The damage caused by Donald Trump to the United States’ reputation is creating opportunities for China, particularly with regards to Taiwan, according to a retired senior colonel from China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
Speaking to the Guardian in Beijing, Zhou Bo said that Trump was damaging the US’s reputation “more than all of his predecessors combined”.
“By the end of his second term, I believe America’s global image will simply become more tarnished, its international standing will just go down further,” Zhou said. The people of Taiwan “know that America is going down”, which “might affect their mentality” with regards to China.
Regarding point 1, he is 71 years old. Certainly not young but Trump is 78, and if he makes it to the end of his term he will be 82…
Generally speaking, autocrats have a shorter-than-average life expectancy. At least as leaders. Trump’s mental and physical decline is very remarkable if you compare him to his 2015 self vs now. He’s slow, he has difficulty holding his attention (see Crimea annex comment this Friday), but the US still has a succession system