Agree that sounds like the leading factor. There is a line of thinking that the trade war comes at a convenient time PR-wise for the Chinese got. It gives them

Agree that sounds like the leading factor. There is a line of thinking that the trade war comes at a convenient time PR-wise for the Chinese got. It gives them a scapegoat for domestic economic issues, which they are only too happy to talk up. (But I don't really know anything, and welcome expert correction.)