The future of US-China relations

North Korea's nuclear missile programmes and the evidence of Kim's visit to Beijing can only further strengthen China's financial and diplomatic hold

Hammering this out on the mini Lenovo, about the size of an iPad, that accompanies me all over the world, I cannot but feel apprehensive at the prospect of friction between China and the US. It isn’t only American warships prowling in the South China Sea. It’s China’s financial reach. In the 12 years since Lenovo acquired IMB’s ThinkPad business, China has sunk $170 billion in American non-bond investments alone. The game didn’t change as Kim Jong-un’s bullet-proof train trundled across the border. The message of Chinese importance only became more emphatic.

For all his huffing and puffing, Donald Trump might