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President Xi Jinping must have laughed all the way back to Beijing from Washington at the end of his three-day visit. How else could he have reacted to the American political spectrum, the United States’ allies in the Asia Pacific and the world at large sent into a tizzy by a story that during the course of a conversation President Donald Trump had asked if President Xi wanted to buy American weapons? The story that came out of an interview American Ambassador to China David Perdue gave to a media outlet was soon to be dissed by the State Department and the White House with a note of rejection from President Trump himself but with an interesting rider that Beijing would probably want to be given the superiority of American hardware.
“To China? You mean to Taiwan?” President Trump said in response to a question on the subject going on to add that China would “probably like to buy it because we do make better equipment than them, so maybe it’s a good idea. But we didn’t discuss it.” In a place like Washington where it does not take much to raise a political storm, the President’s alleged comments to the visitor from China raised hackles, the first of which being that American domestic law prohibited sale of weapons to China and relevant laws would have to be amended to make this possible. And which will be such a hard task that no President, Republican or Democrat would want to touch with a barge pole. It is such a big headache especially if it involves a totalitarian system.
For a while it appeared that the supposed offer of President Trump had also the serious attention of America’s Asian friends who were looking for clarity. As it is allies in the Asia Pacific are edgy about American commitment in a part of a world that for long had taken it for granted. The Trump administration has been doing some plain talking to countries like Japan, South Korea and Taiwan that they would have to substantially up the ante and that security is not going to be free or a one-way street. As a way of proving its point, Washington scaled down joint military exercises with South Korea even while rubbing it in to Seoul that the United States would not want to offend Chairman Kim Jong Un who had been behaving well in Trump 2.0!
But few in the defense or analysts’ community appeared to be stepping back and asking another question: why would President Xi want to wade into the troubled waters of Capitol Hill by asking for weapons? Assuming the existing relevant laws have been amended paving the way for an arms flow, new inventories would have to go through Congressional Committees opening up a pandora’s box of which existing perceptions and prejudices would only be a part of the problem. At the other end would be things like transfer of technology, co-production and eventual host country manufacturing lines. All these things are complex and at times politically wretched. The Chinese system of governance may be a continuum in the foreseeable future, but Americans work it through in two- and four-year phases. Hence political continuity is not assured.
If one of China’s objectives is in knowing or taking possession the superiority of American technology, Beijing would not really be too interested. And it is not just a question of ripping apart a product upon delivery to find out. For a long time, American intelligence agencies have been warning about the kind of espionage Beijing is involved in, not just in the United States but generally in the West with a view to knowing the exact goings on. In fact, it has been pointed out that military sales from the United States had been going on with China until the time of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown on pro-democracy protestors. And apparently China has been doing a commendable job in putting out Chinese variants including of helicopters. Hence if prime technology can be had without too much exertion, why not settle for this model?
There have been plenty of alerts from American intelligence agencies of Chinese sniffing around and eavesdropping on sensitive locations. Three years ago, during the Biden administration there was this Chinese Balloon waltzing in and out of North America including in and around top-secret areas ostensibly on a weather mission until such time it was brought down by a fighter jet off the coast of South Carolina. And more recently agencies are working overtime to figure out how and why a shipment of parts of F 35 jet from Australia got diverted to Hong Kong and if Chinese authorities have examined the highly sensitive radar coating material enhancing the jet’s stealth capabilities. Separately not too long ago the Pentagon discovered that Chinese origin items had entered the F 35 supply chain network.
The Asia Pacific has every reason to be concerned with anything concerning China especially at a time when Beijing appears flexing its muscle in the region and Washington showing signs of disinterest. While it is easy to dismiss President Trump’s alleged comment on sale of weapons as a flight of fancy, even casual comments or half serious “you wanna buy” triggers a frenzied reaction especially in a region seen as a tinder box. President Xi and his compatriots would do well to remember that every time they talk of “taking” Taiwan by force, they are only giving ideas to hawks in Japan to push for the nuclear route. Would a nuclear Japan be in the best security/ strategic interests of China?
Disclaimer: The opinions and views expressed in this article/column are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of South Asian Herald.
