US and China are in cold war that ‘threatens to turn into a hot one’

Matthew Lloyd | Bloomberg | Getty Images

George Soros, billionaire and founder of Soros Fund Management LLC, looks on during an interview at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016.

Liberal billionaire George Soros on Thursday warned that the U.S. and China, the world’s two largest economies, are locked in a “cold war that could soon turn into a hot one.”

His comments come at a time when investors are increasingly concerned about a serious economic downturn, with a long-running U.S.-China trade war souring business and consumer sentiment.

Soros, a major Democratic donor and critic of President Donald Trump, was speaking at a private dinner at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

“Regrettably, President Trump seems to be following a different course: make concessions to China and declare victory while renewing his attacks on U.S. allies. This is liable to undermine the U.S. policy objective of curbing China’s abuses and excesses,” he said.

“The reality is that we are in a cold war that threatens to turn into a hot one,” Soros added.

“On the other hand, if Xi and Trump were no longer in power, an opportunity would present itself to develop greater cooperation between the two cyber-superpowers,” Soros said.