"Richard Nixon made a groundbreaking visit to the People's Republic of China in 1972 opened diplomatic relations between the two nations"
I have a theory why Donald J. Trump has been warning on China since the early 1980's, besides him being a savvy businessman. There are many videos of Trump saying China is dangerous back in the 80's all the way up till today. Trump has been sounding the trumpet of danger of China for close to 40+ years now.
Remembers he was friends with Nixon, he made friends with Nixon after he resigned. There are stories they wrote letters back and forth for years. I think they discussed China because Nixon was lauded for opening up China for years, even till this day. But I think Nixon had some serious misgivings about it. It's possible that Nixon told Trump he was forced by DS to open up relations with China, or he did and he made the decision and realized later it was a HUGE mistake doing it, knowing China would take over the world.
Forbes Article, which is ironic as a Chinese investor group bought close to 50% of Forbes a couple of years ago:
Nov 12, 2019 John Mauldin
China’s Grand Plan To Take Over The World
When the US and ultimately the rest of the Western world began toengage China, resulting in China finally being allowed into the World Trade Organization in the early 2000s, no one really expected the outcomes we see today.There is no simple disengagement path, given the scope of economic and legal entanglements. This isn’t a “trade” we can simply walk away from. But it is also one that, if allowed to continue in its current form, could lead to a loss of personal freedom for Western civilization. It really is that much of an existential question. Doing nothing isn’t an especially good option because, like it or not, the world is becoming something quite different than we expected just a few years ago—not just technologically, but geopolitically and socially.
China and the West
Let’s begin with how we got here. My generation came of age during the Cold War. China was a huge, impoverished odd duck in those years. In the late 1970s, China began slowly opening to the West. Change unfolded gradually but by the 1990s, serious people wanted to bring China into the modern world, and China wanted to join it. Understand that China’s total GDP in 1980 was under $90 billion in current dollars. Today, it is over $12 trillion. The world has never seen such enormous economic growth in such a short time…
They merely adapted and rebranded it. We perceived a bigger change than there actually was. Today’s Chinese communists are nowhere near Mao’s kind of communism. Xi calls it “Socialism with a Chinese character.” It appears to be a dynamic capitalistic market, but is also a totalitarian, top-down structure with rigid rules and social restrictions. So here we are,our economy now hardwired with an autocratic regime that has no interest in becoming like us.
China’s Hundred-Year Marathon
In The Hundred-Year Marathon, __Michael Pillsbury marshals a lot of evidence showing the Chinese government has a detailed strategy to overtake the US as the world’s dominant power.__They want to do this by 2049, the centennial of China’s Communist revolution.
Pillsbury (who, by the way, advises the White House including the president himself)thinks the clash is intensifying because President Trump’s China skepticism is disrupting the Chinese plan. They see his talk of restoring America’s greatness as an affront to their own dreams. In any case, we have reached a crossroads. What do we do about China now?…..
The Trump administration appears to (finally) be getting this. They are clearly seeking ways to pull back the various tariffs and ramping up other efforts.I predict an unprecedented crisis that will lead to the biggest wipeout of wealth in history.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnmauldin/2019/11/12/chinas-grand-plan-to-take-over-the-world/?sh=521eebb95ab5
A Hong Kong-based group of investors holds the majority stake in Forbes Media company.