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  • On this episode of China Uncensored,

  • how would President Hillary Clinton handle the South China Sea dispute?

  • Hi, welcome to China Uncensored.

  • I’m your host Chris Chappell.

  • The South China Sea.

  • $5 trillion dollars worth of shipping goes through here every year.

  • Seven countries have competing claims,

  • but China is taking its claims the furthest.

  • It’s been rapidly building facilities on disputed reefs.

  • Basically, China has a Charmander with 2,000 Combat Points

  • sitting atop the world’s most contested Pokemon Gym.

  • So will team blue dare to challenge team red?

  • Well, that may depend on who the next president is.

  • In this two-part series,

  • I’m joined by senior America correspondent, Matt Gnaizda.

  • On today’s episode, Hillary Clinton.

  • Thanks for joining us, Matt.

  • Hi Chris.

  • If Hillary Clinton becomes the next US president,

  • how would she handle the South China Sea dispute?

  • Hillary Clinton has been accused of many things, Chris.

  • But one of them that’s hard to dispute is that she’s firmly status quo.

  • Meaning?

  • She wants things to get better,

  • but still pretty much within the same framework as before.

  • Except, obviously, with herself as president.

  • So what does this mean for the South China Sea?

  • Clinton has been involved in the South China Sea since ancient times, Chris.

  • Back in 2009, her first overseas trip as Secretary of State was to Asia.

  • She made 61 more visits to Asian countries after that.

  • That’s way more than average.

  • And one of her key missions

  • was building an alliance among Asian countries to counterbalance China.

  • Like the Trans Pacific Partnership?

  • Yeah, that’s one of them.

  • The TPP is an economic agreement among 10 countries,

  • half of them in Asia,

  • but none of them are China.

  • If it gets ratified,

  • it will boost trade between the US and a bunch of countries...

  • that are not China.

  • In other words,

  • big businesses would be able get their stuff made

  • in other third-world countries for cheap.

  • Don't be so cynical, Chris...

  • even though that's completely true.

  • Ok, but what about China’s military buildup in the South China Sea?

  • Well, Clinton helped Obama design the so-calledPivot to Asia

  • a term she accidentally coined in 2011.

  • It’s a way of shifting US attention to Asia,

  • with the not-so-secret mission of containing China and North Korea.

  • And what was Clinton’s play here?

  • First, building diplomatic guanxirelationships.

  • She spent much of her four years as Secretary of State

  • building relationships with other Asian countries,

  • letting them know the US is their friend,

  • and friends stand together against an encroaching China.

  • And second, backing it up with a strong military presence.

  • The US spends about $6 billion dollars a year to maintain

  • 80,000 troops and more than 100 military installations

  • in Japan and South Korea.

  • Plus the US has military agreements with

  • the Philippines, Singapore, and others in the region.

  • So under President Clinton,

  • it would be like the US knocks on China’s door

  • to ask for a peaceful relationship,

  • while standing behind her

  • is an entourage consisting of pretty much everyone else in the region.

  • Right.

  • But she absolutely does not want a war,

  • and I think she’d avoid that at all costs.

  • But China is already sort of at war with the US.

  • China has thousands of spies,

  • theyve hacked into US infrastructure,

  • they know US military secrets.

  • Exactly.

  • Now, I don’t doubt that US could beat the Chinese military

  • in any boots-on-the-ground conflict.

  • Mmm, America.

  • But war isn’t about who can kill more people.

  • It’s about who can make the other side give in first.

  • And China’s spies and hacking you mentioned

  • could devastate the US in ways that are hard to fathom.

  • So, Clinton doesn’t want the kind of war where China pulls out all the stops.

  • So how can she prevent war?

  • Well I think she’s willing to work closely with China

  • no matter how anti-China

  • her campaign rhetoric may sound from now till November.

  • Look, in 2008, Senator Clinton said

  • President Bush should boycott the Beijing Olympics

  • because of China’s human rights problems.

  • But then in 2011, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

  • was eager to show up at China’s Shanghai Expo.

  • She even helped raise money for the American Pavilion there.

  • Are you saying she’s a hypocrite?

  • I’m saying she’s a politician.

  • And she would be the kind of president

  • who does whatever it takes to protect US interests in the region,

  • whether that means being best buddies with China’s dictators,

  • or punching them in the mouth.

  • Or some awkward combination of both.

  • And what about Donald Trump?

  • Well, I’ll have to think about that.

  • Probably that’s a whole other episode, Chris.

  • I think youre right.

  • So for more, click here for our next episode,

  • How Would President Trump Handle the South China Sea?”

  • And tell me what you think Hillary Clinton would do, if elected,

  • to preserve US interests in the South China Sea.

  • Leave your totally unbiased political comments below.

  • Thanks for watching this episode of China Uncensored.

  • I’m Chris Chappell. See you next time.

On this episode of China Uncensored,

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