{"id":32232,"date":"2017-06-03T23:41:59","date_gmt":"2017-06-03T13:41:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=32232"},"modified":"2017-06-04T23:01:06","modified_gmt":"2017-06-04T13:01:06","slug":"deal-steel-us-asia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/deal-steel-us-asia\/","title":{"rendered":"The deal and steel of the US in Asia"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-32233\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/sheet_music-1024x768.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/sheet_music.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/sheet_music-205x154.jpg 205w, https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/sheet_music-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>An Asia that doubted the strength and commitment of the US pivot now confronts a new White House songbook. The tune is \u2018America First\u2019. The words are, \u2018Let\u2019s make a deal!\u2019 And Asia can\u2019t yet discern if the line that rhymes with \u2018deal\u2019 is spelled \u2018steel\u2019 or \u2018steal\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>The US Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, is one of the straight men fronting the glitzy new show in the White House, promising steadfast American support for the security system it has built and maintained. His performance at the Shangri-La dialogue was an utterly familiar one\u2014to promise that America still loves Asia and ain\u2019t going anywhere. Sing it loud and sing it strong. Since the end of the Vietnam War, it has been among the most requested song-and-dance routines in the whole repertoire. The trouble now is that the audience is having trouble believing it.<\/p>\n<p>While Gaelic may have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/05\/16\/t-magazine\/travel\/seaweed-scotland.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">40 words relating to seaweed<\/a>, Asia easily has as many formulations of \u2018South China Sea\u2019. Mattis belted out a rousing rendition that came straight out of the old pivot\/rebalance play-list. \u2018Artificial island construction and indisputable militarization of facilities on features in international waters undermine regional stability,\u2019 Mattis said. The US opposed countries \u2018militarizing artificial islands and enforcing excessive maritime claims unsupported by international law\u2019. The US could not and would not accept \u2018unilateral, coercive changes to the status quo\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>According to the good Secretary, the scope and effect of China\u2019s construction in the South China Sea differs from other claimants in key ways:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>the nature of its militarisation;<\/li>\n<li>China\u2019s \u2018blatant disregard for international law\u2019<\/li>\n<li>China\u2019s \u2018contempt\u2019 for other nations\u2019 interests<\/li>\n<li>China\u2019s efforts to dismiss non-adversarial resolution of issues.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So far, so familiar. Yet rely on the Trump troupe for unexpected riffs. A quick tune on Taiwan had the Chinese delegation scrambling. In the usual list of American security relationships in Asia, up popped a refrain not usually heard in the annual US Shangri-La performance:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">\u2018The Department of Defence remains steadfastly committed to working with Taiwan and with its democratic government to provide it the defense articles necessary, consistent with the obligations set out in the Taiwan Relations Act, because we stand for the peaceful resolution of any issues in a manner acceptable to the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>A member of the PLA delegation pounced on that, describing the discussion of defence links with Taiwan as \u2018unusual\u2019 and asked: \u2018Does this mean there\u2019s some change with regard to the One China policy of the US\u2019? Mattis replied, \u2018the One China policy holds\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>The issue of what policy will hold and what new deals the Trump administration might attempt kept coming up. Malaysia\u2019s Defence Minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, summarised the flavour when he commented that he\u2019s still trying to figure out Donald Trump\u2019s policy towards Asia: \u2018I would like to know very clearly what are the true intentions of the new administration\u2019?<\/p>\n<p>Queries to Mattis showed many in the audience think they\u2019ve worked out Trump\u2019s approach, and they don\u2019t like it. The first question was from Australia, posed by the head of the Lowy Institute, Michael Fullilove, who told Mattis:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">\u2018General, your speech focused on the rules-based regional order which has been a preoccupation of this conference for many years. I\u2019d associate myself with your strong remarks. All of us here in Asia have the right to make our own way without coercion. And I\u2019d like thank you, too, for your comment on alliances. But I\u2019d like to ask you about the rules-based global order which you mentioned at the outset of your remarks, and in which President Trump appears to be an unbeliever. Seventy years ago Secretary [of State] Acheson wrote that he was present at the creation of a US-led order that has served all of us well. General, given everything in the last four months\u2014including NATO, TPP and Paris\u2013why should we not fret that we are present at the destruction of that order?\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\u2018As far as the rules-based order,\u2019 Mattis replied, \u2018obviously we have a new President in Washington, and there\u2019s going to be new approaches taken\u2019. For all the frustrations America felt at the \u2018inordinate burden\u2019 it has carried, America\u2019s engagement with the world was deeply rooted. Citing one of Churchill\u2019s famous lines, Mattis said: \u2018Bear with us. Once we have exhausted all possible alternatives, the Americans will do the right thing. So we will still be there, and we will be there with you\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>After hosting a private Roundtable discussion of 22 visiting Ministers and representatives, Singapore\u2019s Defence Minister, Ng Eng Hen, issued a statement saying \u2018Ministers welcomed the US\u2019 continued engagement of the Asia-Pacific region under the new Trump Administration, which is a reaffirmation of the US\u2019 long-standing interest in and commitment to the region\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>Mark that as the Asian karaoke chorus chiming in lustily in support of a favourite song\u2014<a href=\"http:\/\/www.azlyrics.com\/lyrics\/shaniatwain\/yourestilltheone.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>You&#8217;re still the one<\/em><\/a>, not <a href=\"http:\/\/www.azlyrics.com\/lyrics\/fleetwoodmac\/goyourownway.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Go your own way<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An Asia that doubted the strength and commitment of the US pivot now confronts a new White House songbook. The tune is \u2018America First\u2019. The words are, \u2018Let\u2019s make a deal!\u2019 And Asia can\u2019t yet &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":32233,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[354,358,31],"class_list":["post-32232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-asia","tag-shangri-la-dialogue","tag-united-states"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The deal and steel of the US in Asia | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/deal-steel-us-asia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The deal and steel of the US in Asia | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An Asia that doubted the strength and commitment of the US pivot now confronts a new White House songbook. 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