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mirror the rise of a new strain of policy shared by younger Republicans — and fueled by Trump — that the old ways are out of date.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
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
NEW GEAR: On top of the new Tien Kung IV air defense missiles, the military is expected to place orders for a new combat vehicle next year for delivery in 2028 Mass production of Tien Kung IV (Sky Bow IV) missiles is expected to start next year, with plans to order 122 pods, the Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) latest list of regulated military material showed. The document said that the armed forces would obtain 46 pods of the air defense missiles next year and 76 pods the year after that. The Tien Kung IV is designed to intercept cruise missiles and ballistic missiles to an altitude of 70km, compared with the 60km maximum altitude achieved by the Missile Segment Enhancement variant of PAC-3 systems. A defense source said yesterday that the number of
A bipartisan group of US representatives have introduced a draft US-Taiwan Defense Innovation Partnership bill, aimed at accelerating defense technology collaboration between Taiwan and the US in response to ongoing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The bill was introduced by US representatives Zach Nunn and Jill Tokuda, with US House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Chairman John Moolenaar and US Representative Ashley Hinson joining as original cosponsors, a news release issued by Tokuda’s office on Thursday said. The draft bill “directs the US Department of Defense to work directly with Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense through their respective
Tsunami waves were possible in three areas of Kamchatka in Russia’s Far East, the Russian Ministry for Emergency Services said yesterday after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit the nearby Kuril Islands. “The expected wave heights are low, but you must still move away from the shore,” the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app, after the latest seismic activity in the area. However, the Pacific Tsunami Warning System in Hawaii said there was no tsunami warning after the quake. The Russian tsunami alert was later canceled. Overnight, the Krasheninnikov volcano in Kamchatka erupted for the first time in 600 years, Russia’s RIA
RSS