George Soros says US should not work closely with China on the coronavirus crisis

CNBC reports that according to billionaire George Soros, the U.S. should be wary of working too closely with China in order to protect its own democracy.

In an interview published by German newspaper Augsburger Allgemeine, Soros said ongoing tensions between the world's two largest economies and President Donald Trump's blaming of China for the Covid-19 pandemic were complicating potential joint efforts to eradicate the virus.

However, Soros himself was not an advocate of closer relations with Beijing.

"There are a lot of people who say we should be working very closely with China (on tackling the crisis) - but I am not in favor of doing that," he said. "We must protect our democratic open society. At the same time, we must find a way to cooperate on fighting climate change and the novel coronavirus. That won't be easy."

Soros told Augsburger Allgemeine he sympathized with the Chinese people who he claimed were "under the domination of a dictator." However, he predicted that the coronavirus crisis was adding pressure to Chinese President Xi Jinping's hold on power.

"Many well-educated Chinese are deeply angry at the party leadership for hiding the coronavirus for so long," Soros said.

"When Xi abolished term limits and named himself, in essence, president for life, he destroyed the political future of the most important and ambitious men in a very narrow and competitive elite," Soros said. "It was a big mistake on his part. So, yes, he is very strong in a way, but at the same time extremely weak, and now perhaps vulnerable."

Soros, a billionaire philanthropist and liberal activist, also slammed Trump's politics, claiming the U.S. president wants to be a dictator but is held back by the U.S. Constitution. He alleged that Trump did not represent the values of an open and free society.