Senator Tom Cotton
Appearances
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2140 - Trump & Vance WRECK Europe
Ben, China's ultimate goal is to replace America as the world's dominant economic and military superpower and to call the shots in the world, make everyone dance to their tune. They've been open about this at times like during President Trump's first term on a state visit.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2140 - Trump & Vance WRECK Europe
telling his senior aides that they view a future in which America is basically a low cost commodity exporter to China that will provide them cheap oil and cheap agricultural products and that's about it. And that's why you've seen them undertake this breathtaking military buildup over the last 25 years.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2140 - Trump & Vance WRECK Europe
So they now have the world's largest military by far and the second most technologically capable military after ours. That's why they take such aggressive economic actions to try to benefit their companies and try to harm our companies. and why they're so aggressive towards Taiwan, which is really the linchpin of China's strategy.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2140 - Trump & Vance WRECK Europe
They know that they can't achieve their goals without taking Taiwan. But if they take Taiwan, they're on the precipice of achieving those goals.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2140 - Trump & Vance WRECK Europe
Both would be very worrisome. Any kind of conflict over Taiwan would be devastating, Ben. It would probably lead to an immediate global depression that would wipe out the life savings of many Americans in the stock market, lead to mass unemployment, shortages on the shelves of American stores.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2140 - Trump & Vance WRECK Europe
And part of that reason, as you say, is that Taiwan is the source of more than 60% of all global semiconductor manufacturing, more than 90% of advanced semiconductor manufacturing. It's also that you could expect a complete breakdown of economic ties between China and the United States and the West.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2140 - Trump & Vance WRECK Europe
Unfortunately, we've allowed those ties to grow very deep and therefore we're very dependent on China. So even if there were a conflict that were inconclusive, that reached a stalemate, you would still see, again, an almost immediate global depression that would be devastating for Americans.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2140 - Trump & Vance WRECK Europe
That's why the only way to prevail in a conflict with Taiwan is to prevent it from happening in the first place, to be strong and confident in the defense of a democratic partner and make it clear to communist China, as we have for a long time, that we will not tolerate any unilateral attempts to invade and annex Taiwan to the mainland.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2140 - Trump & Vance WRECK Europe
Well, it does get back to Taiwan. I mean, Douglas MacArthur said in 1950 that if Taiwan were to fall into the hands of a hostile power, it would be a disaster of utmost importance for the United States. Partly it's because of their centrality in the global semiconductor manufacturing chain, but also it's because of their strategic position.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2140 - Trump & Vance WRECK Europe
It's not Hong Kong, it's not Tibet, places where China has also committed egregious crimes. By taking Taiwan, it would turn the so-called first island chain, which goes from Japan to Taiwan to the Philippines, from an obstacle to Chinese ambitions to a springboard. They would have what MacArthur called the unsinkable aircraft carrier and submarine tender.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2140 - Trump & Vance WRECK Europe
That would also lead a lot of our friends in the region to start seeking accommodations with China, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia. You'd probably see widespread nuclear proliferation as countries like Japan and South Korea and others start getting nuclear weapons as well, destabilizing the world.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2140 - Trump & Vance WRECK Europe
And you'd see China trying to undermine American influence everywhere, showing other countries that they can walk in and take over a democratic land like Taiwan and that all countries everywhere should start seeking those kind of accommodations with China.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2140 - Trump & Vance WRECK Europe
And that ultimately China would achieve its goal, again, of making us kind of an island on the edge of the world, as Henry Kissinger warned about. So a place where. And here in the new world, we are limited. We're not allowed to trade with China's partners. We're not allowed to invest or get investment from them. And that China really would call the shots.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2140 - Trump & Vance WRECK Europe
So it does get back to Taiwan and the central strategic place that Taiwan plays, not just for China, but for the entire world.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2140 - Trump & Vance WRECK Europe
Yeah, I think that's exactly right, Ben, is that China does have a lot of domestic internal problems like the one child policy, which resulted in more than 300 million forced abortions. has turned their demographics upside down. They have a lot of economic problems. But at the moment, they probably closed the gap as much as they're going to or close to as much as they are with the United States.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2140 - Trump & Vance WRECK Europe
And you can kind of look down at projected investments in our military, for instance, or economic growth, and maybe see that gap widening again in another 10, 15, 20 years. But in the moment, China may perceive itself as both best positioned and
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2140 - Trump & Vance WRECK Europe
in terms of its own power and its future relative power to the United States to actually go for the jugular in Taiwan, try to create a fait accompli, and then use that success if we allow it to address some of the problems that they have internally.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2140 - Trump & Vance WRECK Europe
Yeah, because China has waged this economic world war and especially against the United States and stole so much of our wealth and built up their economy, it gives them tremendous influence in the United States. I write in the book that you haven't seen a movie with a Chinese villain in a very long time. That's because all those movie studios depend on access to the Chinese movie market.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2140 - Trump & Vance WRECK Europe
Also, every major news network besides Fox News is owned or affiliated with one of those movie studios. And is it any surprise that Fox News is the toughest network on China that does the most hard hitting reporting about China? I don't think so. Consider what happened in the NBA. It's probably China's their biggest overseas market.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2140 - Trump & Vance WRECK Europe
You had the general manager of the Houston Rockets merely posting a symbol on social media saying he supported Hong Kongers fighting for their freedom. And China took Houston Rockets TVs off or games off their streaming services, took their merchandise out of stores. You had NBA players like LeBron James and Stephen Kerr cracking down on the GM of the Rockets.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2140 - Trump & Vance WRECK Europe
Or just look at what happened to me five years ago when I first said this week, five years ago, that the coronavirus pandemic might have come from that lab, not from a food market. I expected Chinese communist officials to criticize me, but I also had American elites coming down on me, calling me a conspiracy theorist at The Washington Post and The New York Times and CNN and so forth.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2140 - Trump & Vance WRECK Europe
So China has built up a large influence network throughout our society and our government of people who are ready to man the ramparts and defend China. It's not just traditional spies and espionage. It's this massive degree of influence they have in every corner of American society.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2140 - Trump & Vance WRECK Europe
Well, so Taiwan has been increasing its spending on its military, not fast enough, in my opinion, and not necessarily on the right things. They need to be singularly focused on adding more and more time to the amount of time it would take communist China to subdue the island so other friendly nations can come to its aid. What are the things that we can do?
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2140 - Trump & Vance WRECK Europe
We need to make sure that we significantly increased our munitions manufacturing capability. We've seen in Ukraine and in the war in Gaza against Hamas that we're strained in what we can provide to our allies. We need that capability to build up here in America so we can support our allies and defend our interest in the Western Pacific.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2140 - Trump & Vance WRECK Europe
We need to invest in shipbuilding so we have a navy that can actually deter Chinese aggression. We need to be buying more stealth bombers and stealth fighters to do the same. Our army needs more air and missile defenses and long-range strike capabilities so they can defend our positions in the Western Pacific. Here's what we can do domestically.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2140 - Trump & Vance WRECK Europe
One of the reasons I wrote Seven Things You Can't Say About China is I want to ring the alarm bell. Most Americans have a justly low opinion of communist China, but there's still a lot they don't know, in part because a lot of our elites don't want to say it. But I wanted to ring the alarm to make it clear the extent of Chinese influence in this country. So I'd encourage
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2140 - Trump & Vance WRECK Europe
all of your audience, not just to get the book, but stay informed after the book is published and you've read it about what's happening with China, what they're doing in America. Tell your friends, tell your kids about things like TikTok or the curriculum they may have in schools. Do everything you can to hold China accountable.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2140 - Trump & Vance WRECK Europe
That's what I'm going to do as a senator, but you can do a lot too as a normal American citizen.