It's safe to say that when Secretary of State Marco Rubio talks, people listen — including President Donald Trump. It's also safe to say that Rubio — dubbed "Little Marco" by Trump during the 2016 Republican presidential primaries — has become one of the 47th president's most trusted advisors, for good reason.
This article is a perfect example.
As the "rise" of Communist China continues, it can't be stressed enough that Beijing seeks world dominance, not necessarily by military means, but economically, without a doubt. And as we continue to see, the ChiComs continue their relentless military buildup, which includes their nuclear capabilities, as if to declare, at some point in the future: "We're going to do whatever we choose; try to stop us."
On Friday, Rubio went bottom-line as he warned that China's "rapid" nuclear buildup is making the United States "less safe," and recommended a strong response to the unsettling reality.
Writing on the State Department's Substack page, Rubio warned — under the headline, The Next Era of Nuclear Arms Control:
During the Cold War, few negotiations proved as complex as those between the United States and the Soviet Union to limit and reduce their vast nuclear arsenals. They required trust between adversaries who had little reason to believe each other’s words, and they relied on intricate, constant systems to verify compliance. American statesmen persevered and reached a series of agreements first with the Soviet Union and then the Russian Federation that left the United States safer.
That reality is the crux of such matters, isn't it? "Trust between adversaries who had little reason to believe each other’s words." Easy to say, much harder to build such trust.
Rubio continued, referencing China's buildup:
A treaty requires at least two parties, and the choice before the United States was to bind itself unilaterally or to recognize that a new era requires a new approach. Not the same old START [Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty], but something new. A treaty that reflects that the United States could soon face not one, but two, nuclear peers in Russia and China.
Is there any doubt? China's global ambitions are evident, virtually everywhere around the globe.
Beijing's global ambitions, clearly coordinated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), are designed to displace American power, export techno-authoritarianism, and build a new world order that's far safer for dictatorships and far more difficult for free societies.
This is not hard to understand; yet the stark reality is far too often pushed to the back burner, if not ignored.
To put things into perspective, according to Rubio, China’s nuclear arsenal has almost tripled since 2020, climbing from the low 200s to nearly 600 warheads, and is on track to exceed 1,000 by 2030.
That, America, is a serious reality that the U.S. is going to have to face in the future — one way or another — regardless of one's political proclivities.
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As if "we" need to wake up even more, Rubio continued:
China’s rapid and opaque expansion of its nuclear arsenal since New START entered into force has rendered past models of arms control, based upon bilateral agreements between the United States and Russia, obsolete. An arms control arrangement that does not account for China’s build-up, which Russia is supporting, will undoubtedly leave the United States and our allies less safe.
Sounds like a proverbial no-brainer, doesn't it? The problem is, of course, that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, far too often, appear to be brainless in such matters.
A Few Final Thoughts
For far too long, lawmakers and presidents — on both sides — have relied way too much on "positive," "productive," meeting or phone calls with the likes of communist dictators like Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, and North Korea's Kim Jong Un, all of whom are well-adept at mouthing words — while lying their butts off — that U.S. political figures want to hear. And don't even get me started on Islamists in Iran.
The problem? Words without relevant actions to back up promises and pledges are far too often worse than no words at all.
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