Larus Comments on China’s Cable Cutters for Times Now India

Professor Emerita of Political Science and International Affairs and Nonresident Fellow at the Atlantic Council Indo-Pacific Strategic Initiative Elizabeth Freund Larus commented on Times Now India’s “News Hour” talk show on China’s new deep sea cable cutter technology. Professor Larus indicated that China’s new deep sea cable cutter is likely responsible for severing one of Taiwan’s undersea cables. China is proud of the technological advances that have made that country a peer maritime competitor with the United States but employs plausible deniability to shield itself from culpability. She also indicated that a series of cable cuttings near Taiwan is part of China’s gray zone tactics that are aggressive but short of war. See more.

Other recent media mentions for Larus include:

Trump’s midnight tariffs spark global reaction and warning (WION News)
Larus commented that President Trump’s early April 2025 tariffs are not only intended to bring manufacturing back to the United States but are also intended to prevent China from merely moving operations to neighboring countries, such as Vietnam, to circumvent the tariffs. https://www.nwitimes.com/partners/video-elephant/news/video_5dd2714b-c308-5e26-9a78-7252986829ce.html

Israel Strikes Lebanon After Rocket Attack; Lebanon Warns Against New War (NewsX World)
Larus commented that President Trump indicated that the his administration’s deportation of members and alleged members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua criminal gang without being charged with a crime raises a host of legal questions. See more.

US-China tariff war: China says it will ‘ignore’ further hikes, moves WTO on violations (WION News)
Larus commented on the U.S.-China tariff war, indicating that U.S.-China trade is heading for rough seas not just for trade in goods but also in services, commenting that China and the United States have worked each other into respective corners. President Trump had campaigned in 2016 and 2024 against China in a policy of “ChinaPrima.” Although he imposed a moratorium on tariff hikes with other countries, he has held fast with China. Trump is trying to bring Beijing to the table after years of promise fatigue in which China fails to follow through on market-oriented economic reform. At the same time, China’s leader Xi Jinping, who projects China as a peer superpower, cannot appear as backing down. Larus also indicated that despite outreach from Spain and Germany to China, most European countries will not dramatically strengthen economic relations with China because they are suffering from the same promise fatigue. https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/world/us-china-tariff-war-china-says-it-will-ignore-further-hikes-moves-wto-on-violations/vi-AA1CKE5p