Trump administration ‘chaos’ harming Asia policy: Warren
beijing — US senator Elizabeth Warren says chaos in the Trump administration is harming its ability to formulate coherent policy towards North Korea’s nuclear programme and other important issues in Asia.
Vacancies in the foreign service are undermining Washington’s ability to advance US interests, Warren told reporters in Beijing on Saturday.
US allies, while still supportive, are “searching for information” about US intentions in Asia, the Massachusets Democrat said.
“This has been a chaotic foreign policy in the region, and that makes it hard to keep the allies that we
We told ourselves a happy-faced story that never fit with the facts, and now ... the United States cannot avoid facing a very different reality with China
Elizabeth Warren, US senator
need to accomplish our objectives closely stitched-in,” Warren said.
Warren also visited South Korea and Japan during her trip to Asia.
She said President Donald Trump’s agreement to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was “rash,” in the absence of Pyongyang’s commitment to take “any steps at all to indicate that they were serious about denuclearisation.” On China, Warren said the US needs to acknowledge Beijing’s growing power and influence and continue to emphasise the importance of human rights within the relationship. “I understand that our relationship with China is complex,” Warren said.
“There are areas where we have mutual interests and where we will work together to try to accomplish our shared goals. But there are also areas where we are vigorous competitors and do not have shared interests.” Warren said the idea that China would more smoothly integrate with the rest of the world based on its economic growth “has been proven wrong.”
“And the US is now trying to recalibrate that relationship,” she said. “We told ourselves a happyfaced story that never fit with the facts, and now ... the United States cannot avoid facing a very different reality with China,” Warren said.
Warren’s visit to Northeast Asia follows the abrupt firing of Rex Tillerson as US secretary of state and the Trump administration’s continued failure to fill many crucial positions. —