While running for President, Donald Trump pledged to “make the military great again.”
He followed through on that pledge by appointing James “Mad Dog” Mattis as Secretary of Defense.
And Mattis just proved the U.S. isn’t messing around anymore by sending a shocking warning at China that could change the world.
If there’s one thing that Donald Trump made clear when running for President, it’s that China is not a friend to the United States.
Whether it is through crummy trade deals or military intimidation, they have long put themselves at odds with the United States.
Now they are violating international law by deploying military weapons into territories on the South China Sea that are claimed by multiple nations.
These actions are seen as hostile and have lead towards anger by many countries in the region.
The area of the South China Sea that China is militarizing includes the entire ocean around the island country of Taiwan, along with being extremely close to other countries.
Mattis made it clear to a group of media figures speaking with him earlier this week that his goal is to cooperate with Pacific nations, but that he will not allow countries like China to violate international law.
“We are going out of our way to cooperate with Pacific nations. That’s the way we do business in the world, but we’re also going to confront what we believe is out of step with international law, out of step with international tribunals that have spoken on the issue,” Mattis stated, according to Breitbart News.
Mattis has already taken action to make it clear the United States does not approve of the actions of China, disinviting China from a U.S.-led naval exercise in the Pacific Ocean, known as Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC).
China was previously invited to participate in the 2014 RIMPAC, as a gesture of goodwill.
After that exercise, relations between China in the U.S. appeared to be improving.
The next year, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with then-President Obama, where he made promises not to militarize the South China Sea.
But, as recent actions prove, that promise was useless, as stated by Mattis:
“There had been a promise in 2015, by [Chinese President Xi Jinping], in the Rose Garden at a White House meeting, where they stated they would not be militarizing the Spratly Islands. We have seen in the last month they’ve done exactly that, moving weaponry in that was never there before.”
These actions by Secretary Mattis prove that the United States isn’t going to mess around when it comes to national security.
He is taking this issue head-on, defending U.S. allies against China’s threatening behavior.
While China may have been able to get away with these activities under former President Obama, Trump is a much different beast for them to handle.
President Trump is a tough and decisive leader whose number one interest is the security of his people and allies.
These statements made by Mattis made this clear to the entire world.
