Rep. Neal Dunn, R-Fla., warned of the Chinese Communist Party's threats in the Pacific during a trip to Australia to strengthen the AUKUS Partnership. Rep. Dunn was joined by Chairman of the Select Committee on the CCP, Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis.; Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va.; and Rep. Aunmua Amata Coleman Radewagen, R- American Samoa, who made statements in an Aug. 15 news release.
"Anyone who doesn’t see the growing threat presented by the CCP should pull their heads out of the sand," Dunn said in the release. "The CCP’s influence and stronghold on the Pacific will continue to spread until it’s too late to rein in. Our friends in Australia recognize this and want to work with us to secure the Pacific."
Gallagher spoke with ABC Australia about the U.S.-Australia partnership and the continual rising threats of the CCP in the Pacific, the release reported. Gallagher emphasized the importance of the AUKUS (Australia, United Kingdom, United States) relationship.
"Freedom has never been cheap and most members of Congress understand that it is much better to settle the bill in dollars than in lives," Gallagher said in his keynote address to the Australian American Leadership Dialogue, the release reported. "There is no choice between fulfilling our Navy’s requirements and delivering subs for Australia. We can and must do both.”
In his extended remarks, Gallagher said, "the CCP may be a fearsome Great White, cruising the ocean depths solo, but they fear AUKUS, the strength of which is in our partnerships, in our cunning and in our coordination."
“AUKUS sent a strong and timely signal of commitment to the Pacific," Radewagen said in the release. "It’s important to our friends throughout the Pacific Islands to fully see this resolve through, with its emphasis on regionwide stability. It’s an honor to represent American Samoa, a small but strategic U.S. territory in the South Pacific, as the U.S. works with allies to secure peace and commerce, and we support these priorities in Congress."
In a July hearing, Ely Ratner, assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, testified before the Select Committee on the CCP, according to a July 20 Department of Defense release.
"The U.S. military is the most capable and credible fighting force in the world, and for decades that basic fact has formed the heart of deterrence throughout the Indo-Pacific," Ratner said in the release.
Ratner warned the CCP is attempting to surpass the U.S., and the DoD is investing in "new force posture initiatives" with allies in the Indo-Pacific. In Australia, Ratner said the U.S. has increased bombers and fighters at Australian military bases.
