Soros is actually... a libertarian??
"China is not the only authoritarian regime in the world but it is the wealthiest, strongest and technologically most advanced.
"This makes Xi Jinping the most dangerous opponent of open societies," Soros told a dinner audience on the margins of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Communist China under Xi has been building a cutting-edge system including facial recognition to keep tabs on its citizens, and Soros said it would be used to calculate how dangerous a threat individuals might pose to the regime.
"The instruments of control developed by artificial intelligence give an inherent advantage of totalitarian regimes over open societies," the former hedge fund manager said.
"The 'social credit' system, if it became operational, would give Xi total control over the people," he said at the dinner, which was open to the news media.
"Since Xi is the most dangerous enemy of the open society, we must pin our hopes on the Chinese people, and especially on the business community and a political elite willing to uphold the Confucian tradition," he said, referencing the ancient history of Chinese officials speaking truth to power, even on pain of imprisonment or death.
Soros said there was an undeclared struggle between the West and China over governance of the internet. China wanted to dictate rules and procedures that governed the digital economy by dominating the developing world with its new platforms and technologies.
"Last year I still believed that China ought to be more deeply embedded in the institutions of global governance, but since then Xi Jinping's behaviour has changed my opinion," he said.
"My present view is that instead of waging a trade war with practically the whole world, the US should focus on China. Instead of letting [the Chinese tech companies] ZTE and Huawei off lightly, it needs to crack down on them.
Comment: So Soros - THE mega funder of Democrats - is to the right of Trump on this. Interesting.
"If these companies came to dominate the 5G market, they would present an unacceptable security risk for the rest of the world."
Soros said US President Donald Trump was taking the wrong approach to China: making concessions to Beijing and declaring victory while renewing his attacks on US allies.
"This is liable to undermine the US policy objective of curbing China's abuses and excesses. The reality is that we are in a cold war that threatens to turn into a hot one."
Soros, 88, has become an lightning rod for his political views and philanthropic efforts. A long-time supporter and financial backer of progressive causes and Democratic politicians, he's become a target of right-wing activists.
In October, an apparent explosive device was discovered at his suburban New York home.
Comment: So, China-bashers, given that ye also tend to believe Soros is in league with the devil, what do you make of all that?
When Soros et al are cheering for (and paying for, no doubt) Hong Kong protesters, do you think it's their 'freedom' that motivates him?
Does it not concern you that, in cheering for their 'freedom' too... you may have inadvertently been enlisted as a Soros sockpuppet?