Former US president Donald Trump’s choice of US Senator J.D. Vance as his running mate makes his break with the foreign policy old guard of his party complete.
The first formal pick of his potential administration is a 39-year-old former Marine who voted against more military aid to Ukraine, wants to help Israel “finish the job” against Hamas, and says the US is “stretched too thin” overseas and should zero in on Asia to counter China.
Vance even went so far as to brand China the biggest threat to the US in one of his first interviews since being named Trump’s running mate, underscoring the likely hawkish stance of their administration toward Beijing if elected.
Photo: AFP
The Ohio senator made the remarks in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Monday.
Asked about the war in Ukraine, Vance said that Trump would negotiate with Moscow and Kyiv to “bring this thing to a rapid close so America can focus on the real issue, which is China.”
“That’s the biggest threat to our country and we are completely distracted from it,” he said, shortly after joining the Republican presidential ticket.
Vance’s views would be a boon to Taiwan and other Asian nations, which have warned about growing Chinese encroachment.
He has also said he is a “fan of AUKUS,” the US’ defensive alliance with the UK and Australia that looks to counter China with a boosted fleet of submarines and technology-sharing.
Vance’s views mirror the rise of a new strain of policy shared by younger Republicans — and fueled by Trump — that the old ways are out of date. Their approach questions the one-time conventional wisdom that the US should seek primacy through leading global alliances, promote democracy and entice other nations to embrace American values.
“This is the first appointment [Trump] has made of his supposed second term,” said Ivo Daalder, the US ambassador to NATO under former US president Barack Obama. “And it demonstrates that what he’s looking for is someone who affirms his views, not contradicts them, at least as far as it comes to Ukraine and NATO and foreign policy.”
However, Vance was harshly critical of Trump before and after Trump’s 2016 election win, calling him an “idiot” and “America’s Hitler,” among other epithets.
Yet as he geared up to run for the US Senate in Ohio in 2022, Vance transformed into one of Trump’s most consistent defenders, supporting him even when some Senate colleagues declined to do so.
Additional reporting by Reuters
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
CHIP WAR: The new restrictions are expected to cut off China’s access to Taiwan’s technologies, materials and equipment essential to building AI semiconductors Taiwan has blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯), dealing another major blow to the two companies spearheading China’s efforts to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chip technologies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Administration has included Huawei, SMIC and several of their subsidiaries in an update of its so-called strategic high-tech commodities entity list, the latest version on its Web site showed on Saturday. It did not publicly announce the change. Other entities on the list include organizations such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as companies in China, Iran and elsewhere. Local companies need
CRITICISM: It is generally accepted that the Straits Forum is a CCP ‘united front’ platform, and anyone attending should maintain Taiwan’s dignity, the council said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it deeply regrets that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) echoed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “one China” principle and “united front” tactics by telling the Straits Forum that Taiwanese yearn for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to move toward “peace” and “integration.” The 17th annual Straits Forum yesterday opened in Xiamen, China, and while the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) local government heads were absent for the first time in 17 years, Ma attended the forum as “former KMT chairperson” and met with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧). Wang
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
RSS