On this episode of China Uncensored,
how would President Hillary Clinton handle the South China Sea dispute?
Hi, welcome to China Uncensored.
I’m your host Chris Chappell.
The South China Sea.
$5 trillion dollars worth of shipping goes through here every year.
Seven countries have competing claims,
but China is taking its claims the furthest.
It’s been rapidly building facilities on disputed reefs.
Basically, China has a Charmander with 2,000 Combat Points
sitting atop the world’s most contested Pokemon Gym.
So will team blue dare to challenge team red?
Well, that may depend on who the next president is.
In this two-part series,
I’m joined by senior America correspondent, Matt Gnaizda.
On today’s episode, Hillary Clinton.
Thanks for joining us, Matt.
Hi Chris.
If Hillary Clinton becomes the next US president,
how would she handle the South China Sea dispute?
Hillary Clinton has been accused of many things, Chris.
But one of them that’s hard to dispute is that she’s firmly status quo.
Meaning?
She wants things to get better,
but still pretty much within the same framework as before.
Except, obviously, with herself as president.
So what does this mean for the South China Sea?
Clinton has been involved in the South China Sea since ancient times, Chris.
Back in 2009, her first overseas trip as Secretary of State was to Asia.
She made 61 more visits to Asian countries after that.
That’s way more than average.
And one of her key missions
was building an alliance among Asian countries to counterbalance China.
Like the Trans Pacific Partnership?
Yeah, that’s one of them.
The TPP is an economic agreement among 10 countries,
half of them in Asia,
but none of them are China.
If it gets ratified,
it will boost trade between the US and a bunch of countries...
that are not China.
In other words,
big businesses would be able get their stuff made
in other third-world countries for cheap.
Don't be so cynical, Chris...
even though that's completely true.
Ok, but what about China’s military buildup in the South China Sea?
Well, Clinton helped Obama design the so-called “Pivot to Asia”
a term she accidentally coined in 2011.
It’s a way of shifting US attention to Asia,
with the not-so-secret mission of containing China and North Korea.
And what was Clinton’s play here?
First, building diplomatic guanxi—relationships.
She spent much of her four years as Secretary of State
building relationships with other Asian countries,
letting them know the US is their friend,
and friends stand together against an encroaching China.
And second, backing it up with a strong military presence.
The US spends about $6 billion dollars a year to maintain
80,000 troops and more than 100 military installations
in Japan and South Korea.
Plus the US has military agreements with
the Philippines, Singapore, and others in the region.
So under President Clinton,
it would be like the US knocks on China’s door
to ask for a peaceful relationship,
while standing behind her
is an entourage consisting of pretty much everyone else in the region.
Right.
But she absolutely does not want a war,
and I think she’d avoid that at all costs.
But China is already sort of at war with the US.
China has thousands of spies,
they’ve hacked into US infrastructure,
they know US military secrets.
Exactly.
Now, I don’t doubt that US could beat the Chinese military
in any boots-on-the-ground conflict.
Mmm, America.
But war isn’t about who can kill more people.
It’s about who can make the other side give in first.
And China’s spies and hacking you mentioned
could devastate the US in ways that are hard to fathom.
So, Clinton doesn’t want the kind of war where China pulls out all the stops.
So how can she prevent war?
Well I think she’s willing to work closely with China
no matter how anti-China
her campaign rhetoric may sound from now till November.
Look, in 2008, Senator Clinton said
President Bush should boycott the Beijing Olympics
because of China’s human rights problems.
But then in 2011, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
was eager to show up at China’s Shanghai Expo.
She even helped raise money for the American Pavilion there.
Are you saying she’s a hypocrite?
I’m saying she’s a politician.
And she would be the kind of president
who does whatever it takes to protect US interests in the region,
whether that means being best buddies with China’s dictators,
or punching them in the mouth.
Or some awkward combination of both.
And what about Donald Trump?
Well, I’ll have to think about that.
Probably that’s a whole other episode, Chris.
I think you’re right.
So for more, click here for our next episode,
“How Would President Trump Handle the South China Sea?”
And tell me what you think Hillary Clinton would do, if elected,
to preserve US interests in the South China Sea.
Leave your totally unbiased political comments below.
Thanks for watching this episode of China Uncensored.
I’m Chris Chappell. See you next time.