Trump slams China’s pattern of aggression
STRONG WORDS Says Beijing’s actions on the LAC reveal its regime’s true nature
WASHINGTON: United States president Donald Trump has blamed Chinese “aggression” for the stand-off at the India-china border and suggested this fits in with a broader “pattern” of Chinese aggression in other parts of the world, unequivocally spelling out Washington’s position on the tensions in the region.
Quoting Trump from her notes at briefing, White House press secretary Kayleigh Mcenany late on Wednesday said: “China’s aggressive stance along the India-china border fits with a larger a pattern of Chinese aggression in other parts of the world and these actions only confirm the true nature of the Chinese Communist Party.”
The remarks went much further than the studied neutral tone the White House had maintained thus far on the dispute, according to close observers of India-us relations, who added that they reflected a growing strategic convergence between the countries.
Trump’s remarks come in the backdrop of both an escalation in Us-china tensions, as well as Chinese actions both internally as well as across the Asian geopolitical theatre in the past few months. The US in general, and Trump in particular, was engaged in a trade war with
China before the coronavirus pandemic. Since the pandemic, even as trade tensions have deepened, the US president has categorically blamed the “Chinese virus” and omissions by China’s regime for its spread.
For its part, in the past two months, China has passed what is widely considered a repressive national security legislation regarding Hong Kong, eroding its autonomy; it has stepped up its offensive in the South China Sea against countries such as Vietnam, while projecting power against islands in the East China Sea which Japan considers its own. And China has attempted to change the status quo at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India, which resulted in a brutal clash on June 15 in the Galwan Valley, leaving 20 Indian soldiers and an unconfirmed number of Chinese troops dead.
On Wednesday, the Trump White House said the President is “closely monitoring” the situation and expressed hopes of a peaceful resolution. “Both India and China have expressed a desire to de-escalate, and we support a peaceful resolution of the current situation,” Mcenany said before rolling out the new and more aggressive White House line.
The White House statement reflected a shaper position that had been evolving in the administration, especially by secretary of state Mike Pompeo. Earlier on Wednesday, Pompeo offered full-throated support for the Indian ban on Chinese apps, which, he said, “can serve as appendages of the CCP’S (Chinese Communist Party) surveillance state”. He added, “India’s Clean App approach will boost India’s sovereignty.”
There is also bipartisan purchase in the US Congress of China’s responsibility in triggering the border clashes. Tom Cotton, a Republican senator and close ally of the president, has said that “China has essentially invaded India, an ally of ours”.