Add your comment by filling out the form below in plain text. Comments are approved by a moderator and can be edited in accordance with RFAs Terms of Use. Comments will not appear in real time. RFA is not responsible for the content of the postings. Please, be respectful of others' point of view and stick to the facts.
Tex Rex Tillerson's hawkish comments about the South Sea artificial islands China has built and militarized were trumpery, that is, foolish. As the US's top incoming diplomat, assuming he gets confirmed by the Senate, Tillerson has violated one of the most basic rules of diplomacy: Don't make threats that you would be unable or unwilling to carry through with in practice. Trump and his family have too many business interests in China to risk a war over the fake islands, unless they are even more irrational than Trump has seemed so far. So Tillerson was probably politically posturing at the expense of the US government's credibility, about which he and Trump apparently care little about.
Jan 15, 2017 01:22 PM
Reply to this comment
""The U.S. has no absolute power to dominate the South China Sea,""
Actually it has. The Chinese military is no match for the US Navy. China's use of nuclear weapons would be national suicide for it. But the US doesn't have to use military force to get China to comply. A 45% import tax on all of China's exports to the US should do the trick.
Tensions between the US and China will rise as the US government uses a carrot and stick approach to bring American Corporations who manufacture in China back to the US. The US has all of the levers of power, economically, militarily, politically. China's power is pure illusion.
Jan 19, 2017 03:55 PM
Reply to this comment