Weekend US-China trade talks fail; No harmony in Shangri-La; Putin state visit to China; Tax evasion in China's film industry

US-China trade negotiations appear to be at an impasse. The weekend talks ended with no concrete resolutions and a hard statement from the Chinese side threatening to void all outcomes of all the recent talks if Trump follows through on his tariff threats. This week before the June 12 Trump-Kim Singapore Summit Special however may be relatively quiet on the US-China trade front as the US looks to focus on positive outcomes from that meeting. Then again, who knows?

The Shangri-La Dialogue sounded predictably tense and the Chinese side predictably criticized it as basically a Western-led effort against China. Will Beijing even send a delegation next year? US SecDef Mattis had tough words for China and its South China Sea efforts, and there was a nicely timed leak to the New York Times that the "Pentagon is weighing a more assertive program of so-called freedom-of-navigation operations close to Chinese installations on disputed reefs".

It is the 29th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Mas…