Michael Hirson

China will not phase out its imports from Iran by any means, but they are going to stop short of the kind of action that would be open provocation to the President Donald Trump administration.

That would outweigh the benefit of importing more oil from Iran and thumbing Beijing's nose at Washington.

China is taking a darker and more cynical view of Trump's objectives with China, they're becoming increasingly pessimistic about their ability to steer Trump away from further escalation.

The more Trump increases pressure on China.

The rush by China hardliners to push out actions against China by January 20 has short-circuited an already disorganized policy process.

That is a particularly broad net for China's state-owned enterprises.