Originally published in the Hill on April 8, 2024
“Ukraine is fighting for its existence against Vladimir Putin’s rogue aggression; Israel is defending its right to exist against Hamas terrorists; and Taiwan and our Indo-Pacific partners face growing military threats from Xi Jinping’s China and Kim Jong Un’s North Korea. Russia, Iran, China and North Korea do not just have their eyes on these targets — they’re watching the United States. Our response to these threats will directly determine our national security and standing on the world stage.”
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“Deterrence is not divisible. American leadership on the world stage requires us to stand strong in our commitments toward our allies and partners. History has shown repeatedly that when the free world wavers, adversaries interpret this as a green light to attack. Taiwan knows this as well. Recently, Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said that the U.S. failing to support Ukraine would embolden Xi Jinping and support Beijing’s propaganda that the United States is not a reliable partner.
“We would be fools to think that Putin will end his aggression with Ukraine, that Hamas and Iran will not seek the complete destruction of Israel, and that Xi Jinping will be content with the status-quo in the Indo-Pacific. If our adversaries win, they will rewrite the rules of the road at the expense of America’s national security and global standing. We will be leaving a more dangerous, less predictable world for our children.
“Weapons and other aid provided must be targeted and used as intended, and my colleagues and I on the Foreign Affairs Committee are continuing to conduct oversight of aid that has been sent by the United States. In this work, I discovered the United States had not delivered $19 billion in arms sales to Taiwan. If we want our allies and partners to continue to turn to us, they need to trust us. That requires us to deliver on our commitments and transfer weapons sold to our partners in a timely manner.”
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Source: The Hill
Author: U.S. Congresswoman Young Kim (R-CA)
Format: Op-Ed
China Policy Research 