Leader of US House Armed Services Committee calls for both dialogue and deterrence to deal with China
- ‘The world is in fact big enough for the both of us, and we need to look for opportunities to try and convince them of that,’ says US Representative Adam Smith
- On a separate panel, experts discuss a war-game exercise they recently held to identify how the US and allies could deter China from invading Taiwan
The US needs to bolster its relations with allies, modernise its military and work with China and Russia to reduce nuclear weapons, the chairman of a key congressional committee overseeing the US military said on Wednesday.
But Washington should also try and keep the door open with Beijing, added Representative Adam Smith, a Democrat from Washington state, at a time when relations between the two nations are at a historic low amid rising tension over Taiwan, trade, espionage and the South China Sea.
“If we can find a way to get along with China, to get China to recognise that it’s not a zero-sum game, they’re hung up on this notion that they’re going to bury us,” said Smith, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. “We’re not going anywhere. And neither is China. China’s going to be a big powerful country. The world is in fact big enough for the both of us, and we need to look for opportunities to try and convince them of that.”
Smith, speaking at Centre for a New American Security conference, added that if the US hopes to effectively counter Beijing and Moscow as they undermine the international rules-based order, it needs to come to terms with a multipolar world in which a more humble Washington convinces rather than pressures allies.
“At the end of the day, what will you do if China attacks Taiwan, nobody knows. And you’re not going to know until it happens,” said Smith. “This is where the diplomacy piece of it comes out. We have to get these countries on our side.”