January 16, 2017

"On January 11, 2017, former Exxon Mobil CEO and now President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was grilled by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee regarding his position on various current international issues. He was pressed by Marco Rubio, Republican of Texas and former candidate for the Republican Party’s Presidential nomination, regarding his view of recent actions by Russia and in particular President Vladimir Putin in Ukraine, Syria and cyberspace. Tillerson wisely — some would say evasively — avoided direct answers, repeatedly pleading ignorance and a need for more information. 

He should have done the same for questions regarding China’s actions in the South China Sea. Instead he made several intemperate remarks that have alarmed China and the region, including US allies. Most provocatively he said that China's access to the features it has built up in the South China Sea is not going to be 'allowed.' He added that in general, 'I think a lot of our troubles today are that we do not enforce — we make commitments, we say are going to do something and then we don’t enforce it'. Given these ill-advised comments and those of Trump’s actions in undercutting the US-China fundamental understanding regarding the status of Taiwan, China will likely think and prepare for the worst.  "

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