US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday.
Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported.
He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added.
Photo: AFP
The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the position and prior comments made as a Fox News television host.
Hegseth submitted a 75-page report to the committee on Monday last week, which provided a more detailed explanation on his views on China and Taiwan.
In it, he said that “the United States can help prevent miscalculation by maintaining our longstanding policy in support of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”
Photo: AP
Asked if the US should explicitly state its reaction to Chinese use of force against Taiwan, he said that “the United States presently maintains its longstanding commitments as outlined in the Taiwan Relations Act, three communiques and the six assurances. If confirmed, I will review our current posture with the president and other national security leaders, and meet with the committee in a classified session to discuss further.”
Regarding the state of US-China military relations, he said that such dialogue “can be useful in reducing miscalculation and misperception.”
“Intent, however, may not be accurately conveyed by dialogue. Chinese Communist Party actions will always speak louder than their words,” he said.
Photo: AP
Separately, US Representative Mike Waltz, the incoming national security adviser for Trump, on Tuesday said he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China.
“We have over a US$20 billion backlog of things that they’ve paid for and that we need to work hard to free up and have them get what they paid for as a deterrent,” Waltz said at an event in Washington.
Meanwhile, US Senator Marco Rubio was expected to say China has lied and cheated its way to superpower status at the expense of the US, according to remarks he was to deliver at his confirmation hearing for secretary of state yesterday.
Rubio was expected to call for the US to put its “core national interests above all else once again” as it works to “create a free world out of chaos,” according to the remarks.
“We welcomed the Chinese Communist Party into this global order,” Rubio was expected to say. “And they took advantage of all its benefits, but they ignored all its obligations and responsibilities. Instead, they have lied, cheated, hacked and stolen their way to global superpower status, at our expense.”
The comments amount to a summing up of Rubio’s worldview. He would say voters chose Trump, because they want a strong US that promotes peace abroad and prosperity at home, and that would be the US Department of State’s core mission if he is confirmed.
Rubio, who has long been a member of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee that is examining his nomination, is expected to face little opposition from Republicans or Democrats in his confirmation process.
Additional reporting from Reuters and Bloomberg
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
US PUBLICATION: The results indicated a change in attitude after a 2023 survey showed 55 percent supported full-scale war to achieve unification, the report said More than half of Chinese were against the use of force to unify with Taiwan under any circumstances, a survey conducted by the Atlanta, Georgia-based Carter Center and Emory University found. The survey results, which were released on Wednesday in a report titled “Sovereignty, Security, & US-China Relations: Chinese Public Opinion,” showed that 55.1 percent of respondents agreed or somewhat agreed that “the Taiwan problem should not be resolved using force under any circumstances,” while 24.5 percent “strongly” or “somewhat” disagreed with the statement. The results indicated a change in attitude after a survey published in “Assessing Public Support for (Non)Peaceful Unification
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
The China Coast Guard has seized control of a disputed reef near a major Philippine military outpost in the South China Sea, Beijing’s state media said, adding to longstanding territorial tensions with Manila. Beijing claims sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea and has waved away competing assertions from other countries as well as an international ruling that its position has no legal basis. China and the Philippines have engaged in months of confrontations in the contested waters, and Manila is taking part in sweeping joint military drills with the US which Beijing has slammed as destabilizing. The Chinese coast guard
RSS