Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Thursday, April 25, 2024 82° Today's Paper


Top News

Clinton says U.S. could ‘ring China with missile defense’

1/1
Swipe or click to see more

POOL PHOTO VIA AP / SEPT. 2012

In this file photo, then U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks during her joint conference with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing when talks between Clinton and Chinese leaders failed to narrow gaps on how to end the crisis in Syria and how to resolve Beijing’s territorial disputes with its smaller neighbors over the South China Sea.

BEIJING » Hillary Clinton privately said the U.S. would “ring China with missile defense” if the Chinese government failed to curb North Korea’s nuclear program, a potential hint at how the former secretary of state would act if elected president.

Clinton’s remarks were revealed by WikiLeaks in a hack of the Clinton campaign chairman’s personal account. The emails include a document excerpting Clinton’s private speech transcripts, which she has refused to release.

A section on China features several issues in which Clinton said she confronted the Chinese while leading the U.S. State Department.

China has harshly criticized the U.S. and South Korea’s planned deployment of a missile-defense system against North Korea, which conducted its fifth nuclear test this year. But Clinton said she told Chinese officials that the U.S. might deploy additional ships to the region to contain the North Korean missile threat.

If North Korea successfully obtains a ballistic missile, it could threaten not just American allies in the Pacific, “but they could actually reach Hawaii and the west coast theoretically,” Clinton said.

“We’re going to ring China with missile defense. We’re going to put more of our fleet in the area,” Clinton said in a 2013 speech. “So China, come on. You either control them or we’re going to have to defend against them.”

China is North Korea’s economic lifeline and the closest thing it has to a diplomatic ally, and has been criticized by the U.S. and others for not doing enough to rein in Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions. Chinese officials and state media have responded by saying that North Korea is not solely China’s responsibility, and that Beijing has limited influence with secretive leader Kim Jong Un’s hard-line communist regime.

Clinton also privately criticized China’s position on another sensitive issue, the South China Sea. China claims almost the entirety of the strategically vital waterbody and has lashed out at an international tribunal’s July ruling rejecting its claims.

Clinton told a different audience in 2013 that by China’s logic, the U.S. after World War II could have labeled the Pacific Ocean the “American Sea.”

“My counterpart sat up very straight and goes, ‘Well, you can’t do that,’” she said. “And I said, ‘Well, we have as much right to claim that as you do. I mean, you claim (the South China Sea) based on pottery shards from, you know, some fishing vessel that ran aground in an atoll somewhere.”

In another remark revealed in the Wikileaks hack, Clinton called Chinese President Xi Jinping “a more sophisticated, more effective public leader” than his predecessor, Hu Jintao. She noted Xi’s plans for economic and social reforms, but blamed what she called “a resurgence of nationalism” on the Chinese government.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond Friday to faxed questions about Clinton’s remarks.

As secretary of state, Clinton visited China seven times and engineered Washington’s “pivot” to Asia, which has long been viewed with suspicion by Beijing. The policy shift has seen a tighter focus on the region along with an increased military presence and fortified alliances with allies such as Australia and the Philippines, although the latter has been cast in doubt with the election of China-friendly President Rodrigo Duterte.

She also drew condemnation from Chinese state media last year after describing Xi as “shameless” as he prepared to speak on women’s rights at the United Nations, shortly after China detained five young feminists who’d campaigned against domestic violence.

42 responses to “Clinton says U.S. could ‘ring China with missile defense’”

  1. CEI says:

    Now she’s wants to start a war with China. This woman is more dangerous than I thought.

    • mctruck says:

      And if trump had said what she said, you’d say he did a bang up job. Purely biased comment against Hillary who showed that she can also flex some U.S., muscle against super powers while trump tries to impress with building walls.

      • sarge22 says:

        US Debt Soars To $19.7 Trillion…up over $170 billion in just eight business days.
        To give it some context, that’s up over $170 billion in just eight business days.

        Of course, this hasn’t been reported anywhere because the media is too busy pretending to be shocked that Donald Trump is a womanizer.

        And yet the debt is a much, much bigger story… though admittedly one that is far less entertaining.

        The election is merely a fight over who gets to be the band conductor while the Titanic sinks. And the debt is precisely the reason for this.

        • mctruck says:

          And the debt which we Americans must bear also is because of guys like trump declaring bankruptcy, many times over.

        • mctruck says:

          And not paying taxes through loop holes. Which by the way, Warren Buffett says he never uses.

        • mctruck says:

          And since you so good at the numbers game, please explain what that $170 billion in x-days included? I’m sure you should come up with an itemized list of how that amount increased U.S. debt. I wouldn’t be surprised that the Republican Congress has the controlling hand in the price tag of which you speak.

        • Cricket_Amos says:

          “trump declaring bankruptcy, many times over”
          I think they were only about 5
          I believe they were Chapter 11, which is reorganization.
          It is a way to save a business.

          “not paying taxes through loop holes”
          In business you get to deduct your costs from your profits
          Otherwise, how could you even do business?
          This is basically what he did.

        • Boots says:

          It has been reported Sarge but what hasn’t gotten the press is that this debt is thanks to you republicans. We are still paying big bucks for the Iraq and Afghanistan never ending wars which were caused by the lies and incompetence of the previous republican president, G W Bush. A trillion dollar plus deficit is not easy to eliminate and cannot be done over night.

          Sarge do you acknowledge that Voodoo just will not balance the budget? Being a Donald supporter, I don’t think so as he wants even more tax cuts for the rich. So are you really going to vote for sweet Hillary? lol

        • mctruck says:

          I believe the Republican Congress sees the handwriting on the wall, that Hillary will become the next President of America and as a result have increased the debt so she’ll walk into another financial quagmire.

        • mctruck says:

          Crickittt, many times over is more than once; 5 times is more than once.

        • sarge22 says:

          Why play the two party game when both parties are responsible for the out of control debt. It’s easy to spend with a credit card but you think twice if you have to take the actual cash out of your wallet.

      • mxp2000 says:

        I couldn’t agree more that Trumo is the best choice for president and will do a bang up job!

        • cajaybird says:

          IRT Mctruck: Do you know why Bill Clinton pardoned Marc Rich, the biggest tax cheat in the history of the U.S?

      • BluesBreaker says:

        If Trump said what she said, you would be talking about what a strong leader he’d be, one that would stand up to China and wouldn’t let other countries get away with intimidation. I’m more enthusiastic about voting for her now than ever.

        • OldDiver says:

          In other words she would build a missile defense wall around China if they don’t stop North Korea from building a nuclear ballistic missile. One would think Trump supporters would welcome this.

        • BluesBreaker says:

          They’re not the most astute bunch 😉

        • sarge22 says:

          Why does HiLIARy want to protect China from a North Korean missile attack? Let’s just increase our missile offense wall around the good old USA. “Make America Great Again” Massive retaliation==Flexible response was a defense strategy implemented by John F. Kennedy in 1961 to address the Kennedy administration’s skepticism of Dwight Eisenhower’s New Look and its policy of massive retaliation.

    • thos says:

      “This woman is more dangerous than I thought.”

      BINGO!

      You nailed it.

      Hillary’s combination of incompetence, arrogance, and hostility is a clear and present danger.

      Result of this deadly combo: she has repeatedly demonstrated she has a reverse-Midas touch. Everything she sets her hand to turns to [scatological term redacted].

      If she takes the oath a mere 140,750 minutes from now, we will soon find ourselves in a shooting war with BOTH Russia and China, such is the nature of her boiling dysfunction and venomous persona.

      • thos says:

        Nor should any of this come as any surprise.

        In her four year Wellesley transition from wholesome midwestern Goldwater Girl to radical ultra-left extremist, she worshipped at the altar of Saul Aulinsky who in turn had worshipped at the altar of one Alphonse Capone (and who had, not surprisingly, dedicated his book to Satan).

        Result: Hillary can now reasonably be understood as a power lusting demonic creature from the pit.

      • Boots says:

        lol, what is more dangerous is that there are still people out there who feel that the federal budget can be balanced by reducing revenue and increasing wasteful government spending. Please don’t forget that this is clearly what the Donald has called for. this is nothing more than Voodoo and this has never worked. A vote for the Donald is a vote for deficits don’t matter and an unlimited public debt.

        • thos says:

          Not true, but better the deficits than being incinerated in a full on arsenal exchange with either Russia or the PRC instigated by an aggressive incompetent with her finger on the button.

        • Boots says:

          What is not true thos? There is no one out there still believing in Voodoo or one cannot balance the budget and reduce the public debt by wasteful government spending and reducing revenue?

          As far as being incinerated, please remember it was the Donald who said he would blow ships out of the water for giving gestures to American ships. Also the Donald feels that our military is weak and needs to be built up. What generally happens with a built up military? It is generally used to test its new toys.

        • BlueDolphin53 says:

          boots, you seem to be one of the few commentators that actually is willing to engage in discussion. What a relief!!

          With all due respect though, supply side economics COULD theoretically work, as it is a given that lower taxes will increase revenue due to the expansion of the tax base. HOWEVER, you are right that cutting “wasteful” government spending will not be enough. To really balance the budget, you would need to touch entitlement programs (medicaid, medicare, SS), and very few politicians have the guts to do that. I actually liked Rubio’s plan. I hope he runs again in the future.

      • OldDiver says:

        Here we go again with Trump supporters talking nonsense. Trumps answer is to allow Japan to arm itself with nuclear missiles. Talk about nuts.

        • cajaybird says:

          OD, that’s a mischaracterization of what Trump said. He said we pay for defending other countries, such as Japan. He said they should help pay for their defense or do it themselves. The thrust of his recommendation was to have other countries, like Saudi Arabia, Japan, etc., help pay for their defense. Of course, the media and the Democrats twist it, as they have with everything he says. It’s not fair that the media is “all in” for Trump, but that’s the way it is. For example, it would be fair for the media to report on some of the leaked emails concerning Hillary’s attitude towards open borders, but it just doesn’t happen. Personally, I believe it’s an almost impossible task for Trump to win when the media is for one side. The media is not a cross section of the country. This is a very low point in the history of the press, and this is an ugly election.

      • PMINZ says:

        “Taming of the Shrew” was in interesting Movie.

    • PMINZ says:

      “Taming of the Shrew” was an interesting Movie. Hillary could not Protect 4 Americans, How would she do with Millions?

  2. saywhatyouthink says:

    “Chinese officials and state media have responded by saying that North Korea is not solely China’s responsibility, and that Beijing has limited influence with secretive leader Kim Jong Un’s hard-line communist regime”. – NK would have fallen long ago if not for the support of China. They are completely dependent on China for virtually everything. That’s why sanctions have not and will not work against NK. They understand only one thing – military force.
    As long as the US maintains 30,000 troops in South Korea, China will never allow NK to fall or reunite with SK. The last thing they want is US troops on their border. Can you blame them? Would we not do the same if Russian troops occupied parts of Canada or Mexico? We should bring our troops home, that is what prevents Korean reunification.

  3. retire says:

    We’ve have got to stop electing war-mongering presidents. None of them have the ability to win a war anyway, so what’s the point?

    • serious says:

      retire–she’s just fishing for the Noble Peace Prize. Now, isn’t that stupid–about as stupid as Obama getting it. Makes no sense. What a world.

  4. st1d says:

    “She also drew condemnation from Chinese state media last year after describing Xi as “shameless” as he prepared to speak on women’s rights at the United Nations, shortly after China detained five young feminists who’d campaigned against domestic violence.”

    islamic regimes with repressive disregard for women’s rights didn’t stop the hypocritical female felon from accepting hundreds of millions of dollars to her criminal money laundering operation in exchange for influencing u.s. policy during her tenure as secretary of state.

  5. lespark says:

    America deserves what they get if Crooked Hilliary is elected. 4 more years of morass, corruption and incompetence.

    • Boots says:

      Sure would beat if crooked Donald is elected. Here is a bum who won’t even do something tricky Dick did. Release his taxes. But I understand. His taxes would clearly show him for the fraud he is.

    • mctruck says:

      Hillary leading in every battle ground state; end story.

      Even pastor from college(Wharton) has removed support for trump; many Evangelical’s are abandoning this sexual predator. He will turn America into another Sodom.

      • sarge22 says:

        You have to be kidding. Nobody can beat the Clintons in sexual misconduct. What happened in the White House didn’t stay in the White House. Pathetic

  6. BlueDolphin53 says:

    If it weren’t for her liberal social views, I’d vote for Hillary over Trump without hesitation. These views on China/NK actually puts her in a better light. Shows me she can be tough and not just capitulate to these foreign nations.

    Good grief, this is what crazy Trump has done….make me defend Hillary!!

    • Boots says:

      Quick, get to the doctor for some meds. lol

      What liberal social views are you against? Are you really for big government telling people what they can and cannot do? Her views on China are pretty typical of our leaders be they democratic or republican. But more peaceful ways should be always be pursued and war should be resisted. I appreciated the Donald for this but sadly he undid everything when he basically said he would blow boats out of the water for giving the finger to American ships. How mature. Kinda like a teenage boy grabbing a woman’s breasts.

      • BlueDolphin53 says:

        LOL. Yes, I need them! Well, I’m one of those nasty evangelicals, so I do oppose abortion and gay marriage. Strangely though, after those two, I’m pretty much split down the middle on other issues.

        I had hopes for Trump in that I thought he would surround himself with good, smart people and take their advise, but now, I don’t think he would. I think he’d surround himself with pretty much yes men. I’m not pleased with the state of government, but I don’t think it’s time to go nuclear with Trump.

  7. PMINZ says:

    Hillary, is Not “Commander in Chief” Material remember those at Benghazi (SP?)

Leave a Reply