There are growing calls in Washington for the US to take a harder line with China that could benefit Taiwan.
US House Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower Chairman Randy Forbes has published an article in the National Review titled: “It’s time to rethink how we talk about China.”
Forbes, who is also co-chairman of the Congressional China Caucus, claims that Beijing’s “extravagant” territorial claims and militarized response to its neighbors’ concerns reflect a serious challenge to freedom of the seas.
He said that for years, the US has spoken softly to avoid provoking or antagonizing Beijing.
“It seems that the same Chinese leaders who ruthlessly suppress internal dissent and engage in a systematic campaign of territorial aggrandizement are too sensitive to hear open and honest pronouncements from US officials,” Forbes said.
The mild US reaction comes at the expense of longstanding friends in the region, such as Taiwan, and US values such as human rights and religious liberty, he said.
Forbes repeats arguments he made last month in speeches and congressional comments that the US should react in part to China’s aggression by increasing ties with Taiwan.
“While the US is legally obligated to provide Taiwan the weapons needed to ensure its survival, the US government regularly forces Taipei into a series of small-scale humiliations in the hopes of buying Beijing’s goodwill,” he said.
“The list of indignities imposed upon a close partner in the name of placating China is as long as it is ridiculous,” he added.
At the same time, Politico magazine said that some US naval commanders are at odds with the administration of US President Barack Obama over whether to sail US Navy ships into a disputed area of the South China Sea.
It is a debate that pits some military leaders who want to exercise their freedom of navigation against administration officials and diplomats trying to manage a delicate phase in US-China relations, Politico said.
Writing in The National Interest magazine, American Foreign Policy Council director for Asian security Jeff Smith said: “Today, Washington is confronting the dreadful realization that with each passing year the goals of political liberalization and peaceful integration appear to grow more distant, while the prospect for conflict with China draws nearer.”
A “growing chorus” of US experts is imploring Washington to abandon its informed engagement strategy for a more muscular balancing strategy, Smith wrote.
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