US presidential hopefuls better be thinking really big about China

When Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton becomes US president come January 2017, this is what the new leader of the free world will be dealing with on the global stage:

One Belt One Road (OBOR):

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB):

The sheer scale of Beijing's global economic (and hence geopolitical) ambitions presents the US with an arguably greater challenge than either the anti-fascist struggle in World War II or the Cold War against the Soviet Union. From the above maps, it's obvious that Beijing intends to dominate the traditional heartland of world politics - the Eurasian supercontinent.

In its latest play for global supremacy, its largest state bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), has acquired a flagship secret UK gold vault from Barclays in London - instantly adding up to 2,000 tons of physical gold to Beijing's sovereign oversight (if even just a small fraction of it under Chinese ownership or lease) out of a global total physical gold supply estimated at only 35,000 tons, i.e. scooped up access control of nearly 6 percent of the whole planet's gold stockpile.

The Donald, interestingly, has bragged about ICBC's presence as a major tenant in Trump Tower. This is the kind of news that gets him riled up more than ever: while the White House and Pentagon remain preoccupied with the charade of a standoff in the South China Sea, the communist dictatorship is seizing direct control of the Western financial system piece by piece, right under our noses.

Donald's already accustomed to thinking big about China - he's now compelled to think even bigger. And Hillary had better follow suit.