Pick talks tough on China
WASHINGTON — Pointing toward possible confrontation, Donald Trump’s selection for secretary of state likened Beijing’s island-building in the South China Sea to a takeover of another country’s territory and spoke of forcing Beijing to fully apply sanctions on North Korea.
China will likely be alarmed by former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson’s Senate confirmation hearing remarks on Wednesday. While they focused largely on Russia, his testimony on China presented a sharp change in tone from the Obama administration’s focus on cooperation.
Under Obama, the U.S. has worked with China to fight climate change and contain Iran’s nuclear program. But Beijing has only half-heartedly pressed North Korea over its nuclear weapons program and has willfully disregarded Washington’s appeals to moderate its activities in the South China Sea.
It has reclaimed more than 3,000 of acres and constructed military-grade infrastructure, and reportedly installed weaponry, on reefs and islets mostly in the Spratly Island chain, where five other governments have territorial claims.
Accusing Beijing of “declaring control of territories that are not rightfully China’s,” Tillerson compared its island-building efforts and deployment of military assets on the islands to Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea — an action that ended up prompting tough U.S. and European sanctions.
