In early 2020, a seminar on "Prospects for the Integration of Civilian Technology into Military Space" was held in San Francisco, USA, and the site was filled with the US Air Force.
At the meeting, Admiral John Thompson asked a poignant question: How can the United States defeat China? Hearing this question, the audience at the scene waited for Tesla's boss Musk's answer with a good show.
However, Musk's answer silenced the audience, and even Thompson was speechless. Musk thought for a moment and then said, "I think that China's economy will eventually be double or even triple that of the United States!" ”
Elon Musk: China's economy will eventually surpass twice that of the United States You may not be familiar with Musk, but you should have heard that he is a tech maniac. His father was an electromechanical engineer and his mother was a model, and he is of British, Dutch and Canadian descent.
Musk has had a strong interest in technology since he was a child, bought a computer and a programming book at the age of 10, and taught himself how to knock **. Musk is very intelligent, and when children of the same age play carefree, he has already earned the first pot of gold in his life.
When he was 12 years old, he earned $500 on a game software. This amount was not small in those days. Musk later came to the University of Pennsylvania to study economics and physics, while focusing on space, the Internet, clean energy and other fields.
His talent and forward-thinking have led him to great success in the tech sector, making him one of the richest people in the world. So why does Musk say that China's economy will eventually double that of the United States?
What he means is that China will advance and develop faster than the United States in the field of science and technology. Musk sees the huge potential and innovative spirit of the Chinese economy, which he believes will double that of the United States in the next few years.
An adventurous and innovative businessman, he started his business in 1995 by founding SpaceX and investing in Tesla, where he became a major shareholder.
Under his leadership, SpaceX successfully achieved the return of private enterprise rockets and sea rockets. His entrepreneurial experience has made him famous in the United States and globally, especially after becoming the world's new richest man in January 2021.
However, as his popularity rises, his behavior also seems to have become somewhat impulsive. On March 14, 2022, he challenged Putin on social platforms: "I challenge you Vladimir Putin, we will win one-on-one, the bet is Ukraine, do you dare to fight?" ”
Although Putin and the Russians ignored his challenge, his actions won widespread appreciation in the United States, as only a handful of people dared to challenge Putin.
Musk is the richest man in the world, while Americans believe that having money is God. Therefore, the US Air Force has deep respect for Musk's achievements in the field of space and invites him to participate in a seminar on the prospects for the integration of civilian technologies into military space.
At the seminar, Thompson tried to set a trap for Musk, but Musk not only did not fall into the trap, but let Thompson suffer the consequences. Musk has said more than once in public that China's future economy will be two or three times that of the United States.
He stressed that the behavior of the Americans in infighting is unwise and that it should be stopped as soon as possible in order to compete with China. Musk's views are not groundless, otherwise the United States would not regard our country as a strong opponent.
Since the end of World War II, the world has entered the Cold War phase, and the two camps, the capitalist camp led by the United States and the socialist camp led by the Soviet Union, are hostile to each other.
As leaders of the two camps, the Soviet Union and the United States saw each other as the greatest threat. In the struggle for world hegemony, they engaged in a fierce arms race, which made the global situation tense.
As a socialist country, China's political system is completely different from that of the United States, so Sino-US relations have remained at a freezing point. The United States often joins other countries in imposing political, economic, and military sanctions on China.
In the early years of the founding of the People's Republic of China, China faced enormous challenges, so to speak, living in the cracks. China is like a tenacious grass, trying to survive.
Since the United States was too busy confronting the USSR to have enough time and energy to suppress China, this gave China a respite and a chance to develop.
After the former adversary, the Soviet Union, became hostile to China, the United States seized this opportunity to try to establish good relations with China. The attitude of the United States has changed, and it has begun to show goodwill to China, and Sino-US relations have eased for a time and entered a honeymoon period.
However, with the passage of time, changes in the international situation have led to another change in Sino-US relations. In December 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed and became more than 10 countries, the largest of which was Russia.
The United States turned its attention to Russia and began to put pressure on it. Despite the fact that Russia is the successor of the former Soviet Union, it is clear that Russia cannot be compared with the Soviet Union in some aspects, such as economic power.
In addition, the political situation in Russia is also unstable, and there are many contradictions in the country. The United States took advantage of this opportunity and began to suppress other countries that did not stand with its own.
On May 8, 1999, the US-led NATO bombed the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia, resulting in the tragic death of three Chinese citizens. This incident once again shows the impact of changes in the international situation on Sino-US relations.
The apology of the United States pales in comparison, and they explain the accidental bombing on the grounds that the map is wrong. This attitude has made us very angry, and the relationship between China and the United States has become tense as a result.
The United States interferes in the internal affairs of other countries under the banner of "human rights" and practices hegemonism, which has aroused the dissatisfaction of many countries. In order to eradicate unfavorable voices and expand its influence, the United States deliberately provoked war.
At the same time, the new leader of Russia, Putin, came to power, and the United States began to be vigilant and play with it.
Although the United States has succeeded in eradicating Saddam Hussein and others, it is also mired in war, and this obviously outweighs the losses. The United States has just solved these thorny problems, and before it has time to breathe a sigh of relief, it has found that China has risen at some point.
In 2010, China's GDP surpassed Japan's to become the world's second-largest economy. This is a great achievement achieved by the joint efforts of the whole country since the implementation of China's reform and opening up.
China has successfully grown from a poor and backward country to an economy second only to the United States, and it has only taken more than 30 years to create an incredible miracle.
The United States is alarmed by this, Russia has not yet completely dealt with it, and a powerful China has emerged. In order to limit China's development, the United States began to intensify its efforts to suppress China.
Especially after Trump came to power, he was born as a businessman and launched a ** war against China several times. In the same way, China has pushed back against the unreasonable actions of the United States, without mercy.
In recent years, the United States has become increasingly hostile to China and seems to see China as its greatest adversary. The United States is worried that China's rise will affect its hegemony and influence in the world.
The strength of the United States is inseparable from the help of the dollar. After the end of World War II, the United States established the petrodollar ** system, oil, as the blood of industry, is vital to the industrial development of any country, but the purchase of oil requires the use of dollars, which makes the dollar an international currency and expands the international influence of the United States.
The U.S. dollar provides many conveniences for the United States, such as containing other countries and diverting domestic economic crises. In 2008, when the U.S. economic crisis broke out, the U.S. relied on the status of the dollar to coerce and induce other countries to buy U.S. Treasury bonds, and successfully survived the crisis.
However, with the influx of dollars from other countries in a short period of time, triggering an economic crisis, the U.S. operation succeeded in expanding the crisis to the whole world. Although the United States has tried every means to curb China's development, China's economy has maintained a growth trend and gradually narrowed the gap with the United States.
The GDP of the United States in 2019 was 214 trillion dollars, while our country's GDP is 14$1 trillion. By 2021, the gross domestic product of the United States has grown to $23 trillion, compared to 177 trillion dollars.
This growth trend shows that China's economy is gradually narrowing the gap with the United States and showing greater economic growth potential than the United States. The new crown epidemic has had an impact on the whole world, but China's people-centered and people-centered measures have taken swift and effective measures to control the epidemic and promote the resumption of work and production, which has successfully protected people's lives and minimized the impact of the epidemic on the economy.
In contrast, the United States** was more hesitant in the early days of the epidemic to prevent and control measures, and the American people, who advocate freedom and democracy, responded coldly to the guidance measures, and even saw large-scale demonstrations and demonstrations, refusing to wear masks, leading to the further expansion of the epidemic.
Initially, the number of demonstrators gradually increased, and eventually turned into a riot. They stormed the Capitol and other places, smashed and looted. The United States** was forced to adjust its epidemic prevention policy, claiming that the new coronavirus was just a cold, and stopped managing the epidemic.
As a result, millions of people have been infected in the United States, more than 1 million people have died, a large number of people have lost their jobs, inflation is high, and the economy has suffered. After Biden took office, he was unable to solve the economic mess left by Trump, and inflation in the United States increased further in 2021.
In response to the epidemic, the United States has adopted a "laissez-faire" attitude and taken measures to lie flat. For the economic crisis, it tried to imitate the methods of 2008 and divert the contradictions through the national debt.
However, other countries are not stupid enough to buy US Treasuries again.
The United States maintains its hegemony by bullying other countries, and its actions have made many countries unhappy. As for its so-called allies, the United States pays more attention to its own interests, and even does whatever it takes to achieve it.
Germany and other countries have seen through the United States for what it really is, and relations with it are no longer as close as before. This effectively means that America's influence around the world is declining.
In addition, some countries are beginning to try to reduce or get rid of the influence of the dollar. For example, in the 25-year cooperation agreement between China and Iran, it is stipulated that settlements will be made in yuan.
After the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Russia demanded that if it imports oil and gas from its own country, it must be settled in rubles.
A strong international presence and influence can attract more foreign investment. China is an important partner of many countries, including Western countries such as Germany, France, and the United Kingdom, which have close ties with the United States.
The economy is the key factor in a country's comprehensive national strength, and as Marx and Engels said, the economic base determines the superstructure. The economy plays a vital role in the development of a country.
On the face of it, Thompson asked Musk how to defeat China, and Musk didn't seem to analyze it from a military perspective. In fact, Musk's answer reveals the essence of war.
In modern warfare, it is not the number of people and tactics that determine the outcome of the war, but the lethality of the best. The economy is the foundation of war, and with sufficient financial resources and resources, we can invest more in research and development, science and technology, develop military strength, and ensure that the frontline materials are sufficient.
With his deep understanding, Musk is not only familiar with aviation, the Internet, technology and other fields, but also has unique insights into China's economy. He is convinced that in the future, China's economic power will surpass that of the United States by two to three times.
As U.S. influence wanes, China's global influence continues to expand. China is the world's largest processing plant and market, and the advantage of population is irreplaceable.
Data shows that since becoming the largest manufacturer in 2010, the share of China's manufacturing industry has continued to grow, reaching 29% as of 2019, while the United States has fallen from 26% to 18%.
With the development of China's manufacturing industry and the improvement of its international status, this data is likely to be further improved. For foreign investors,"Made in China"It is very attractive because of its low price and low cost.
The best example of this is Elon Musk, who has set up his own factory in Shanghai, China.
In 2021, Tesla delivered a total of 9360,000 vehicles, of which the contribution of the Shanghai plant was particularly prominent, producing 48Of the 40,000 vehicles, more than 130,000 are exported and the rest are sold in China.
It can be said that Musk's move not only reduced production costs, but also brought more than 300,000 cars to the Chinese market, achieving a win-win situation. This successful example has undoubtedly attracted more large foreign enterprises to invest and build factories in China, and has played a positive role in promoting China's economic development.
However, we cannot rely entirely on foreign companies, and we must adhere to the development path of self-reliance, which is the principle we have always adhered to. As early as the first decade of the last century, China put forward the concept of "rejuvenating the country with science and technology, strengthening the country with science and technology", and the investment in the field of science and technology has been increasing.
Over the past 20 years, R&D spending in the U.S. and China has grown significantly, from $360 billion to $610 billion in the U.S. and from $40 billion to $510 billion in China.
This fact clearly shows that our country's investment in R&D is trying to catch up with the United States. These funds have been invested in new energy, Internet applications and other fields, laying the foundation for our future development.
Our efforts paid off, with 122 U.S. companies on the list and 143 Chinese companies on the 2021 Fortune 500 list.
China's high-tech and high-value products are going global. In the future, the new energy industry will be a huge opportunity. As the world's largest polysilicon producer, China accounts for 60% of global polysilicon production and owns 90% of the raw materials necessary for new energy production, such as refined rare earths.
China leads the world in the energy industry in the digital age, and the core technology, leading companies and most of the raw materials are in China, these factors make the British think tank Center for Economics and Business Research**: China will surpass the United States around 2030 and become the world's largest economy.
This is also the speculation of many economists, China may replace the United States as the world's largest economy within 10 years.
Elon Musk, the brilliant businessman, has a wisdom and vision that most people find difficult to match. His answer silenced the general, perhaps because of the depth of his insights, or because some questioned the points he made.
One might think that he is belittling the United States and exalting China, but this is just a personal opinion. In fact, time will tell, whether Musk's guess is correct or not, we will know in a few years.
For our country, it is important to keep our feet on the ground and move forward steadily, no matter how much the outside world speculates and touts. Although there is a certain gap between China and the United States in terms of high technology, finance, emerging industries and biotechnology, with the joint efforts of the national leadership and the people, we believe that we can change the status quo, realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and turn the speculation of Musk and others into reality.