Billionaire investor George Soros told the World Bank this week that the planet is on the verge of a third world war that could arise out of an economic collapse in China.

“If there is conflict between China and a military ally of the United States, like Japan, then it is not an exaggeration to say that we are on the threshold of a third world war,” Soros said during a Bretton Woods conference.

The billionaire warned that China’s difficulty in transitioning from an export economy to a domestic demand-led system could force Beijing to whip up a conflict with an external enemy in a bid to keep the country from collapsing.

Soros said the only solution to the prospect was to allow China to join the IMF’s basket of global currencies so that it could compete with the dollar.

Without this measure, Soros warned that, “there is a real danger that China will align itself with Russia politically and militarily, and then the threat of third world war becomes real, so it is worth trying.”

Soros’ comments came in the same week that CNN revealed how China’s Navy has repeatedly issued warnings to U.S. surveillance planes flying over the South China Sea. Beijing is attempting to increase its influence by building a series of man made islands in the region.

A report out of Russian state media outlet Sputnik News also speculates that the presence of American ships in the South China Sea could lead to a war between the two global superpowers.

In a People’s Daily editorial last September, Chinese PLA Professor Han Xudong warned that Beijing should prepare itself for a third world warwhich could arise out of the conflict between the United States and Russia over Ukraine.

“As the Ukrainian crisis deepens, international observers have become more and more concerned about a direct military clash between the US and Russia. Once an armed rivalry erupts, it is likely to extend to the globe. And it is not impossible that a world war could break out,” wrote Xudong.

China recently increased its military budget by 10% for 2015, making it the world’s second-largest military spender.

Fearing global unrest and the possibility of another major conflict, many members of the elite have been buying remote property and land in places like New Zealand, according to reports that emerged out of January’s Davos Economic Forum.

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Paul Joseph Watson is the editor at large of Infowars.com and Prison Planet.com.

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