The Republican led House of Representatives voted to establish an Anti-CCP Select Committee on Tuesday in an effort to tackle military, economic, and technological challenges posed by China.
The committee will be chaired by Wisconsin Congressman Rep. Mike Gallagher, a vocal critic of the Chinese Communist Party. The House voted in a bipartisan agreement, 365-65 to establish the panel.
“Here’s the good news: There is bipartisan consensus that the era of trusting communist China is over,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said.
The establishment of this committee was the second measure passed by the Republican-led House.
National Security experts had expressed concerns about China being the most significant long-term threat to the United States under both Trump and Biden administrations. The formation of this committee comes as China has threatened to invade Taiwan.
The Chinese military launched a mass-scale sea and air combat exercise near Taiwan on Sunday. This fueled speculation about Beijing’s intention to invade Taiwan.
Congress had recently authorized billions in military aid for Taiwan in response to the Chinese Military’s recent behavior.
Rep. Gallagher’s plan for the Select Committee is to make the United States independent of its trade and economic dependence on China, increase the US military’s aid to Taiwan, and eliminate the theft of American intellectual property by China.
“It is time to understand the urgency of the threat. It is time to reclaim our economic independence in key areas,” Gallagher said. “The select committee will expose the [Chinese Communist Party]’s coordinated whole-of-society strategy to undermine American leadership and American sovereignty while working on a bipartisan basis … to identify long-overdue, commonsense approaches to counter CCP aggression.”
Rep. Gallagher is seeking bipartisan consensus on China, with hopes of putting party lines to the side and working together to “prevent World War III from breaking out” and “to win this new Cold War with Communist China.”
Rep. Gallagher on the resolution to create a Select Committee on the CCP: "I stress working on a bipartisan basis…The CCP does not pose a danger to just Republicans or Democrats – it seeks to harm all Americans. And we are going to counter this danger with a united front." pic.twitter.com/e0v70CkOZ5
— Rep. Gallagher Press Office (@RepGallagher) January 10, 2023
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