Photo: AFP/Timothy Clary
Photo: AFP/Timothy Clary

At the beginning of Donald Trump’s tenure as America’s commander in chief, China’s commercial diplomat-in-chief, Jack Ma, set out to build a personal relationship with the businessman-turned-politician.

At a meeting at Trump Tower, Ma promised Trump he would work to create one million US jobs, helping American businesses tap into China’s growing market for consumer goods.

A lot has changed since then, and it’s no wonder that Ma has taken back the promise. Speaking in an interview with Xinhua, published Wednesday, the soon-to-be-retired Alibaba chief said that the climate of cooperation has been “destroyed.”

“This commitment was based on friendly China-US cooperation and the rational, objective premise of bilateral trade,” Ma said. “The current situation has already destroyed this original premise.”

“There is no way to complete this commitment,” he added

The comments are not surprising considering the sentiments he expressed earlier in the week, when he said the trade war could last for twenty years and that there is no short-term solution.

“It’s going to be a mess. It’s not a trade war. It’s about competition between two countries,” Ma said on Tuesday.

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