[HLPhat]

>>Has China been furnishing these improvements?

Why would they do that when they're so close to...

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-09-02/de-dollarization-accelerates-china-readies-yuan-priced-crude-oil-benchmark-backed-go

Far more likely Comrade Clinton's playmates in the Military Industrial Swamp propped up the paper Norka-tiger so they could profit from his extermination --- reclaiming hegemonic "order" within the purview of their almighty object of worship...

... in the process:

[HiTech RedNeck]

China upping the price of its cheap junk will raise more competitors though. So it’s a pinch.