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President Appeasement is long gone, and there's really no telling what Trump might do to defend international waters

White House: Uh no, we're not letting China take territory in international waters

By Dan Calabrese ——--January 24, 2017

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I'm not entirely sure if this is also a reference to Taiwan. It's probably not a reference to only Taiwan, because it's long been U.S. policy - at least officially - to defend Taiwan from any prospective Chinese attack. But the main issue is what to do about the fact that China has helped itself to spots in international waters in which it has built, for all intents and purposes, military installations. Trump's position - and also Tillerson's, as if that needed to be explained - is that China has no right to do that.
But they've done it. So does the U.S. believe it's justified in taking action to deny China access to the islands it has built? It certainly appears that way:
"It’s a question of if those islands are in fact in international waters and not part of China proper, then yeah, we’re going to make sure that we defend international territories from being taken over by one country." # was responding to a question as to whether Trump agreed with comments by his Secretary of State nominee, Rex Tillerson, on Jan. 11 that China should not be allowed access to islands it has built in the contested South China Sea. Tillerson's remarks at his Senate confirmation hearing prompted Chinese state media to say the United States would need to "wage war" to bar China's access to the islands where it has built military-length air strips and installed weapons systems.
Tillerson said at the hearing, when asked whether he supported a more aggressive posture toward China: "We’re going to have to send China a clear signal that, first, the island-building stops and, second, your access to those islands also is not going to be allowed.” The former Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) chairman and chief executive did not elaborate on what might be done to deny China access to the islands. China's Foreign Ministry said it could not guess what Tillerson meant by his remarks, which came after Trump questioned Washington's longstanding and highly sensitive "one-China" policy over Taiwan.
This is always the point in the discussion where the left asks a question like, "Oh, are you going to go to war with China over some piddly little islands?" And they'll ask the same question about anything, no matter what it is, because the truth is there's nothing the left thinks is worth fighting over. Trump's position is really just a more specific application of longstanding U.S. policy, which is that no country has the right to just help itself to portions of international waters. And as to the question of exactly what we would do about it, I actually love the fact that Trump isn't specific about it and the Chinese have no idea. This is where the media always demands specifics, but Trump is smart not to give them. It leaves the Chinese guessing.

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President Appeasement is long gone, and there's really no telling what Trump might do to defend international waters

And in fact, this might be a situation in which the media's portrayal of Trump as an unstable lunatic could be used to his advantage here. A conventional U.S. president would surely not risk war over something like this, the Chinese would figure. But that wild-eyed, maniacal Donald Trump? Who knows what that guy might do? I think there are reasons Trump allows this characterization of him to flourish to some degree. I personally don't think it's accurate at all, but if the Chi-Coms aren't sure, just how willing are they going to be to mess with the guy? He's wild and erratic! There's no telling what he might do! Of course, you can only talk that way so much before you have to be willing to back it up with action. Ask Trump's illustrious predecessor all about what happens when your "red line" is rhetorical only. But President Appeasement is long gone, and there's really no telling what Trump might do to defend international waters. Maybe the Chinese would like to be the first to find out. Or maybe they wouldn't.
Dan's new novel, BACKSTOP, is a story of spiritual warfare and baseball. Download it from Amazon here
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Dan Calabrese——

Dan Calabrese’s column is distributed by HermanCain.com, which can be found at HermanCain

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