It's Time to Contain Communist China | Opinion
The world is at a dangerous inflection point. Students of history can recall the rise of Germany at the end of the 1890s and, much further back, the rise of Sparta and the Thucydides Trap. President Donald Trump sees this danger and has pledged to end the perpetual war in Afghanistan and cut U.S. troops in Germany. This reorientation away from Europe and the Middle East/central Asia is good, but we must do it in conjunction with a strategic decision that reallocates military resources against our greatest geopolitical foe, communist China. Now's the time for a true "America First" foreign policy.
In a sign of things to come, U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper recently phoned Chinese Minister of National Defense General Wei Fenghe. During their conversation, the first since the outbreak of the coronavirus in America in March, Esper made clear to Wei that China's expansion near Taiwan into the South China Sea was "destabilizing."
The Trump administration has followed that up with a historic visit to Taiwan by U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar. The last time a high-level Cabinet member made such a trip was in 1979. China holds that Taiwan is not an independent nation, but a territory of its own.
Another recent shakeup in U.S. foreign policy was Trump's decision to move 12,000 troops out of Germany, at least partly in response to Germany's own lack of defense spending in accordance with NATO's guidelines.
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These forceful, yet calm and measured, maneuvers have been the hallmark of Trump's foreign policy. Its most pronounced effect has been the spurring of U.S.-allied countries to increase defense spending and to stop leeching off the American taxpayer.
Americans of all political stripes ought to be grateful for this president's shift away from foreign invasion and igniting endless wars.
It's worth remembering Hillary Clinton promising to escalate the Bush-Obama pattern of bellicosity, up to the point of vowing to shoot down Russian warplanes over Syria. Thank goodness that a nuclear war didn't break out, thanks to Trump's 2016 victory.
Still, the status quo largely remains. Should a President Biden be sworn in come January 2021, he will reign over much of what Obama gave Trump.
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Foreign policy is complicated and bureaucratic, so it doesn't typically undergo radical reforms within one presidential term. But these aren't typical times. Fortunately, the central 2020 issue works to the advantage of an America First agenda.
The COVID-19 pandemic has woken up Americans to the menace that is China. The communist government's cover-up followed the visible trampling of Hong Kong's sovereignty and ongoing inhumane treatment of the Uyghur Muslim population in Xinjiang. Americans also sense the creeping takeover of their institutions and culture, with growing Chinese influence over the NBA, Hollywood and the tech world, following the rise of TikTok and Zoom.
The American people also know that stationing U.S. troops in Europe for decades after the end of the Cold War (not to mention World War II) is not the best use of military resources.
Trump needs to accelerate his foreign policy reforms, not only because his re-election may depend on it, but for the sake of our national security and sovereignty.
As has already been stated, the ongoing endless wars are unpopular, and they helped push Trump into the White House. Drawing down troops from places like Afghanistan and Syria, as well as from Germany and Europe generally, in order to reposition them in Asia, would suit the reality of the world today. And it would appeal to the logic and common sense of most Americans.
To be sure, the American people don't want isolationism. That's not what the America First foreign policy is about, anyway.
Trump recognizes that deals need to be made with our allies, and when it comes to China, he is perfectly willing to leverage military and economic cooperation in the region with India, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia and Vietnam.
One easy and obvious policy change to this end would be pushing for the remilitarization of Japan.
India is now facing twice as many Chinese fighter jets on its border, following clashes on the disputed northern border that took the lives of 20 Indian soldiers. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Trump have a natural kinship—founded in their shared nationalist outlooks—that appears to only be growing stronger since that deadly episode. It now appears likely to yield lucrative new arms deals.
The Philippines and Vietnam have both clashed with China over its aggressive expansion in the South China Sea. The U.S. is ready to make inroads with those countries, especially following the impact of economic sanctions on China.
In the same spirit of downsizing the U.S. military presence in Germany, Trump ought to require our NATO allies to shoulder the manpower, financial and military burden of its defensive posture toward Russia. Trump led the largest war games exercises ever against Russia, and NATO has creeped up on Russia's borders under this presidency. It's high time that the EU, and not the U.S., play the great power game on its eastern border.
Deep down, Trump knows that a strong America can counter the Sino-Russian threat.
He must not hesitate to lead and do what's right, no matter the cost, especially when the media and establishment hit him daily with everything they've got.
President Trump must pull our troops out of endless engagements in Europe and the Middle East in favor of a renewed role in the Asia-Pacific region, so as to support those countries that boldly stand with us against the threat of communist China.
Gavin Wax is president of the New York Young Republican Club, chair of the Association of Young Republican Clubs, digital director for the Young Republican National Federation, an associate fellow at the London Center for Policy Research and a frequent guest on Fox News. You can follow him on Twitter at @GavinWax.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own
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