‘QUALITATIVE EDGE’:The nominee for US assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific affairs said he believes Taiwan could ‘hopefully defeat a Chinese invasion’
Taipei Times
Date: Nov 18, 2017
By: Staff writer, with CNA, WASHINGTON
Randall Schriver, who has been nominated for US assistant secretary of defense for
Randall Schriver, who has been nominated as US assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific affairs, sits with his children before the commencement of the Senate Armed Services Committee nomination hearing in Washington on Thursday. Photo: CNA
Asian and Pacific affairs, on Thursday said he would make strengthening ties with security partners such as Taiwan a priority if his nomination is confirmed.
“If confirmed, it will be a priority to invest in our security partners in Taiwan and Singapore, and emerging partnerships with countries such as Vietnam,” Schriver said at a nomination hearing held by the US Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington.
“For this administration’s vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific to be realized, we must position ourselves to prevail in the long-term strategic competition we face vis-a-vis the People’s Republic of China,” he told the committee in his opening statement.
The US should continue to look for opportunities to cooperate with China where the two countries’ interests overlap, Schriver said, but he acknowledged that finding such opportunities would be a challenge. [FULL STORY]
