China is rapidly eroding President Donald Trump‘s credibility as a strong leader capable of standing up to its aggression. China’s People’s Liberation Army is ramping up pressure against Taiwan, threatening a conquest of the island democracy that would profoundly damage the U.S. economy and America’s global influence.
There is much more. The Chinese coast guard on Sept. 15 fired water cannons at Philippine vessels, damaging one and injuring a Philippine sailor. The Philippines is a U.S. treaty defense ally. The incident occurred in the South China Sea’s Scarborough Shoal, 135 miles from the Philippine coast and well within the country’s exclusive economic zone. The shoal is 540 miles from China’s Hainan Island, but China claims most of the South China Sea as its own national waters. It does so because it wants to dominate trillions of dollars in annual trade that flows through the sea and vast energy reserves beneath it. If Beijing can control who and what transits these waters, it can demand political fealty from all regional nations and political favors from governments worldwide.
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ambition is grand and gratuitous. Earlier this month, Beijing absurdly claimed to be establishing a nature reserve on the Scarborough Shoal. China treats the natural environment much as Mao Zedong treated the Chinese people, which is to say, abominably. It has no interest in ecological preservation, only in power. Vast Chinese fishing fleets are destroying global fisheries. The nature reserve designation is part of an alarming trend of escalation of unilateral claims to international waters. Last month, a People’s Liberation Army-Navy warship caused significant damage when it inadvertently rammed a Chinese coast guard vessel in the Scarborough Shoal. The two vessels were attempting to ram a Philippine vessel.Â
Perhaps the damage was good karma, but the aggression underlines Beijing’s willingness to risk the lives of Philippine sailors. Inflicting such risk is probably a deliberate part of the Chinese intimidation policy.
Unfortunately, the Trump administration is responding weakly. Following the nature reserve declaration, Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s statement condemning Beijing did not refer to the joint U.S.-Philippines defense treaty. That signaled to Xi that America did not want to stare him down. He will be emboldened.
Rubio’s caution reflects Trump’s dovish approach to China. In return for boosting imports of American agricultural products and exports of Chinese rare earth minerals, for example, Trump has suggested expanding export licenses for Nvidia’s sophisticated semiconductor chips and offering thousands more visas to Chinese students. Trump seems unconcerned that China uses the semiconductors to strengthen its military and its students as spies.
It would be ridiculous for Trump to expel students for writing controversial essays on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict while welcoming legions of Chinese spies. The problem is not that all or even most Chinese students are spies. It’s that a large minority are, and they evade FBI interdiction. All Chinese students are vulnerable because if they do not comply with requests from Beijing to spy, their families back home can be made to suffer.Â
THE CONCERN OF CHARLIE KIRK COPYCAT ASSASSINS
More U.S. support for the Philippines and Taiwan should have strings attached. Manila and Taipei spend too little on defense and should do more to defend themselves. Trump should push for the Philippines to return Clark Air Base and parts of its Subic Bay port to U.S. control. They would be crucial in defending Taiwan.
More robust U.S. action is needed. The Trump administration likes to present itself as tough on China, but it is not very different from that of the Biden administration.