The US closed its Chinese consulate in Houston, amid claims it was being heavily used for espionage against the US. 

To be fair, the president has long resisted any action against China, preferring to trade blows with their rival in a trade war he was politically set on winning. 

Unfortunately for him and despite his claim that winning a trade war is easy stuff, it has been a hard slog that has been costly to US taxpayers and consumers. 

Tariffs have knocked directly onto US citizens. No doubt they have hurt China in terms of trade volumes, but most trade follows US demand, now combined with higher prices. 

One thing most politicians seem incapable of grasping is that economies are not lapdogs. They don't follow political dictates. They adjust on their own terms. 

Anyway, China has retaliated by closing an important US trade consulate in Chengdu, but the US had already discounted that when it made its preemptive move. 

The claim is about spying which Trump has tried to ignore out of a desire to engage Xi Jinping constructively and to secure meaningful treaties with him. 

But a lobby largely led by Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, has been gaining traction against that narrative and has now persuaded President Trump to act. 

That, on the surface, appears to be what is driving it, aggravated by the Chinese clampdown on Hong Kong and global reaction to that. 

That led to the removal of special rights enjoyed by Hong Kong, while Britain offered political refuge to Hong Kong citizens. 

But there is an undercurrent. No doubt, games like this tend to play out more openly during election seasons. They always do. 

For Trump, China is a useful scapegoat from his culpability for the Covid-19 storm raging in the US. Blaming them takes some heat off himself although voters aren't buying that. 

A right-wing go-to response to issues of security has also positioned the president as a strong-man in a time of great insecurity. 

It got George W reelected after 911 and Reagan benefited from the threats of global nuclear war. Its back on the agenda now. 

After all, Trump's November prospects are looking grim. He needs something to work for him after so much else has failed. 

As such, this will, to some extent be rationalized by China as a political game that will sort itself out after the election. 

Both sides have preserved a buffer in opting for de-escalation, but that buffer seems to have become rather thin and spent. 

No, its unlikely that war is any form of consideration to either nation, although China's expansion in the South China sea may force a standoff like the Cuban missile crisis.

Time will tell. But with a global economy in tatters, this is an inconvenient cold-war that is an avoidable factor in the global economic scenario. It would be best for all if they resolved it. 

US consumers would sleep better if the trade war ended and it would stimulate a troubled domestic and global economy.  

We can only hope, as the political games reach a climax, that world leaders regroup around our collective interest in a stronger economy. 

(c) Peter Missing @ me2u2all.blogspot.com