《TAIPEI TIMES》 CCP remains US’ greatest threat: US lawmaker

COALITION BUILDING: Washington should build up the resilience of ASEAN and Oceanic countries to counter China’s threats in the region, a US representative said

By Liu Tzu-hsuan / Staff reporter

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The Chinese Communist Party （CCP） remains the greatest geopolitical threat to the US, US Representative Mike Gallagher told Voice of America （VOA） in an interview published on Saturday, as Republicans and Democrats in the US Congress seek to adjust policy on China to counter its influence around the world.

US President Joe Biden’s administration is taking a kinder and more tolerant approach toward China, which “is a stupid mistake,” VOA quoted the chair of the US House of Representatives’ Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the US and the Chinese Communist Party as saying.

Since its establishment in January, the committee has published three policy recommendations on issues such as human rights in Xinjiang, Taiwan security and US-China economic relations.

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024, which Biden signed into law last month, adopted several of the committee’s recommendations, including exploring ways to expedite the delivery of Harpoon missiles to Taiwan and bolstering cybersecurity cooperation with Taipei, VOA said.

Gallagher said he was happy with the progress the committee had made, adding that it would next seek to turn its recommendations into legislation.

The economic relationship between Washington and Beijing “needs to be reset in order to serve the economic and national security interests” of the US, the committee’s latest report published on Dec. 12 said.

The flow of US capital and technology to China must not be used to support Beijing’s military expansion and human rights abuses, and Washington should bolster economic resilience with its allies, “while ensuring American leadership for decades to come,” it said.

The US “lacks a contingency plan for the economic and financial impacts” if Beijing escalates tensions in the Taiwan Strait, the report said.

The government must develop plans with its allies to “enact severe diplomatic and economic costs on the CCP” in such an event, it said.

The report also called for the US Congress to consider comprehensive bilateral trade agreements, including with Taiwan, which would help the US reduce its supply chain reliance on China, it said.

US Representative Andy Barr said that one of the committee’s priorities this year is to continue to prevent capital flows to China and respond to Chinese threats against US national security by imposing appropriate sanctions.

The US should focus on building up the resilience of ASEAN members and Oceanic countries, as China not only poses a serious threat in the Taiwan Strait, but also in the South China Sea, Barr said.

He said he would continue to keep a close eye on Beijing’s economic and military coercion against other countries.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES