Mahathir said China’s deep-rooted civilisation and staying power make it well-positioned to overtake the US, even if Trump “resents the idea that China might challenge” American dominance, Nikkei Asia reported.
“I don’t think China is going to be easily defeated by the US. I don’t think the US will recover and become No 1 again.
“It looks like China is going to be the No 1 country in the world,” he was quoted as saying at the annual Future of Asia conference in Tokyo.
He said Trump had alienated the US from the rest of the world by making “the whole world the enemy” through the imposition of “reciprocal” tariffs that ultimately hurt American consumers more than others.
“I give Trump three months before he will have to do away with the tariffs,” he said, adding that the world’s largest economy relies heavily on imports, especially microchips.
Trump introduced the controversial tariff package on April 3, imposing a 10% baseline levy on most trading partners and steeper duties on dozens of countries and blocs, including the EU, UK, Canada, Mexico, and China.
Global markets were rattled by the move, prompting the White House to later roll back or delay some of the new measures.
A long-time critic of Western policies, Mahathir also accused Washington of fuelling tensions in the Taiwan Strait to justify arms sales to Taipei.
He argued that friction between China and Taiwan is “good for America” because Taiwan buys weapons from the US to arm itself, and has shown readiness to purchase more as part of the ongoing tariff negotiations.
“If there is no tension, (the US) will not be able to sell the sophisticated weapons that it has developed,” the 99-year-old said.
“I feel that if America had not provoked China, the situation (in Taiwan) would have remained as it was.”
Mahathir also dismissed the idea that India could rival China’s global posture, citing the country’s ethnic and religious diversity, and its inability to function under a single dominant government.
India is a country with many ethnicities and religions, he said, adding that it would not be possible for India to behave like China “because India cannot have a singular government that rules the country with no one challenging its position”.