Republican debaters must address ‘new Cold War’ with China: lawmaker
WASHINGTON — Rising tensions between the US and China are widely considered the top threat to America’s national security, but the issue got very little airtime during the first Republican presidential debate last month.
Ahead of Wednesday night’s second face-off, Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) told The Post he hopes to see the potential 2024 GOP nominees “make a pitch to the American people about how and why we must win the ‘New Cold War’ with China.”
“I think the candidates, to pass the commander-in-chief test, — given that it’s at the Reagan [Presidential] Library — just need to communicate in clear and candid terms the nature of the threat we face from the Chinese Communist Party — and why Americans should care,” said the chairman of the House Select Committee on the CCP.
“Maybe add in a sense of Reagan optimism of why we deserve to win because we’re the good guys,” Gallagher added.
During the Aug. 23 debate, Fox News hosts Martha MacCallum and Bret Baier asked just one question on China — though the eight participants mentioned the US adversary approximately 40 times, according to a transcript.
“The one China question went to [Doug] Burgum, which was a good answer, but it was short-lived,” Gallagher said. “To the extent that there was anything in foreign policy, it was Ukraine and the [US] southern border.”
“So I’m hoping if nothing else, there’ll be a more fulsome debate on China,” he added.
Gallagher said the US needs a president with a plan to take on Beijing at a time when Chinese President Xi Jinping aims to overthrow America as the global superpower.
“The conventional wisdom is that foreign policy doesn’t matter in an election, at least politically,” he said. “I disagree with that when it comes to China.”
Gallagher added he would like to see the candidates face questions that he says are relevant to US national security, the economy and the CCP’s growing influence.
“The most obvious is questions about whether we should defend Taiwan and how we can rebuild our military in order to make that defense practical and solve the recruiting crisis,” he said, referencing warnings from military leaders that China could be ready to invade the self-governing island as soon as 2027, which would trigger a US military response under federal law.
Xi has made so-called “reunification” with Taiwan his top priority, which would have serious consequences for the world economy since Beijing would commandeer the Taiwan Strait — through which half of the world’s shipping container fleet passes each year.
It would also grant China authority over the island’s semiconductor production industry, the products of which are used in everything from cellphones to US missiles and military aircraft.
On the economy, Gallagher said he hopes to see candidates discuss a recent Biden administration decision to place guardrails on outbound cash flows to China, which have received a mixed reaction among Republicans in Congress.
“Some Republicans are more sympathetic to, you know, the Wall Street view, which is that there shouldn’t be controls,” he said. “And then there’s some who say the Biden administration executive order doesn’t go far enough — I’m in the latter half.”
Additionally, the chairman would like to hear the candidates’ positions on banning the CCP-linked app TikTok in the US.
The Trump administration tried to outlaw its use in 2020, and the topic has been hotly debated since.
“In my opinion, TikTok is on a path to becoming one of the most dominant media companies in America, and we have to ask ourselves the question of whether we want to allow a Chinese-controlled app to be the dominant media platform in America,” Gallagher said. “Of course, there’s differences on the stage on that issue, and so I think that would be a productive debate.”
For example, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy seemingly reversed his opinions about the app, becoming the first 2024 candidate to join the platform earlier this month — after previously accusing TikTok of pushing “digital fentanyl” and calling for it to be banned nationwide for its propensity to enable Beijing to spy on Americans.
“We’re in this to reach young people, to energize young people, and to do that, we can’t just hide,” Ramaswamy said in his first post on the platform, explaining why he’d joined. “You can’t play in the game, and then not play in the game, so we’re here.”
Gallagher said former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis stood out in the last debate for their stances on foreign policy, and said he wants to hear more from them Wednesday night.
“As a veteran, I think [DeSantis] has a real opportunity to kind of talk about his own experience and the need to rebuild the military in general and the Navy in particular to counter a rising China,” he said. “Nikki Haley has been good on China too, and obviously has experience dealing with China” from her stint as ambassador to the United Nations.
“So, I think those are two candidates who have an opportunity to distinguish themselves tonight.”
