In what could become a foreign policy position for Democrat presidential candidates in 2028, Rahm Emanuel spelled out a policy for the U.S. to stand with Taiwan.
He added in not-so-veiled terms that the Trump administration policy toward China was leaving Taiwan in danger.
Emanuel, who has been chief of staff to President Barack Obama, mayor of Chicago, and ambassador to Japan under President Joe Biden, is considered a prospective White House hopeful.
He discussed public policy positions he would take on Wednesday at a press session hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.
Asked by Newsmax what he would do to offer reassurances the U.S. would honor the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979 and stand by Taiwan if attacked by China, Emanuel said, "Our ability to reassure Taiwan means also reassuring our allies of our ability to do whatever we're going to do."
Adding that "I haven't said we're doing anything on Taiwan," the former ambassador told Newsmax, "If you look at the first island chain from South China Sea in the Philippines all the way through the islands of Okinawa, being the first on the channel, having Japan and the Philippines feel secure about the United States both to their securities is the first step in down payment to making sure that we are a permanent Pacific power and presence."
He characterized what should be "our strategy" as one in which allies should say, "You can bet long on the United States."
"That [strategy] has come under attack under the Trump administration," he said. "China's strategy in the Indo-Pacific is 'We're the rising power; America is a receding power.'"
Emanuel specified that China's policy is, "You should bet long on us; and if you don't, we're going to give you the economic coercion and political isolation that we know we can do."
"We tried it on Japan, we tried it on [South] Korea, we tried it on Australia, and we tried it on the Philippines. All of them have been a target of China's economic coercion and other strategic coercion, and you're seeing it happen to Japan today," he said.
Summarizing how the U.S. can reassure allies in the Pacific such as Taiwan, Emanuel told the Monitor event, "Number one, reassure our allies we're a permanent Pacific power presence — something you can bet on geographically, strategically, militarily, economically, and politically. ... Once we do that, China's efforts are harder."
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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