With one week left in President Donald Trump‘s term, foreign media obtained a declassified document on U.S. national security, revealing secret details and priorities of the Trump administration’s Indo-Pacific strategy, including not allowing the Chinese Communist Party to have air and sea superiority in the first island chain, listing Taiwan as a partner in the first island chain, and joining Australia, India, Japan and other allies to confront the Chinese Communist Party. The document was made public 30 years earlier, and scholars analyze that this is an unusual approach, believing that Trump is bringing pressure on the next administration to avoid too much of a shift in policy direction toward China.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported that in early 2018, Trump approved the classified document “Indo-Pacific Strategic Framework” developed by the National Security Council (NSC) in 2017. The document was classified as “secret” and “not to be disclosed to foreign people. The document was finally declassified last week, 30 years earlier than normal, and is expected to be officially released on Wednesday (13) US time.
Why is this document being released at this time, when a change in the U.S. government is imminent? Ross Feingold, a U.S. political risk management consultant, told the station on Wednesday that he believes it is to bring pressure on the next administration.
Fang Enge said: now publish these things (documents), in the last few weeks, is also to let the Biden team to understand what has been done in the past, and to bring some pressure on the Biden team, that is, they can not be the first time, the work canceled, on the one hand, is to leave a record for history to know; on the other hand, the future in the short term, forcing the Biden team will not be in the Asia-Pacific region, especially China to make too much policy direction change.
Fang also pointed out that the U.S. government began in mid-November last year, the Asia-Pacific region, including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and other issues have a series of responses, such as joint statements with other countries, concern about more than 50 arrested democrats in Hong Kong, I believe that the Trump administration open this document, “is to leave a clear record, reflecting their own achievements in the past four years in the Asia-Pacific region.
Taiwan military expert Li Zhengxiu believes that Trump has always been very different from traditional U.S. administrations, and this early declassification of the Indo-Pacific strategy document is indeed unusual.
Li Zhengxiu said: Trump out of office before the public, is indeed unusual, this aspect of the strategy report, is always the part of the public can be released on time, the possible inference, first, they want to the future of the next Biden administration to form a constraint, the Trump administration somewhat want to deepen everyone’s dissatisfaction with mainland China, but also the trend to make the Biden administration in the beginning of next week is difficult to have too much change, especially for Taiwan, (Trump) set a good road he believes.
Li Zhengxiu said, from this Indo-Pacific strategy document reflects the U.S. government’s attitude toward the Chinese Communist Party can be described as tough, but also shows that the U.S. government has been highly suspicious of the Communist Party attitude.
According to the 10-page document, which can be seen in part with “blacked-out” editorial treatment, the document shows U.S. strategic priorities in the Indo-Pacific region, mentioning that the Chinese Communist Party and North Korea are U.S. national security challenges in the Indo-Pacific region, and that the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy emphasizes maintaining a regional liberal economic order through strategic integration with allies and partners such as India, Japan and Australia to counter the growing overseas influence of the Chinese Communist Party, and should assist Taiwan in being able to develop an effective asymmetric defense strategy and capability.
The strategic framework states that in order to deter the CCP from taking military action against the United States and its allies or partners, the United States should deny the CCP sustained air and sea superiority within the first island chain in a conflict; second, defend the first island chain countries, including Taiwan; and third, dominate all areas outside the first island chain. The United States should assist allies and partners to enhance their security capabilities and ensure that they are not coerced by the Chinese Communist Party.
The China section of the document focuses on preventing Chinese industrial policies and unfair trade practices that distort global markets and undermine U.S. competitiveness, and building international consensus that Chinese industrial policies and unfair trade practices are undermining the global trading system. The framework also states that the U.S. should work closely with allies and like-minded countries to prevent the Chinese Communist Party from acquiring military and strategic capabilities, strengthen its investment review of China through the Committee on Foreign Investment Review of the United States (CFIUS), and adopt domestic policies that promote critical technologies.
The report quotes Rory Medcalf, dean of the National Security College at the Australian National University (ANU), as analyzing the strategic framework as being direct, though not very confrontational, but quite firm in its approach to the Chinese Communist Party. He said it is a very important document and it is unusual to release it decades in advance.
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