When asked about his expectations for China in the late 1990s as it prepared to join the global trading system, Clinton said, “I thought what I said. I thought they would gradually become more open and more inclusive…And I thought they would eventually replace us as the biggest economy in the world.”

He added, “And my goal was to make sure that when that happens, it wouldn’t be bad for us or dangerous for them.” Reflecting on those expectations, Clinton noted, “I was much more hopeful.”

Clinton highlighted the growing discontent among Americans amid the anti-globalization trend and pointed to the inaction of the Washington government.

The former US president stressed that long before Trump came on the scene, public discontent was evident. He noted that each aspect of globalization—trade, finance, technology, ideas, and people—raised difficult questions that Washington struggled to answer. “But sometimes, it [Washington] barely seemed to try,” he remarked, according to the Washington Post’s report.

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