Guest columnist Keith Peterson: Duckworth emphasizes importance of U.S. engagement in Asia

Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth visited the Chicago Council on Global Affairs last Friday to discuss Indo-Pacific security and, of course, most of the discussion revolved around China.

Sen. Duckworth, who has been on the Armed Services Committee since 2019 and has been newly appointed to the Committee on Foreign Relations, does not advocate a decoupling from China and says that it would be a mistake to ask nations in the region to choose between the U.S. and its allies and China.

However, there is a list of things we can and are doing to enhance the U.S. presence in the region to counter China's malign behavior and these do not begin and end with an aircraft carrier.

The senator always refers to the PRC - People's Republic of China - and not China because she wants to distinguish between the government and the Chinese people, who, she notes, are among the most repressed people in the world. She also does not want to stoke anti-Asian sentiments here.

Illinois' top three products to the region are corn, soybeans and pork - none of which have national security issues attached - and our state's trade with China is approximately $15 billion a year, the equivalent of 75,000 jobs. Duckworth wants to see our trade with the overall region grow, especially "green" technologies and fuels.

However, she also advocates supply chain resilience and that means we cannot be reliant on one country - particularly China - for products. The senator points out that some of this is happening organically because labor costs in China have been steadily rising. However, building that resilience is easier said than done.

Duckworth gave the example of the Chicago-based company Radio Flyer that has made the "little red wagon" for more than a century. In 2004 it closed its Chicago factory and moved manufacturing to China, handled by a South Korean company. Radio Flyer has tried moving some manufacturing to another country such as Vietnam but the problem is there is not a complete ecosystem.

Yes, they can manufacture the wagons there, but they have to import all the packing materials - boxes, Styrofoam, paper, etc. - from China. Building complete ecosystems will take time.

In her view, political division makes it impossible to consider returning to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement. Perhaps it would be possible if it had a different name, as when NAFTA became the USMCA. That said, she thinks the Biden administration's Indo-Pacific Economic Forum has helped lower some trade barriers and China is paying attention. Still, some kind of free trade arrangement in the region would deepen economic ties.

She sees Taiwan, where she has visited, through the lens of Ukraine. The issues at the heart of the matter are the same - sovereignty, the rule of law and international order. She believes we can aid Taiwan in ways that will not provoke the PRC. For example, the National Guard forces in every state train with a different country. Illinois Guard personnel have trained with Polish troops for 30 years.

If there is one thing that keeps her awake it was exemplified by the recent shoot-down of the Chinese surveillance balloon. When our military tried to call PRC military leaders to de-conflict the situation, no one picked up the phone. That is dangerous and irresponsible. In contrast, when a Russian aircraft collided with our drone over the Black Sea, American and Russian generals spoke.

She has traveled extensively in the region and makes it a point to always travel with a Republican colleague to make the visits bipartisan. In their discussions with officials from Asian nations they have been told that a robustly engaged America is very much wanted in the region. It is in America's interest to do just that.

• Keith Peterson, of Lake Barrington, served 29 years as a press and cultural officer for the United States Information Agency and Department of State. He was chief editorial writer of the Daily Herald 1984-86.