Charlie Munger Downplays Taiwan Invasion Risk, Says Crypto Fans Are ‘Idiots’

Feb 15 (Reuters) – Charlie Munger, the longtime business partner of Warren Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway Inc ( BRKa.N ), said on Wednesday that China remains a top opportunity for investors despite geopolitical risks.

Munger also doubled down on his recent Wall Street Journal editorial calling for the US government to follow China and ban cryptocurrency, saying “people who oppose my position are idiots.”

The 99-year-old spoke as he fielded 2-1/4 hours of questions at the annual meeting of Daily Journal Corp ( DJCO.O ), a Los Angeles newspaper publisher and courthouse software provider that he led for 45 years and where he remains a director.

He is better known for his work at Berkshire, where since 1978 he has been deputy chairman and close collaborator with fellow billionaire Buffett, who is 92.

Munger has long been bullish on China, although Berkshire has recently reduced multibillion-dollar stakes in two companies in that region, electric car maker BYD Co ( 002594.SZ ) and chipmaker TSMC ( 2330.TW ), also known as Taiwan Semiconductor.

Citing Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russia’s nearly year-long invasion of Ukraine, Munger downplayed concerns that China could invade Taiwan.

“The Chinese leader is a very smart, practical person,” Munger said. “Russia entered Ukraine when it looked like a cakewalk. I don’t think Taiwan looks like a cakewalk anymore.”

Munger said that helps investors’ prospects in China, because “you can buy better, stronger companies at cheaper valuations in China than you can in the United States.”

He said BYD has raised prices while Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc ( TSLA.O ) has lowered them, leaving BYD “so far ahead of Tesla in China, it’s almost ridiculous.”

Munger also called TSMC “the strongest semiconductor company on Earth,” even though Berkshire recently cut its previous $4.1 billion stake by 86%.

His comments on cryptocurrency follow the failures over the past year of several prominent businesses in that industry.

“I’m ashamed of my country that so many people believe this kind of crap and that the government allows it to exist,” Munger said. “It’s absolutely, absolutely, crazy, stupid gambling.”

CNBC webcast the Daily Journal meeting.

Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; editing by Diane Craft

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