In what would mark an abrupt and serious escalation of the US-China trade and currency war – if true – is a report from the NY Post according to which the Trump administration, as part of a crackdown on certain US investments made by Chinese companies, is set to seize a majority stake in 850 Third Ave. The stake is owned by HNA, the reeling, quasi-insolvent Chinese conglomerate whose Chairman died in a freak accident in Italy one month ago, and its US partner in the building is desperate to save it.

Over the weekend, Trump claimed on Twitter that the US is winning the trade war with China for one simple reason: whereas US stocks are back to all time highs, the Chinese market has tumbled and remains mired in a bear market. Now, another – less naive – indication has emerged suggesting that the US is indeed getting the upper hand in the ongoing trade feud: according to Reuters, the trade war with the United States is “causing rifts” within China’s Communist Party, with some critics saying that China’s overly nationalistic stance “may have hardened the U.S. position.”

Naturally, China did not respond to a Reuters request for comment on Wang and his relationship with Xi, or on whether China had erred in its messaging in the trade war. But, in a stark confirmation that the ongoing trade war with the US is taking its toll, there is a growing feeling within the Chinese government that the outlook for China has “become grim”, according to a government policy advisor, following the deterioration in relations between China and the United States over trade.

Hu Angang, an economics professor at Tsinghua University and an expert in the field of “Chinese exceptionalism”, is one prominent advocate for the view that China has achieved “comprehensive national power”. However, as the Chinese stock market has tumbled in recent weeks, Hu has faced a public backlash, with critics blaming him for making the United States wary of China by trumpeting and exaggerating its relative economic, technical and military might.