Top Trump Aide Calls for Comprehensive Military Aide to Taiwan

It is already worse than I thought it would be.

Indications are that the phone all to Taiwan was not a slip in diplomatic protocol and that the tweets were not just "Tump being Trump," but a military pivot toward Taiwan.

From the Washington Post:

In an article for Foreign Policy magazine titled “Donald Trump’s Peace Through Strength Vision for the Asia-Pacific,” [top Trump advisor]Peter Navarro and Alexander Gray described Taiwan as a “beacon of democracy in Asia” and complained that its treatment by the Obama administration was “egregious.”

The article, flagged to China experts as a significant policy blueprint, described Taiwan as “the most militarily vulnerable U.S. partner anywhere in the world” and called for a comprehensive arms deal to help it defend itself against China.

My view has always been that Trump would be hawkish for non-neocon reasons and end up at the same place and I realized China would be in the mix. In August, in one of my exchanges with Dr. Block, I wrote:

 My point is that both Trump and Clinton are dangerous. Maybe Hillary is more dangerous with regard to relations with Russia, maybe not. But you have to admit that Trump has said nothing positive about China and speaks in militaristic tones when he believes U.S. military force is required. Remember, he is the one that has said that U.S. troops will be needed in the Middle East to fight ISIS---and that he wants to tear up the nuclear agreement with Iran. Does this sound like a diplomat to you rather than a brute force operator?

And I repeat, his economic adviser says future war with China is “very likely."

I just never expected such aggressive Trump provocations of China before he was officially in office.

 -RW