Former US president Donald Trump’s choice of US Senator J.D. Vance as his running mate makes his break with the foreign policy old guard of his party complete.
The first formal pick of his potential administration is a 39-year-old former Marine who voted against more military aid to Ukraine, wants to help Israel “finish the job” against Hamas, and says the US is “stretched too thin” overseas and should zero in on Asia to counter China.
Vance even went so far as to brand China the biggest threat to the US in one of his first interviews since being named Trump’s running mate, underscoring the likely hawkish stance of their administration toward Beijing if elected.
Photo: AFP
The Ohio senator made the remarks in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Monday.
Asked about the war in Ukraine, Vance said that Trump would negotiate with Moscow and Kyiv to “bring this thing to a rapid close so America can focus on the real issue, which is China.”
“That’s the biggest threat to our country and we are completely distracted from it,” he said, shortly after joining the Republican presidential ticket.
Vance’s views would be a boon to Taiwan and other Asian nations, which have warned about growing Chinese encroachment.
He has also said he is a “fan of AUKUS,” the US’ defensive alliance with the UK and Australia that looks to counter China with a boosted fleet of submarines and technology-sharing.
Vance’s views mirror the rise of a new strain of policy shared by younger Republicans — and fueled by Trump — that the old ways are out of date. Their approach questions the one-time conventional wisdom that the US should seek primacy through leading global alliances, promote democracy and entice other nations to embrace American values.
“This is the first appointment [Trump] has made of his supposed second term,” said Ivo Daalder, the US ambassador to NATO under former US president Barack Obama. “And it demonstrates that what he’s looking for is someone who affirms his views, not contradicts them, at least as far as it comes to Ukraine and NATO and foreign policy.”
However, Vance was harshly critical of Trump before and after Trump’s 2016 election win, calling him an “idiot” and “America’s Hitler,” among other epithets.
Yet as he geared up to run for the US Senate in Ohio in 2022, Vance transformed into one of Trump’s most consistent defenders, supporting him even when some Senate colleagues declined to do so.
Additional reporting by Reuters
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat
RSS