House China Committee Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-WI) characterized U.S. relations with China as an “existential struggle” during his opening remarks for the panel’s first prime-time hearing.
Striking an urgent tone, Gallagher dismissed the notion that China is merely a strategic competitor and contended that the “future we want for our children” is at stake and fundamental freedoms are in peril if the United States doesn’t properly calibrate its approach to Beijing
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CHINA IN THE SPOTLIGHT: HOUSE TO HEAR IN PRIME TIME ABOUT ‘COMMUNIST PARTY’S THREAT TO AMERICA’
“We may call this a ‘strategic competition,’ but this is not a polite tennis match. This is an existential struggle over what life will look like in the 21st century — and the most fundamental freedoms are at stake,” Gallagher said during his opening remarks.
One of China’s main trump cards against the U.S. is its strategy of “pitting Americans, who they believe are greedy and factional, against each other to undermine our country,” Gallagher said, according to his prepared remarks.
“This strategy has worked well in the past, and the CCP is confident it will work again. Our task is to ensure that it does not,” he added. “Time is not on our side. Just because this Congress is divided, we cannot afford to waste the next two years lingering in legislative limbo or pandering for the press.”
Gallagher also warned that China is “laser-focused on its vision for the future–a world crowded with techno-totalitarian surveillance states.” In this version of the world, human rights will take a backseat, he added.
He further argued that in recent history, the U.S. has been naive about China’s true ambitions, trying “to win the CCP over with honey,” believing that economic engagement would lead to reforms in China.
“We were wrong. The CCP laughed at our naivete while they took advantage of our good faith. But the era of wishful thinking is over. The Select Committee will not allow the CCP to lull us into complacency or maneuver us into submission,” he said.
Tensions have been icy with China over recent weeks following a suspected spy balloon penetrating U.S. airspace earlier this month and revived questions about the origins of the COVID-19 respiratory illness.
Despite the frayed relations, Gallagher underscored the distinction between the Chinese Communist Party and everyday people in China.
“This should remind us that this committee must constantly distinguish between the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese people themselves, who have always been the Party’s primary victims,” he said.
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The committee is expected to focus on a bevy of pressing issues during the course of its work, such as relations with Taiwan, Chinese undercutting of U.S. manufacturing, human rights concerns in China, and more.
The China panel’s s first-ever prime-time hearing is set to feature remarks from Matthew Pottinger, a former National Security Council official; H.R. McMaster, onetime national security adviser to former President Donald Trump; Tong Yi, a Chinese human rights advocate; and Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing.
