The Pennsylvania Republican made the remarks Friday at the Hudson Institute in Washington during a discussion with Mike Gallagher, a former chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.
“And you’re in marital counseling, but you’re not getting divorced,” McCormick said.
Recently returned from visits to Japan and South Korea, McCormick acknowledged that recalibrating the relationships had caused bruised feelings and friction. He compared the process to a marriage in which one partner tells the other that existing arrangements are no longer working and adjustments are necessary.
Washington needed greater contributions from its Asian allies, he said, arguing that they recognized the imbalance and were moving toward deeper and stronger relationships.
McCormick pointed to Japan’s $550 billion and South Korea’s $350 billion investment commitments as evidence of closer cooperation. He said discussions during his trip centered on how to deploy the capital to benefit the investing countries, their companies and the United States.
He also cited South Korea’s proposed record defense budget and commitment to purchase $25 billion in U.S. military equipment. Those contributions remained short of what was needed but were moving toward a more appropriate share of the defense burden, he said.
During his South Korea visit, McCormick toured the Demilitarized Zone and a Hanwha shipyard. He highlighted Hanwha’s investment in Philadelphia as an example of how allied capital and expertise could help rebuild U.S. industrial capacity.
The broader objective, he said, was for the United States and its allies to innovate faster than China, sustain greater defense production and strengthen their ability to train, plan and fight together.
Such cooperation would help deter Beijing from military action across the Taiwan Strait, he argued.
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