Angry China

Angry China

China is not happy with U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis’s red line stance that the U.S. would help Japan defend two uninhabited islands in the East China Sea that Japan and China both claim. Mattis reaffirmed the U.S’s commitment to the Asian region in his trips to both South Korea and Japan. Mr. Mattis cited the longstanding US-Japan treaty that commits the U.S. to defend Japan.

China’s President is scheduled to talk over the phone with President Trump in the near future, and possibly as early as this week. It’ll be interesting to see if the contents of the call get leaked and if so, whether Trump berates Xi Jingping like he did Malcolm Trumbull, Australia’s prime minister. I don’t think Malcolm will be telling Trump to “Call Me Maybe” anytime soon.