Trump should cut ties with China, consider sending Marine Corps to Asia, former national security adviser says

President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, Robert O'Brien, wrote in an essay Tuesday that given the Biden administration's policy “failures” with China, Trump should take a much tougher stance on Beijing if re-elected in November.

O'Brien he wrote to Foreign Affairs magazine on Tuesday that the risk posed by China must be faced in a new way as Beijing has become more emboldened against the US under the Biden administration. According to O'Brien, Trump should cut economic ties with China and consider sending the entire Marine Corps to the Asia-Pacific region.

“Since the beginning of his presidential term, Biden has sent mixed messages about the threat posed by Beijing.” O'Brien wrote this Tuesday for Foreign Affairs. “Biden has referred to China's economy as a 'ticking time bomb,' but he also clearly stated, 'I don't want to contain China' and 'We're not looking to hurt China, frankly.' We're all better off if China does well”. To believe this pablum is to believe that China is not really an adversary”.

O'Brien wrote that Beijing has acted increasingly hostile in recent years, bolstering its economic and military prowess, threatening to invade Taiwan, launching cyber warfare attacks against the US and is not responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. According to O'Brien, China has strengthened its ties with a number of anti-Western nations, including Russia and Iran.

“As China seeks to undermine American economic and military strength, Washington should return the favor,” O'Brien wrote.

According to O'Brien, Trump should decouple the American economy from that of China. This could be done by imposing a 60% tariff on imported Chinese goods and tougher export controls to the sensitive US. technologies which could be used by Beijing.

“Of course, Washington should keep the lines of communication open with Beijing, but the United States should focus its diplomacy on the Pacific,” O'Brien wrote. “The [U.S. Navy] it should also move one of its aircraft carriers from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and the Pentagon should consider deploying the entire Marine Corps to the Pacific, freeing it in particular from missions in the Middle East and North Africa .

Given China and Russia's modernization and growth of their respective nuclear programs, Trump should also resume live underground nuclear tests for the first time since 1992, O'Brien wrote. If China and Russia do not engage in diplomatic talks on arms control and proliferation, the US would have to further resume production of uranium and plutonium elements, critical in the development of nuclear weapons.

A handwritten copy of O'Brien's essay was given to a Trump campaign adviser and given to Trump, seconds at Bloomberg. O'Brien recently said he is in “regular contact” with Trump and has been a supporter of the former president's re-election.

“In November, the American people will have the opportunity to return to office a president who restored peace through force and can do so again,” O'Brien wrote.

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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