America’s Commitment to Asia

On March 20th, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Ed Royce (R-CA) gave an inspiring and important speech to an audience at the Heritage Foundation. The video is above and the text is HERE.

Notable was Chairman Royce's emphasis on strengthening America's economic relationships in the region. He made only passing reference to Japan and none of the US-Japan Alliance.

As Royce stated:

A fundamental restructuring of U.S. involvement in the Asia-Pacific region will resolve the endless standoff with North Korea once and for all.  India will no longer be artificially separated from the rest of Asia, and we will firmly anchor Taiwan into the global trading system.  The U.S. must take an in-depth look at its relationship with China and find a balanced approach that takes into account America’s interests while striving for a productive relationship.  Finally, we must once again make America the most attractive location to do business for the Asia-Pacific region.  Let’s get the conversation back on to economic prosperity and away from divisive nationalism.

And he ended his speech by pointing out today's political realities:

In my congressional district, for example, we have one of the highest concentrations of Asian Americans in country.  This includes Chinese Americans, Taiwanese Americans, Korean Americans, Filipino Americans – the list goes on.  In fact, there are 95 countries of origin represented within California’s 39th Congressional District.  I have long consulted with my constituents to better understand developments abroad.  Many of my constituents are active in trading and investing in Asia, which is a source of our national strength.