China has responded after Donald Trump Jr. made an impassioned case for his father’s pick for a top Pentagon post.
Newsweek reached out to the White House via email with a request for comment.
Why It Matters
President Donald Trump has tapped security analyst Elbridge Colby to be undersecretary of defense for policy. As a senior Department of Defense official during Trump’s first term, he played a key role in the development of the 2018 National Defense Strategy that put greater priority on countering China’s military rise in the Indo-Pacific.
While supporters argue Colby’s views align with those of Trump’s “America First” foreign policy doctrine, some statements he’s made—including suggesting Iran obtaining nuclear weapons should not be a red line—have rankled some Republicans, including Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton.
What To Know
Donald Trump Jr. pushed back against these doubts in an op-ed on conservative political news site Human Events.
Trump praised Colby for pursuing “the concrete interests of the American people” at heart. This he contrasted with “abstractions” such as previous administations’ stated aim of spreading democracy in the Middle East and the Biden administration’s emphasis on a “rules based international order.”
“This makes him a realist—a realist for America, like my father and Vice President J.D. Vance,” Trump said.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
This realpolitik approach extends to Washington’s “uniquely powerful” rival China, Trump argued, saying Colby seeks to strike a balance of power that would benefit Americans without “poking the dragon in the eye unnecessarily” and risking a war.
Asked to respond during the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s regular press conference Wednesday, spokesperson Guo Jiakun stressed Beijing’s position on U.S. ties is “consistent and clear.”
“We stand ready to work with the U.S. to address each other’s concerns through dialogue and consultation under the principle of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation,” he stated. “In the meanwhile, we will firmly safeguard our sovereignty, security and development interests.”
Guo added China hopes the U.S. will work with it toward stable bilateral relations and “important common understandings between the two presidents.”
What People Are Saying
Bernie Moreno, Republican senator from Ohio, wrote on X (Formerly Twitter): “Elbridge Colby is a fighter who will execute President Trump’s mandate to end decades of DC foreign policy failures and stop forever wars abroad—The reason the establishment fears him is because he’s 100 percent aligned with Trump’s agenda.”
William Matthews, senior research fellow, Chatham House think tank’s Asia-Pacific Program, wrote in a January article:
“While Trump has favored China hawks such as Marco Rubio and Mike Waltz as picks for his cabinet, he has also criticized Taiwan for failing to pay its way on defense […] The upshot is that the incoming administration’s stance on China is fundamentally unclear – although the ambiguity is now more unintended than strategic.
“This increases the risk of accidental escalation over flashpoints like Taiwan and the South China Sea. Beijing could perceive Trump’s ambiguous stance as a lack of resolve. At the same time, Trump’s more transactional or even antagonistic attitude towards U.S. defense partners raises the prospect of this ambiguity spreading to formal regional commitments, creating opportunities that China could exploit.”
What’s Next?
Colby’s nomination must first be approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee before advancing to a full Senate vote. His confirmation hearing has yet to be scheduled.
