GOOD MORNING FROM LONDON
This Column has maintained a focus on the current changes in world geopolitical power and on the rise of China + the decline of the US in particular. This forms the backdrop to the key world #1 issue – Is War Avoidable Between US + China?.
Today, Nikkei reports that “U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are coming out with an array of bills and resolutions aimed at expanding the Biden administration’s involvement in Asia, including strengthening ties with Pacific nations and expanding support for Taiwan.” It cites the words of Democratic Rep. Ami Bera, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, + the Pacific. “When it comes to advancing U.S. interests in the Indo-Pacific, it’s time that we match resources with rhetoric. For decades we have routinely underinvested in both diplomatic + aid assistance, setting the stage for China to expand its influence and attempt to define the rules in the region.”
The Indo-Pacific Engagement Act stresses the importance of sustained engagement in the region to advancing American interests in the 21st century + explicitly cites “countering the malign influence of” China in the region as one of its goals.
Democrat Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Republican Senator Graham this month introduced the Taiwan Policy Act. The legislation would authorize $4.5 billion in Taiwan-related assistance over four years through the Foreign Military Financing framework, to be used for purchases of U.S. weaponry and training with American forces.
A bipartisan group of senators submitted a resolution in May urging closer ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ahead of a summit with ASEAN leaders at the White House. The resolution expresses deep concern about “recent assertive and unsafe behaviour by the People’s Republic of China in the South China Sea” and encourages cooperation with Southeast Asian partners to counter threats to freedom of navigation.
The US main focus is China, not Ukraine. The USSR crumbled in 1991. The US hopes China will also crumble under the pressure of “Guns and Butter”. Do you really think the US has made the right call?
