On Tuesday’s broadcast of CNN International’s “The Brief,” Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA) said that “the Chinese are watching” the blockade of Iranian ports “and they’re saying, look, if President Trump can do a blockade, what if they were to do a blockade around Taiwan?”
Bera said, “I don’t think it’s a good strategy. I don’t think it’s well thought through. If you want to de-escalate this war and the Iranians play a game of chicken with you and move a ship through, are you going to shoot that ship down? Because that is not going to be de-escalatory. That is not going to move you closer to a long-term ceasefire.”
He continued, “I also, as someone who really does focus on Asia and the Pacific, the Chinese are watching here, and they’re saying, look, if President Trump can do a blockade, what if they were to do a blockade around Taiwan? That is something I worry about, very much, at this juncture. And we want to avoid a kinetic conflict with Beijing. We don’t want a war with Beijing. But we do want to protect the people of Taiwan and let them choose their future. So, I think President Trump is playing a very dangerous game without consultation of the members of the United States Congress, as well as our allies in Asia and Europe, and that’s dangerous.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett