Who really is responsible for the upcoming summit talks between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un? Donald Trump because of his bluster against the North Korean leader? Hardly. It’s China. Who also benefits from Trump’s recent decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal? The United States? Hardly. It’s China. Who benefits from Trump’s decision to move its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem? Is it Israel? The United States? Hardly. It’s China.

Stay with me here because they are all connected.

Months ago, when Trump met with President Xi of China, he reputedly asked the Chinese for assistance in putting pressure to bear on North Korea to cease its development of nuclear weapons. The Chinese did, but not because Trump asked, but because it was good for China. China’s leader summoned the North Korean leader to China and told him that he was to make nice with the United States, that he was to cease his development of nuclear weapons and to reach an accord with the United States. That is exactly what he is doing. He is not about to bite the hand that feeds him. And that is China.

Trump and Kim will sit down and they will come to an agreement in which Kim agrees to cease his nuclear program in exchange for a promise by the United States not to invade North Korea, to draw down its forces on the Korean Peninsula and to provide economic aid and investment to North Korea.

Trump will be declared a great negotiator, and his esteem in the eyes of the U.S. electorate will rise, which is exactly what the Chinese want. They want Trump to get re-elected. They need Trump to be re-elected. Why? Because with Trump as the head of state of the United States that gives China free rein to do what they want in Asia and elsewhere.

In Trump the Chinese know they are dealing with someone incapable of thinking strategically, who thinks of only one thing: himself. In Obama they knew they had a leader who thought strategically, and who was working to stem Chinese influence; hence, the Iran nuclear deal and the Trans Pacific Trade Pact (TPP). Now that both of those are dead because of Trump, that leaves China free to consolidate its position in Asia and to take advantage of a further embroiled Middle East.

Who really benefits from a de-nuclearized Korean peninsula? Yes, it lessens tensions and makes a nuclear conflict less likely, which is in everyone’s interest, but the Chinese get the best deal. If the U.S. draws down its forces in Korea, that makes the U.S. less of a threat to China directly from the Korean peninsula and makes the U.S. weaker militarily overall in Asia, which is in China’s best interest because then they can militarize in the South China Sea more readily without fear of the U.S. stopping them. With a U.S. and North Korean deal, China doesn’t have to pay so much to prop up North Korea. The U.S. will do it for them.

Now that Trump has basically scuttled the Iran nuclear deal, and with Iran and Israel fighting one another in Syria, there is added incentive in Iran’s mind to renew its quest for nuclear weapons. Add to this Trump’s decision to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, of which there is absolutely no benefit to the United States, nor Israel, because it only heightens tensions and conflict in the Middle East, still a region of strategic necessity to the U.S. and Europe because of the oil. The oil must flow.

Continued tensions and fighting in the Middle East will occupy the world’s and in particular the United States’ attention, allowing the Chinese to operate at will in Asia, building up their military position in the South China Sea and bringing pressure to bear on the countries of Asia to reach trade accords very beneficial to China.

Ah, but you say, China is negotiating with the United States to end the burgeoning trade war between the two countries. Yes, but who is in control there? It isn’t the United States. What bargaining chips does the U.S. have in those negotiations? Trump exited the TPP. He refuses to work in concert with Europe and other allies, insulting them whenever he can. Where is his leverage now with China? Had Trump stayed in the TPP, had he worked in concert with Europe and other allies to present a united front against China instead of imposing tariffs that mostly damage allies, that would be some real leverage to get China to cease its predatory trade practices and to abide by recognized international norms. Since because of Trump’s actions the United States has no leverage, China will not be held to account on trade, not in any meaningful way.

The truth is the Chinese think very strategically and long term. The whole North Korean nuclear gambit was not cooked up in North Korea; it was planned in Beijing. All they had to do was wait for a leader like Trump to emerge in the United States. Now that they have him, they’re not about to let him fail. Hence, the upcoming summit in Singapore between Trump and Kim and the inevitable agreement that will most benefit China but to an uninformed American electorate make Trump into a hero. And Trump being Trump, he will not lose any time in boasting of his great feat that was in fact engineered by China.

Similarly, it is in China’s interest, if for no other reason than to occupy the United States’ attention, for there to be continued and heightened conflict in the Middle East. Anything to take the eyes of the United States off the far east to give China the opportunity to do what they want there. Also, with Iran once again isolated and a nuclear pariah, that makes them ripe to become an ally of China as well as Russia.

The trouble with Trump, which benefits China, is that the man doesn’t listen to anyone but the voices in his head. He was a failed businessman, having gone bankrupt four times such that no reputable banks would lend him any more money, and he had to go to corrupt Russian Oligarchs to fund his business schemes. He is incapable of thinking strategically, something the Chinese, on the other hand, are expert at.

As long as Trump remains in office, the United States will be the puppet of China manipulated at every turn by a master puppeteer.