Mike Pence plays up his China credentials as US attention turns to 2024 presidential race
- The former American vice-president reaffirms his commitment to the Trump White House’s tough line on Beijing
- Trump says he will run for the Republican nomination but Pence has yet to say if he will mount a campaign
Former US vice-president Mike Pence has doubled down the Trump administration’s hardline approach to China, recounting exchanges with Chinese leaders in his memoirs as he weighs up a run for the presidency.
In the book So Help Me God, published on Tuesday, Pence plays up his China credentials and says he was motivated to join the Donald Trump ticket in part because of the rising threat from China.
“I’m not going to put my little boy on a bus in 10 years to go fight a war I could have helped prevent!” Pence wrote, recalling a conversation with his mother about the risk of “another cold war … on the horizon”.
In the speech, he stepped up attacks on China on multiple grounds, including accusing Beijing of interfering in the US midterm elections. He says the speech was vetted by Trump and was meant to send the “right” message to China.
Pence also tries to polish his China credentials with accounts of his brief encounters with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang.
