The Southern California Republican congressman being considered for Secretary of State told Breitbart News that President-elect Donald J. Trump sent the right message when he accepted a congratulatory call from Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen Friday, despite the uproar from Red China and America’s left-wing commentariat.
“The Chinese are now being alerted that they should not think of the United States as a pushover anymore,” said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and chairs its Europe, Eurasia and Emerging Threats subcommittee.
The one-time campus activist, folk singer, and screenwriter said, “What the Chinese have a right to be concerned about are actions and policies, specifically how they relate to the agreements that we have with China about Taiwan.”
It is possible, he said, to improve our relationship with Taiwan within the context of the Taiwan Relations Act, which President James E. “Jimmy” Carter passed to replace the mutual defense treaty between Taiwan and the U.S., and to establish a protocol for maintaining relations with Taiwan, while deferring to the PRC as the actual Chinese government, of which Taiwan was a de jure province, yet a de facto independent state.
“We can modernize and liberalize our relationship with Taiwan without breaking agreements,” he said. “Speaking to them and treating them in a more respectful way is not a violation of the Taiwan Relations Act.”
Rohrabacher, who was a speechwriter for President Ronald W. Reagan, said his old boss was a strong supporter of Taiwan and he was glad Trump was putting the leaders of the People’s Republic of China on notice.
“Ronald Reagan knew this well,” the congressman said.
“Presidents of the United States have been too worried about offending Beijing and this telephone call made it clear that they no longer are going to have Americans shaking in their boots, because the Chinese are now upset with something they said to Taiwan,” he said.
The avid surfer said he was not surprised at the tsunami of criticism that came crashing down on the president-elect from the left-wing media.
“I think there are people who are willing to bend over backwards for any tyrant who threatens worse relations with the United States, when in fact it’s when you stand up tall and look the tyrant in the eye that you have more progress and you have more of a chance for peace in the long run,” he said.
The congressman said the two major threats facing the United States are Islamic terrorism and China’s aggressive posture on the world stage. He proposes that America form a diplomatic-economic quartet with Japan, India, and Russia, which would secure world peace and prosperity.
Working with the Russians is particularly important in respect to China, he said.
Rohrabacher told Breitbart News that if Trump asks him to serve as secretary of state, he would give up his congressional career to join the incoming president’s team.
The congressman said members of the Presidential Transition Team are communicating with him. “They call me and let me know what is going on and are optimistic that I am still under consideration–but I am certainly not the front runner.”
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