Top Republican senator predicts China is about to have a larger economy and military than the US

China is on the verge of surpassing the United States as an economic and military power, a senior Republican senator predicts, in part because of the Communist regime's success in lifting a nation of 1.4 billion people out of poverty.

“Combine that human capital with financial capital, and technology, and they're going to be the powerhouse, globally,” Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., told the Washington Examiner this week. “Certainly, regionally . . . We’re having trouble financing a 300-ship navy. They're not going to have a problem doing that.”

That’s a blunt assessment from any U.S. official, particularly the Homeland Security and Government Affairs chairman. Johnson also sits on the Foreign Relations Committee. But his perspective comes from an awareness of China’s imminent economic might that the former manufacturing CEO thinks is lacking among the U.S. political class.

Without naming President Trump, Johnson indicated he disagrees with some of the ways the new administration is trying to cope with China. The government this week moved to impose a 25 percent tariff on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods.

But Trump also moved to impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and Europe, and Johnson says a government worried about taming China would have done more to not alienate other key allies the way Trump has.