By Jonathan Stempel
Feb 15 (Reuters) - Charlie Munger, the longtime business
partner of Warren Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway Inc , on
Wednesday said China remains a top opportunity for investors
despite geopolitical risks.
Munger also doubled down on his recent Wall Street Journal
editorial calling for the U.S. government to follow China and
ban cryptocurrency, saying "people who oppose my position are
idiots."
The 99-year-old spoke while fielding 2-1/4 hours of
questions at the annual meeting of Daily Journal Corp ,
a Los Angeles newspaper publisher and provider of software to
courthouses that he chaired for 45 years and where he remains a
director.
He is better known for his work at Berkshire, where he has
since 1978 been a vice chairman and close collaborator with
fellow billionaire Buffett, who is 92.
Munger has long been bullish on China, though Berkshire has
recently reduced multibillion-dollar stakes in two companies in
that region, electric car maker BYD Co and
chipmaker TSMC , also known as Taiwan Semiconductor.
Referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russia's
nearly yearlong invasion of Ukraine, Munger downplayed concern
that China might invade Taiwan.
"The Chinese leader is a very smart, practical person,"
Munger said. "Russia went into Ukraine as it looked like a
cakewalk. I don't think Taiwan looks like such a cakewalk any
more."
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 been raising prices while Elon Musk's Tesla
Inc has been lowering them, leaving BYD "so much ahead
of Tesla in China, it's almost ridiculous."
Munger also called TSMC the "strongest semiconductor
company on earth," though Berkshire
recently cut
its formerly $4.1 billion stake by 86%.
His comments about cryptocurrency follow the failures
over the last year of several prominent businesses in that
industry.
"I'm ashamed of my country that so many people believe in
this kind of crap, and that the government allows it to exist,"
Munger said. "It is totally, absolutely, crazy, stupid
gambling."
CNBC broadcast the Daily Journal meeting online.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; editing by Diane
Craft)
Messaging: jon.stempel.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
