ExclusiveChinese military strategist who inspired Steve Bannon attacks Donald Trump’s ‘outdated imperialist thinking’
The US ‘is declining because they have many problems, all of which were created by themselves’, says Unrestricted Warfare co-author Qiao Liang
A Chinese military strategist who co-wrote a book that inspired former White House political adviser Steve Bannon to conclude China was waging an economic war against the United States criticised the “outdated and stupid imperialist thinking” that led US President Trump to launch the trade war.
Taking aim at Trump’s blaming of China for numerous US challenges, Qiao Liang, co-author of Unrestricted Warfare, said the US “is declining because they have so many problems, which were all created by themselves, but they put the blame on China … because they are still using outdated and stupid imperialist thinking to judge China”.
Qiao accused Trump of mixing up his personal motivations – conflating his bid to help fellow members of the Republican Party prevail in the upcoming US midterm elections with his decision to enter a trade war with Beijing.
“The US became a superpower because of its competitiveness and better systems, not by creating hurdles to drag down its competitors,” he said.
But rather than sticking to that model, the US was now trying to “create more obstacles to drag China down and maintain its No 1 status”, Qiao said, referring to the punitive tariffs the US imposed on Chinese goods to launch the trade war.
