(Video: Fox Business)
During a discussion on the record inflation rate that is currently crushing Americans, Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) said it was “important” for Congress to send $40 billion in humanitarian and military aid to war-torn Ukraine, because failing to support Ukraine risks Chinese President Xi Jinping invading Taiwan.
Appearing on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures” with Maria Bartiromo, Cotton argued, “It’s important that we support the Ukrainians as they defend themselves against this war of aggression by [Russian President] Vladimir Putin.”
“So, first off, I do understand the reservations some people had about the legislation. And there was some excessive or unnecessary measures,” Cotton conceded. “But a lot of that money went to support our own military and our own troops to replenish the stockpiles of our weapons that those troops need to defend themselves and protect our country. And not just support our allies in Europe but also in the Western Pacific, Taiwan in particular.”
“Second,” he continued, “I think it is very important that we help the Ukrainians fight their own war.”
Cotton likened the Biden administration’s push to assist Ukraine to that of Ronald Reagan’s actions in Afghanistan.
“This is much like Ronald Reagan did in Afghanistan when Russia invaded that country in the 1980s,” he said. “He didn’t commit American troops, he didn’t go to war with Russia, but he did support the Afghan people fighting back against the Russian invasion of that country.”
“And finally,” concluded Cotton, “I think our main adversary — Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party — is watching very carefully what is happening in Europe.”
“If they see the United States and our allies falter in our resolve to support Ukraine defending itself against an invasion by Russia, then I think Xi Jinping would believe there’s no way we would come to the aid of Taiwan,” he stated.
And according to Cotton, an invasion of Taiwan by the CCP is all but inevitable without “strong action” from the United States.
“Xi Jinping will invade Taiwan in the next five years if the United States does not take strong action to deter it. That starts in part by showing him that we have the resolve to help Ukraine to the end, especially after the debacle in Afghanistan which only emboldened people like Xi Jinping and [Russian President] Vladimir Putin.”
Should the Republican Senator prove to be right, President Joe Biden has said the United States would respond.
Q: "Are you willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan?"
BIDEN: "Yes, that's the commitment we made."
Biden's staff immediately walked back these comments. pic.twitter.com/AhPC3czPOl
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) May 23, 2022
When asked Monday at a press conference in Tokyo if the U.S. would get involved militarily should China make a move on Taiwan, Biden answered, “Yes. That’s a commitment we made.”
Biden once again reaffirmed the United States’ belief in the “One China” policy that states the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal government of China while the U.S. acknowledges that Taiwan is part of China, thus rendering any U.S. diplomatic relations with the island nation as “unofficial,” the Daily Mail reports. However, said Biden, an attack on Taiwan would be “inappropriate.”
“[T]he idea that it can be taken by force, just taken by force, is just not appropriate,” the president said. “It will dislocate the entire region and be another action similar to what happened in Ukraine.”
It’s a move that Biden believes to be unlikely.
“My expectation is it will not happen, it will not be attempted,” he stated.
“I believe what Putin is attempting to do is eliminate the identity of Ukraine, the identity,” Biden said. “He can’t occupy it but he can destroy its identity. Russia has to pay a long-term price for that.”
The president asked “what signal does that send to China about the cost of attempting to take China by force” if Russia isn’t properly punished?
But, with respect to Taiwan, the U.S. position appears to be ambiguous at best.
On the one hand, the administration pledges a belief in the “One China” policy, but the U.S. provides fighter jets and Patriot missiles to Taiwan and, according to Biden, the U.S. is committed to maintaining the “status quo.”
“Our policy toward Taiwan has not changed at all,” Biden said. “We remain committed to supporting the peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and ensuring that there is no unilateral change in the status quo.”
In response to the president’s remarks, China has warned there is no room for discussion when it comes to Taiwan.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin expressed to Reuters “strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition” to Biden’s comments, according to the Daily Mail.
“China,” said Wenbin, “has no room for compromise or concessions on issues involving China’s core interests such as sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
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