Today, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul gave the following remarks at a full committee hearing on combatting the generational challenge of CCP aggression.
There is no doubt that the growing aggression of the Chinese Communist Party poses a generational threat to the United States.
From using a spy balloon to surveil some of America’s most sensitive military sites, to their theft of upwards of …$600 billion dollars of American IP every year, much of which goes into their military, to their continued military aggression and expansion in the Indo-Pacific.
And now, CIA Director Burns has recently stated U.S. intelligence has reason to believe China is considering sending weapons, lethal weapons, to Russia. All of this ahead of the upcoming meeting between Chairman Xi and Putin next week – where they will surely strengthen their unholy alliance.
We are living through one of the most dangerous periods in American foreign policy in a generation.
It is a struggle for the global balance of power. And the primary battleground is technology leadership.
This is an issue Congress – and this administration – cannot ignore. I commended the administration for their recent export control rules on semiconductors and semiconductor equipment. And I look forward to hearing the details about your work with the Dutch and Japanese to harmonize these controls.
But, I am concerned the administration’s efforts aren’t as all-encompassing as they should be.
Congress authorized the Bureau of Industry and Security with expansive powers to stop the transfer of dual-use technology that the CCP is using to build their military.
Yet, overwhelmingly, BIS continues to grant licenses that allow critical U.S. technology to be sold to our adversaries – even those it’s designated as threats to national security. In just one recent six-month time period, BIS approved licenses worth $60 billion to Huawei and $40 billion to SMIC, their semi-conductor company.
Both of these companies are military companies for the CCP. And both are listed on the Entities List.
If BIS continues to mindlessly green light sensitive technology sales, the CCP has proven they will use our own inventions against us.
Look no further than the recent spy balloon that the administration allowed to fly across much of the continental United States. It has been reported western-made components were found in this balloon.
That is on top of their recent hypersonic missile test, which circled the globe and landed with precision. This was only possible through U.S. technology that was sold to them.
This should be a wakeup call to all Americans.
I stand ready to work with the administration and with the Democrats on this panel to strengthen our export controls system where needed. And why I launched a 90-day review of BIS.
We are also falling behind on the ideological battlefield.
Congress appropriated $325 million to the State Department to counter [the] CCP’s malign influence around the world.
But, instead, that money was used to fund bakeries in Tunisia and electric vehicle charging stations in Vietnam.
And at the same time, the CCP continues to invest large amounts of money in developing countries – building bridges, roads, ports, and energy infrastructure. All the while, growing their influence over the people in these developing nations.
Both USAID and the Development Finance Corporation play key roles in developing lasting partnerships and long-term development and trade with other countries.
Every day, we should make sure people around the world know that our aid is NOT the debt-trap diplomacy that the CCP uses to exploit developing countries.
But we are not succeeding. Of the 6.3 billion people living in developing countries, about seventy percent have a positive view of both China and Russia. Seventy percent.
All the while, the threat against Taiwan grows every day. Yet, arms sales to Taiwan – those that the Ranking Member and I signed off on nearly four years ago – have yet to be delivered. Despite the administration admitting Taiwan is facing an imminent threat from the CCP.
We must strengthen Taiwan’s defenses through weapons and training. We will not tolerate any attempts to delay notifications to Congress of arms sales to Taiwan.
But it’s not too late to reverse this trend.
As the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, it is my priority to make sure Congress and this administration are working together – in a bipartisan fashion – to confront this generational threat.
That starts with ensuring we are using the tools we have on the books – like export controls – to constrain the CCP’s military and surveillance systems. And I stand ready to work with the administration and those on the other side of the aisle to strengthen our export controls system where needed.
We need tough diplomacy and real actions to keep critical technologies and manufacturing capabilities out of the grip of our adversaries.
So, I look forward to hearing from each of you [about] what you are doing to address the China challenge – and what steps you are taking to dramatically shift your agencies’ priorities to meet this challenge head on.
From what I have seen over the last two years, much more is needed.
It’s time we move beyond the false belief that the CCP will ever deal in good faith. Time and again they do not stand behind their commitments. The CCP is acting in their own interest, it’s time we start protecting ours.
Original source can be found here.
