by Joel Gehrke
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told lawmakers Wednesday that he has warned Chinese counterparts that their current foreign policy will "bring us into conflict" in the Pacific.
"We have told them, ‘you are creating instability throughout the Pacific region that will bring us into conflict; please don't do that,'" Tillerson said Wednesday during a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing.
China has been building artificial islands in the South China Sea, replete with military equipment, as part of an aggressive move to assert control over some of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.
"We have told them, ‘you are creating instability throughout the Pacific region that will bring us into conflict; please don't do that,'" Tillerson said Wednesday during a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing.
China has been building artificial islands in the South China Sea, replete with military equipment, as part of an aggressive move to assert control over some of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.
Tillerson cited that behavior as one of the most pressing issues in the U.S.-China relationship, which he acknowledged is reaching "an inflection point" that could lead to war if managed incorrectly.
"We are at an inflection point in the U.S.-China relationship," he told lawmakers.
"We are at an inflection point in the U.S.-China relationship," he told lawmakers.
"They see it; we see it. Our conversations are around how are we going to maintain stability and a relationship of no conflict between China and the United States for the next 50 years."
Tillerson offered that assessment in response to a question about how the United States could avoid falling into a foreign policy dynamic known as the Thucydides Trap.
Tillerson offered that assessment in response to a question about how the United States could avoid falling into a foreign policy dynamic known as the Thucydides Trap.
The term refers to the possibility of conflict between an incumbent power and a rising power; it derives from he name of the historian who chronicled the war between ancient Athens and Sparta.
"We cannot constrain their economic growth," Tillerson said.
"We cannot constrain their economic growth," Tillerson said.
"We have to accommodate their economic growth. But as their economic growth then translates into spheres of influence that then begin to threaten our national security, this begins to disrupt these conditions that have allowed us to live without conflict for the last 50 years."
Some Democrat and Republican lawmakers worry that China is gaining influence over traditional allies, including in the Pacific.
Some Democrat and Republican lawmakers worry that China is gaining influence over traditional allies, including in the Pacific.
That trend was exacerbated by Trump's decision to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement involving 11 Pacific Rim countries.
"[Pacific allies] were counting on TPP and they saw that as a strong message from America," Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., who chairs a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on the Asia-Pacific, told the Washington Examiner.
"[Pacific allies] were counting on TPP and they saw that as a strong message from America," Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., who chairs a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on the Asia-Pacific, told the Washington Examiner.
"But it wasn't going to pass. The Democrats weren't going to support it, the majority of them. I wasn't going to support it, being a Republican. And they use that to say, well, we've got to go to China."
In the Phillippines, Rodrigo Duterte has talked openly about a "separation" from the United States and a realignment with China.
In the Phillippines, Rodrigo Duterte has talked openly about a "separation" from the United States and a realignment with China.
And South Korea's newly-elected president suspended the deployment of a U.S. missile defense system intended to protect against North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile program.
China opposes the deployment of that missile defense system, fearing the radar could make diminish the effectiveness of their own nuclear weapons; the communist regime used a series of retaliatory economic measures to punish South Korea for allowing part of the system to be deployed.
"Our policy is, as important as trade is, and as important as China's huge economy is, we cannot allow China to use that as a weapon," Tillerson said.
"Our policy is, as important as trade is, and as important as China's huge economy is, we cannot allow China to use that as a weapon," Tillerson said.
"We cannot allow them to weaponize trade. And they are doing that today, and our message to them is, 'you will not buy your way out of these other difficult issues, like North Korea, the South China Sea, with your trade."
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