Far worse shape, based on what? By all appearances,
China has replaced the US as the locomotive of the global economy.China's economic growth was probably hurt more by recent tariff increases but that doesn't tell the full story at all. China has been fleecing the US for decades through currency devaluation, wage suppression, government subsidies, etc. to boost their own exports and make US imports uneconomical. Hence the whole platform of ending the US-China trade imbalance Trump campaigned on.
It's like Peter Navarro said:White House National Trade Council director Peter Navarro, however, said that there was no "trade war," but that it was a "trade dispute, fair and simple. We lost the trade war long ago."
John Kemp says: "China has replaced the US as the locomotive of the global economy". What he's referring to there is china replacing the united states as a major manufacturing hub. In the united states glory day, "made in america" was a common theme, many things were manufactured in the USA. Today most things are made in china. There's no disputing that.
What we can dispute is the idea china is surpassing the united states as the world's superpower.
That description fits Trump to a T.
The recent trade war was wholly initiated by the US, who was lashing out over China's "unfair" economic protectionism and de-liberalization.
The united states has spent trillions of dollars developing satellite, missile, stealth, defense and other assorted technology.
China actively infiltrated and stole every intellectual property of value owned by the united states.
The timeline looks like this. US unveiled its F-35 stealth fighter. Months later, china announces their own stealth fighter based on stealth data stolen from the US. The united states unveiled ships armed with railguns and lasers. Months later, china announces their own destroyer equipped with a railgun/laser. How did they get this technology? They stole it from the USA. China's satellite, defense, dotcom, internet and missile technology -- are all stolen from the US and countries around the world.
China counterfeits and pirates everything from video games to movies and music track media. China is like the pirate bay, except they never get shut down for infringing on copyright and IP violations.
China is by far the biggest polluter in the world. Recently they announced plans to build 700 new coal power plants. While the US shut down 50 coal plants in the country, since 2016 when Trump took office.
The "fake news" media publishes contrived angles, where they fool people into believing any trade war against china is unjustified and a personal vendetta on the part of Trump or whoever. In reality, a trade war or punitive measures against china for their violations have been long overdue imo.