The White House on Wednesday released a 10-page document outlining the Trump administration’s strategy for 2018 to combat China – emphasizing India’s role as a new ally in Asia.
The document contains few surprises, highlighting plans to support allies and boost economic and counterintelligence efforts of neighboring states.
But US cooperation with India is evident in the assessment.
“A strong India, in cooperation with countries with the same views, would act as a counterbalance for China,” he said.
“China aims to dissolve US alliances and partnerships in the region. China will exploit the vacuum cleaners and opportunities created by these diminished bonds. ”
The White House National Security Council report said the United States will “[a]I will create a quadrilateral security framework, with India, Japan, Australia and the United States as the main nodes. ”
The White House Trump released the document a week before President-elect Joe Biden took office. Critics accuse Biden of being historically naive during China’s rise, especially in terms of trade policy.
President Trump initially cultivated a warm personal relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping, but the connection worsened with a trade war meant to force an agreement to reform Chinese economic policy. Last year, Trump authorized sanctions against Chinese officials for removing Hong Kong’s political autonomy and mistreating Uighur Muslim minorities. He also promised to “decouple” the US and China economically in response to the deception in the early COVID-19 data.
Unlike Trump as president-elect, Biden has not spoken to the president of Taiwan since he won the election.
Trump visited India in February and in 2019 hosted a “Howdy, Modi!” rally in Houston with 50,000 American Indians receiving a visiting Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.
The strategy paper says the US will try to “[a]accelerates India’s growth and capacity to serve as a net security provider and major defense partner; strengthens a lasting strategic partnership with India, backed by a strong Indian army capable of working effectively with the United States and our partners in the region to address common interests. ”
The document says that the US should “[p]artner with India on cyber and space security and maritime awareness [and] [e]xpand US-India information exchange and information exchange. ”
The vision for stimulating India also involves “[w]ork[ing] with India and Japan to help fund projects that improve regional connectivity between India and countries in the region. ”
The outdated strategy underscores other traditional US priorities, such as protecting Taiwan’s de facto independence from China and convincing North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons. Since the document was drafted, the Trump administration has waged a highly successful campaign to discourage allies from using Chinese telecommunications company Huawei for 5G infrastructure because of espionage concerns.
The document says that the US should “[e]enables Taiwan to develop an effective asymmetric defense strategy and capabilities to ensure its security, freedom of coercion, resilience, and ability to engage China on its own terms. ”