During the first half of 2026, it seemed President Trump’s principal enemy was China and every second day he was raising tariffs on one thing or another. By the end of 2026, the relationship had changed.

In an article by Li Yuan of the New York Times News Service, the world’s tallest bridge opened in China’s Guizhou province and the pr campaign was the remarkable story of China’s path to modernization.

China has been buoyed in 2026 by a surge of confidence, convinced that its governance model is ascendant and its rise inevitable. There are serious concerns such as a slowing economy, a deepening housing crisis and falling birth rates.

The US has started to frame China more of a business competitor than as a rival for military, technological power. This is a shift from the previous.

Part of the shift was seen when the President reversed Washington policy to allow Nvidia to sell advanced semi-conductors to China.

Mr. Yuan writes he has interviewed a dozen Chinese tech executives and they fell more optimistic than they have in the past 4 years.

Market sentiment has shifted, the Hong Kong’s Hang Seng stock index is up 25% this year.

China has poured billions into infrastructure spending and some of it is the best on the planet, (if you have not seen it, there are many You Tube videos to do your homework on) which shows the abilities of the country. America has to follow suit, will it?

Linking to dividend paying stocks, on the market there are battles everyday but what stands out is confidence. Who believes they can be better and why? If you buy a dividend paying stock, there are many reasons why the company can still make profits to pay dividends and you need to ensure the reasons are valid and management believes or has confidence it can do it again.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.