Washington: In a divided US House of Representatives simply rising from a bruising election for the speaker, Republicans and Democrats got here collectively on Tuesday to vote on the one problem that unites the American political class: China.

With 365 votes for and 65 in opposition to, the House on Tuesday created a brand new choose committee to evaluate and examine the multi-dimensional political, safety, technological, financial and strategic menace from China to American pursuits and make suggestions to cease it.

China hawk Mike Gallagher, a Republican consultant from Wisconsin (R-WI), will chair the committee. Earlier, he was a Republican member within the House Armed Services Committee.

“The greatest threat to the United States is the Chinese Communist Party. The CCP continues to commit genocide, obscure the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, steal hundreds of billions of dollars worth of intellectual property, and threaten Taiwan. The Select Committee on China will push back on a bipartisan basis before it’s too late,” Gallagher mentioned.

The committee can have 9 Republicans and 7 Democrats. But a phase of Democrats belonging to the progressive caucus opposed the formation of the committee.

McCarthy’s bipartisan thrust

“This will be a bipartisan committee…it is my hope, my desire, my wish that we speak with one voice, that we focus on the challenges we have. How do we bring our jobs back from China to America? How do we secure our intellectual property? How do we make sure our farmland is protected? All of that will be brought up in the committee,” newly elected Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) mentioned on the ground of the House.

McCarthy mentioned that the menace was “too great” to be bickering amongst themselves.

“I have heard my colleagues from both sides that the threat posed by communist China is serious. I fully agree. This is an issue that transcends our political parties. Creating the select committee on China is our best avenue for addressing it.”

He mentioned that the committee would work on in direction of ending US dependence on China, defending its nationwide safety, stopping the “theft of intellectual property”, and bringing provide chains again. It would additionally work in direction of stopping Chinese propaganda in colleges and its lobbying efforts in Washington, in addition to the CCP shopping for up American farmlands.

“But to stop it with one voice. It is not one party saying it. It is America united, determining our own future.”

McCarthy added that the committee will work to stop trillions of American {dollars} financing “communist genocide and military modernisation”.

Members of the committee will work with all different committees to “get the job done”. The committee was for “serious lawmakers” to work as one Congress to cope with one of many biggest challenges of the longer term.

“No longer will we be dependent on China but no longer will we be vulnerable. We will do this together. I want this committee to last beyond who is in the majority.”

Committee’s agenda

In a bit for Fox News in December, after the midterm elections, McCarthy and Gallagher mentioned that America had spent many years pursuing insurance policies to welcome China into the worldwide system. “But since then, instead of embracing freedom or becoming a responsible stakeholder, Beijing has flouted international norms while exporting totalitarianism, aggression and ideological control.”

To win the “new Cold War” — the formulation of a Cold War is notable as a result of the US administration has mentioned that they don’t see the competitors with China as a brand new Cold War — the Republican leaders argued that the US should reply with powerful insurance policies.

“We must recognize that China’s ‘peaceful rise’ was pure fiction and finally confront the CCP with the urgency the threat demands.”

Listing out the priorities of the brand new committee, McCarthy and Gallagher famous the significance of restoring provide chains and ending important financial dependencies on China and cited two examples to indicate this dependence.

“In 2021, the US imported a quarter of its antibiotics from China. India, a key producer of generic drugs, depends on China for 80% of the underlying active pharmaceutical ingredients — demonstrating that even ostensibly friendly sources of lifesaving drugs oftentimes ultimately trace back to China.”

The two leaders additionally mentioned the committee will work to ban American state and native pension funds from investing in China; make an pressing case for aiding Taiwan in its self-defence and constructing relationships with different Indo-Pacific allies; give attention to growing new weapons and stockpiles to undertaking energy; push viable alternate options to the Belt and Road Initiative; and expose Chinese lobbying in any respect ranges within the US and its makes an attempt to infiltrate tutorial establishments, amongst different measures.

Progressives specific concern

All the 65 who voted in opposition to the formation of committee had been Democrats, together with 22 members of the progressive caucus led by Pramila Jayapal (D-WA). In an announcement, the progressives expressed concern about “reckless and prejudiced rhetoric and policy” contributing to an increase in “anti-Asian sentiment”.

“This should not be a committee about winning a ‘new Cold War’, as the chair-designate of the committee has previously stated. America can and must work towards our economic and strategic competitiveness goals without a ‘new Cold War’ and without the repression, discrimination, hate, fear, degeneration of our political institutions, and violations of civil rights that such a ‘Cold War’ may entail,” the progressives mentioned.

They additionally urged the committee to make sure the presence of robust Asian-American Pacific Islander and pro-diplomacy voices within the membership.