Donald Trump is ‘willing to accept more risk’ to counter Beijing aggression, says US official
- The official says the US is strengthening ties economically and militarily with India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan
- She touted this year’s US$3 billion US-Indian arms deal as part of quadrilateral relationship with Japan and Australia
A senior US government official said President Donald Trump is “willing to accept more risk” in dealings with Beijing as Washington works to build alliances with countries in Asia to check what the administration calls Chinese aggression.
Delivering a keynote speech in a Brookings Institution webinar about “China’s growing regional influence and strategy”, Lisa Curtis, the US National Security Council’s senior director for South and Central Asia, ticked off a list of countries bordering or near China – including India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan – with which the US is strengthening ties economically and militarily.
“The US is willing to accept more risk in the [US-China] relationship, and I think each side will have to get used to these new guidelines that will be directing US policy in the region as we move forward,” Curtis said.
“My time is focused on South Central Asia, and I think what that means there is a deepening of the US-India partnership, a recognition of commitment that both countries have to a free, open, transparent region in the Indo-Pacific, and you will see more of a focus on building up that relationship and also ensuring that the other nations of South and Central Asia can maintain their own sovereignty,” she said.