With President Trump wrapping up his trip to China on Friday, Congressman Bill Huizenga tells us he thinks the visit was an overall positive.
A major topic of discussion for the president was the U.S. position on Taiwan, which China views as a renegade province. Huizenga says the U.S. has never had an official policy of defending Taiwan, but it’s treaded a more subtle line by setting Taiwan up to be able to defend itself from an invasion.
“The job that we have is to, one, make sure that Taiwan can defend itself,” Huizenga said. “Two, make sure that China is deterred from thinking that this is any kind of good idea. And I think the world has been pretty clear that an independent Taiwan is extremely important.”
President Trump suggested aboard Air Force One on his way home that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s staunch opposition might make him rethink a planned U.S. arms sale to Taipei.
Meanwhile, Huizenga says he does believe China could help reopen the Strait of Hormuz near Iran as the U.S. conflict with that nation continues.
“They are far more dependent — as is Japan, as is much of that Pacific Rim — on the Straits of Hormuz than we are. We get 8% of our oil and energy that typically comes through the Straits of Hormuz. It’s a higher percentage over on the West Coast in California because they don’t have refineries and a number of those types of things, but I’d like to see all of our allies step up.”
Huizenga says Trump’s visit came at a time when it has become important to improve relations with China following a chilling since COVID. However, he said that relationship should be pursued with caution as the pandemic did expose the U.S. overreliance on China for many supplies and products.
