.

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“Like a Fragment of Eternity” reveals itself as a work of rare intensity: a synthesis of technical mastery and poetic depth that compels the viewer to pause and lose themselves, for an infinite instant, in the silence of a timeless dusk.