Soros blasts Trump, Xi; questions success of Belt Road Initiative

Billionaire investor George Soros, known for his outspoken liberal views, has criticised virtually all economic powers of the world, including the US and China, for being ruled by "would-be or actual dictators" and named India among the countries where nationalism is making further headway.

In a statement released here during the WEF 2020 week, he also questioned success of China's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, saying it has required giving large loans, some of which will never be repaid.

The 89-year old, who has been a big donor for Democrats, said the strongest powers, the US, China and Russia, have "remained in the hands of would-be or actual dictators and the ranks of authoritarian rulers continued to grow".

Stating that he had last year hoped things to improve, including on international cooperation, Soros said his hopes crashed badly and nationalism, far from being reversed, made further headway.

"The biggest and most frightening setback occurred in India where a democratically-elected Narendra Modi is creating a Hindu nationalist state, imposing punitive measures on Kashmir, a semi-autonomous Muslim region, and threatening to deprive millions of Muslims of their citizenship," he claimed.

In Latin America, a humanitarian catastrophe continues to unfold.

"To top it all off, Kim Jong-Un threatened the United States with its nuclear capabilities in his New Year's speech and Trump's impetuous actions heightened the risk of a conflagration in the Middle East," Soros said.

On the relationship between the United States and China, he said it has become incredibly complicated and difficult to understand.

He said the two presidents, Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, face internal constraints and various enemies.

"Both try to extend the powers of their office to its limit and beyond. While they have found some mutually beneficial reasons to cooperate, their motivations are completely different."
"One of China's vulnerabilities is that it still depends on the United States to supply it with the microprocessors it needs to dominate the 5G market and to fully implement the social credit system that is a threat to open societies."