WASHINGTON (AP) — A House Select Committee dedicated to countering China debuts on Tuesday. What lawmakers want is a powerful effort to overcome partisan divisions and address the “generational challenge” to America’s national security.
The chairman of the committee, Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wisconsin), said he was trying to bridge rather than capitalize on differences. One of the former Marine’s first efforts in this regard is a public hearing focused on informing Americans of what he says is a threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party.
Gallagher has a grand vision for the Chinese Communist Party’s Special Committee. He hopes to bring competing bills to their final stages over the next two years and issue a set of long-term policy recommendations. But the commission will hold its first hearings Tuesday night at prime time, so his first task will be to tell the American people what’s at stake.
“We’re setting the level here. Why should we care about the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party?” Gallagher said. “Or put another way, what has gone wrong with the Chinese Communist Party, and what needs to be fixed in order to advance a more successful and lasting strategy?”
So far, Gallagher seems to have Democratic buy-in and support. The vote to create the commission was bipartisan, 365 to 65. Opponents on the Democratic side mainly expressed concern that the commission could further escalate anti-Asian hate crimes. Stated.
“We want to lead such a human rights-focused, values-focused agenda,” Gallagher said. “And it’s also an area of solidarity for many Democrats and Republicans.”
Rep. Raja Krishnamooti (D-Illinois), a Democrat on the committee, said the CCP expects lawmakers to be “picky, divisive, and partisan.”
“At the moment, we have no choice but to try. It is very serious,” said Krishnamooti.
Another Democrat on the committee, Rep. Lo Khanna of California, said he expected Gallagher to set a sober tone.
“I hope Congress can still meet the intergenerational challenge and that will get China policy right,” Khanna said. “And there are areas where we can be bipartisan, from getting good jobs back to making sure we deter an invasion of the Taiwan Strait.”
Witnesses at Tuesday’s hearing include two former advisers to President Donald Trump: Deputy National Security Advisor Matthew, who resigned shortly after the Jan. 6, 2021 riots at the U.S. Capitol. – Pottinger. From February 2017 he served as National Security Advisor until April 2018. He is HR McMaster.
McMaster is not the first to testify about the threat he sees from China. He warned Congress that the U.S. has stuck too long on the idea that China would liberalize its economy and form of government because it was welcomed by international systems like the World Trade Organization.
He recommends that the United States not engage in trade or investments that transfer classified technology that the CCP can use to gain military and economic advantage. He testified that the United States should not do business in China in a way that would help complete a tech-enabled police state.
Chinese human rights advocate Tong Yi will amplify these concerns at the hearing. She was arrested in the 1990s after serving as an interpreter for a major dissident who urged the United States to condition deals based on China’s human rights situation. He was detained for nine months before being sentenced to a year and a half and sent to a forced labor camp.
“In the United States, we have to face the fact that we have helped feed the Chinese Communist Party’s baby dragons until they grow to what they are today,” she said in a prepared remark provided to the Associated Press. “Since the 1990s, US corporations have made their fortunes by exploiting cheap Chinese labor, and in the process, so has the Chinese Communist Party.”
Scott Paul, chairman of an alliance formed by several manufacturing companies and the National Steelworkers Union, said that “51 years of wishful thinking by American leaders” has shown that the Chinese Communist Party is “a clear and present reality for China.” They will testify that they were unable to change the dynamics that “represents the danger of American workers, our innovation platform, and our national security. “
The reaction to an alleged Chinese spy balloon in the US earlier this month shows lawmakers walking a political tightrope to prevent the commission from becoming a divisive rather than a unifying force. While highly critical of the Biden administration’s failure to shoot down the balloon, Democrats defended Biden, stressing that he followed the military’s recommendations on when to shoot it down.
Gallagher said he believes the commission has at least 10 bills that it can approve bipartisanly. Still, lawmakers will seek endorsement from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy before they can endorse the bill, he said. and that members of those committees seek a voice.
“I think we can play a constructive coordinating function among the committees and ensure that good ideas don’t disappear just because they’ve been referred to a committee rift or multiple committees.” says Gallagher.
An example of such a problem is the proposed ban on the purchase of agricultural land by entities affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party. He said about 10 bills have already been submitted to enact such a ban.
“This is a perfect example of why this committee exists. Without it, 10 individual members would work in isolation and not necessarily cooperate, so this issue would never be addressed.” It increases the possibilities,” Gallagher said.
“So, on behalf of our speakers, we will go through all these different proposals and get the members who have the bills to agree on one approach and see if we can get it through the committee process and into the floor. I can confirm,” he said.
