Here Is What Is Necessary To Stay Out Of A War With China

U.S. President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping chat as they walk along the front patio of the Mar-a-Lago estate after a bilateral meeting in Palm Beach, Florida, April 7, 2017.

James Stavridis, Time: The Trump Administration Has Escalated Its Conflict with China Even Further. Here’s What Needs to Happen to Stay Out of War

Those preoccupied last week with concerns over the effect Justice Brett Kavanaugh would have on the Supreme Court for decades were actually, it turns out, being too near-sighted — as the Trump Administration made a move that could significantly affect an international relationship that will last centuries. In a little-noticed pivot, the Administration set up China as the major geopolitical opponent of the United States in no uncertain terms, led by a speech from Vice President Mike Pence. This change in position — not to be confused with the far more benign “Pacific Pivot” of the Obama Administration — has set off alarm bells ringing from Tokyo to Melbourne.

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WNU Editor: James Stavridis blames President Trump for escalating this conflict with China. My take is different. To begin, President Trump had to react to China's unfair trade policies/barriers/ and strategies. Failure to do so would have brought a lot of economic pain to a lot of Americans. President Trump also had to respond to China's territorial claims and threats of using force against U.S. allies. Failure to do so would have undermined U.S. interests in Asia for decades, and would have only embolden China to be more assertive. And while I know that the consensus among foreign policy experts in the West is that China is on the rise .... I am one who does not hold that point of view. China has very few real friends in the world, and in Asia even less so. China is also a country with deep political/cultural/and ethnic differences. Its economy is also very fragile, with debt and central control limiting its growth. The authoritarianism of China's President Xi Jinping is also not helpful. No one wants to live in an environment of fear and apprehension .... the Chinese included. And in regards to the U.S.. I personally do not believe there will be a war between China and the U.S.. China has too many internal problems that limits its capabilities against the U.S., and they know it.  My main fear is China threatening a country like Taiwan or asserting its territorial claims against India. It is in these situations that a war may break-out, and it will have nothing to do with President Trump or the U.S. itself.

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