Exclusive: Zhou Bo says harm done to US image may make Taiwanese reconsider their attitude towards Beijing but says he sees Trump as overall being ‘rather friendly’

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.

  • Dr. MooseEnglish
    3•9 hours ago

    I’m not convinced that shrinking population is at all an issue for a developed country that can replace workers with technology. China is already one if the most automated countries in the world and currently running the biggest infrastructure investments ever. I think if anyone can handle population reduction it’s probably China.

    • @notsoshaihuludEnglish
      0•3 hours ago

      I’m not convinced that shrinking population is at all an issue for a developed country that can replace workers with technology.

      OK, so why do other developed countries panic about shrinking and aging populations? Developed countries “solved” this issue by outsourcing low-skilled manual labor to China. But a population tree isn’t only about manufacturing, it’s also about caring for an aging population. Our growth-based economic systems are quite vulnerable to this.

      China is already one if the most automated countries in the world and currently running the biggest infrastructure investments ever.

      There’s no precedence for infrastructure investments to resolve loss of workers on the scale that China is facing. Infrastructure also needs to be maintained by people. There’s also an unprecedented potential for a real-estate crisis, considering the devaluation of housing if more and more becomes uninhabited.

      I think if anyone can handle population reduction it’s probably China.

      Sure, they just have to achieve like 2-3 unprecedented things that also come with unprecedented consequences, etc. These responses feel like being dismissive for sake of being dismissive. My point remains: the Western powers (and russia) are dealing with precedented, or at least predicted issues, many accelerated by aging despots. China has been winning putin’s war, so time serves their purposes etc, but their hegemony isn’t guaranteed either.