Mahathir says China will be 'No. 1 country in the world'

Malaysia's 99-year-old former PM predicts Trump will drop enemy-making tariffs

20250530 Malaysia's former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad

Malaysia's former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad discusses China's power, U.S. tariffs and other issues at the Future of Asia conference in Tokyo on May 30. (Photo by Tomoki Mera)

SHOTARO TANI and LEJUN WANG

May 30, 2025 13:41 JST

TOKYO -- Malaysia's former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said that China is destined to be the most prominent country, and that the U.S. will be unable to stop its rise given Washington's increasingly inward-looking nature.

Speaking at Nikkei's annual Future of Asia conference in Tokyo on Friday, Mahathir said U.S. President Donald Trump "resents the idea that China might challenge" the U.S., but "China has been there much longer than the U.S."