By Le Figaro
Posted 1 hour ago, updated 48 minutes ago
Mike Gallagher at the first hearing on national security and Chinese threats to America held by the Chinese Communist Party’s House Select Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington. ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP
At a first hearing on Tuesday, the elected Republicans and Democrats of the new parliamentary China committee agreed to counter the rise of Beijing.
The Democrat-elect and Republican-elect members of the US Congressional Committee on China, convening for the first time for a hearing on “The Chinese Communist Party’s Threat to America,” on February 28 bluntly warned of the risks Washington would face in the rise of Beijing. “It’s not a polite tennis match. It’s an existential struggle about what life will be like in the 21st century,” said Mike Gallagher, chair of the new parliamentary committee, at the introduction.
The commission, held in the presence of Hong Kong civil society members, human rights advocates and democracy activists, spent several hours discussing the diverse aspects of Chinese influence, from its use of the social network TikTok to attacks on Taiwan and the origins of Covid-19. For Mike Gallagher, policies toward Beijing “will lay the groundwork for the next hundred years over the next ten years.” “Time is not on our side,” he warned.
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consensus between Democrats and Republicans
The Wisconsin elected official particularly insisted on the need for unity between Democrats and Republicans and feared that this could be in jeopardy ahead of the 2024 presidential campaign if Republicans look to show Joe Biden “weak to China.” The committee’s Democratic co-chair, Raja Krishnamoorthi, reiterated the point, condemning the naivety of the idea that China’s economic integration “may inevitably lead to democracy.”
Those who believed so “underestimated” the Chinese government, said the Democrat-elect, who is pushing for increased US economic competitiveness to counter Chinese power. “We don’t want a war with the PRC, no cold war, no hot war,” the Illinois official-elect assured, however, “we don’t want a ‘clash of civilisations.’ But we seek lasting peace. And that’s why we have to prevent aggression.”
For his part, former Deputy National Security Advisor to Donald Trump, Matt Pottinger, present at the hearing, assessed that the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) ability to portray itself as “responsible” and “normal” is “one of the great magic tricks of modern times.” . “You could say that the CCP is the Harry Houdini of the Marxist-Leninist regimes, the David Copperfield of communism, the Criss Angel of autocracy,” he continued, but ended by claiming that “the magic is fading.”
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Tensions between Beijing and Washington
This first meeting comes amid renewed tensions between Washington and Beijing. In early February, the Pentagon warned successively of the presence of several “Chinese spy balloons” over the United States, Canada and as far north as Latin America. Republicans had stepped on the scene, criticizing the Biden administration for the lack of information given to Congress about those balloons that were eventually launched. The chairmen of the parliamentary China committee then denounced a “violation of American sovereignty”.
Also in connection with the war in Ukraine, China has repeatedly expressed its support for Moscow in the face of Western sanctions, without speaking out for or against Russia’s “special operation”. In late February, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed concerns that China was considering supplying arms to Russia, which Beijing was quick to deny.
When asked about China’s embassy by sending its balloons, former national security adviser HR McMaster, who was also present at the hearing, said he saw it as a “metaphor of massive espionage efforts” by Chinese around the world. China, on the other hand, has always categorically denied these allegations now that they are mere scientific research tools.
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