White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows on Monday said that the United States military will continue to “stand strong” with India in its border dispute with China.
Meadows was asked why two US aircraft carriers were conducting exercises in the disputed South China Sea and what their mission was. “The message is clear,” he told Fox News. “We’re not going to stand by and let China or anyone else take the reins in terms of being the most powerful, dominant force, whether it’s in that region or over here.”
The USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan were carrying out operations and exercises in the South China Sea last week.
On the border clashes between India and China, the White House official said: “Our military might stands strong and will continue to stand strong, whether it’s in relationship to a conflict between India and China or anywhere else.”
Meadows also said the Donald Trump administration is considering several executive orders targeting China, according to Reuters. “It’s dealing with a number of executive orders that may go all the way from dealing with some of the immigration issues that we have before us, to some of the manufacturing and jobs issues that are before us, and ultimately dealing with China, in what we need to do there in terms of resetting that balance,” Meadows said.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the United States is “certainly looking at” banning Chinese social media apps in the country, including popular video sharing application TikTok. “I don’t want to get out in front of the President (Donald Trump), but it’s something we’re looking at,” Pompeo said.
Last month, India banned 59 mobile applications, including TikTok, which have Chinese links, as diplomatic relations between India and China plummeted after a violent clash on the Line of Actual Control.
On Monday, India and China had pulled back troops from the site of the June 15 clashes at Galwan Valley in Ladakh, which claimed the lives of at least 20 Indian personnel in the worst violence on the border since 1975. While China also lost personnel, it has not yet given figures. A buffer zone has been reportedly created between the soldiers of both countries.
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