US Warns China Not To Annex Asian Territories

From Reuters:

U.S. warns China not to attempt Crimea-style action in Asia

By David Brunnstrom | April 3, 2014

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – China should not doubt the U.S. commitment to defend its Asian allies and the prospect of economic retaliation should also discourage Beijing from using force to pursue territorial claims in Asia in the way Russia has in Crimea, a senior U.S. official said on Thursday.

What are we going to do to retaliate economically? Refuse to let China lend us more money?

(By the way, this is one of the many ways in which our outrageous national debt is a major national security risk. Which is something Obama himself even acknowledges. But only when he is pushing to raise taxes.)

Daniel Russel, President Barack Obama’s diplomatic point man for East Asia, said it was difficult to determine what China’s intentions might be, but Russia’s annexation of Crimea had heightened concerns among U.S. allies in the region about the possibility of China using force to pursue its claims.

Just as we said it would. If Russia can get away with seizing Crimea, why shouldn’t China ‘take back’ Taiwan?

Russel [the U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asia, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that] the retaliatory sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States, the European Union and others should have a "chilling effect on anyone in China who might contemplate the Crimea annexation as a model."

What sanctions?

This was especially so given the extent of China’s economic interdependence with the United States and its Asia neighbors, Russel said.

But it is this very economic interdependence that makes the use of any real sanctions almost impossible these days. Which is ironic since we were told economic interdependence would prevent future wars. But it is turning out to have the opposite effect. Since it makes the alternatives to war, like sanctions, almost impossible.

Russel said that while the United States did not take a position on rival territorial claims in East Asia, China should be in no doubt about Washington’s resolve to defend its allies if necessary. "The president of the United States and the Obama administration is firmly committed to honoring our defense commitments to our allies," he said…

Just like we honored our commitments to Ukraine.

In Asia, China… has competing territorial claims with Japan and South Korea, as well as with Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan in potentially energy-rich waters…

But we are the imperialists, right?

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