US cannot commit $1 trillion for financing infrastructure in the developing world, because it is a democracy.

Paradoxically, American voters will eagerly spend $1 trillion of their tax dollars on bombing some nation they can't locate on a map, if politicians scare them enough.

China is not a democracy - so it can afford to spend $1 trillion financing infrastructure in the developing world, unlike the US.

Washington's opposition to the Belt and Road Initiative is simple. They can't compete with China on this, so they have to destroy its reputation.

This is not to say that some BRI projects aren't problematic - but that isn't what is driving Washington's opposition to it.

They can't compete with China on infrastructure financing, so the easiest and most cost efficient approach is to rubbish the entire program.

We are going to see a lot more of this as the China versus US competition heats up.

Since no US firm can compete with Huawei, why not destroy Huawei by limiting access to key components? Cheap, effective and swift.

Tariffs will also be liberally used.