House Republicans returned from their President’s Day break with their eyes trained on China, and on Tuesday were set to hold several hearings and advance dozens of bills addressing China’s economic and scientific prowess, its role in the spread of COVID, and its posture toward Taiwan.
The focus on China comes as bilateral tensions continue to boil over in the wake of a new government finding that COVID-19 was most likely the result of a lab leak in Wuhan, China, and the recent shootdown of a Chinese spy balloon over U.S. territory.
In early January, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., won bipartisan support when he declared, "the era of trusting communist China is over," and Tuesday’s hearings and votes are likely to cement a growing bipartisan consensus that the U.S. needs to take much tougher steps against the Chinese Communist Party.
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Tuesday morning, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs was set to hold a hearing on "Combatting the Generational Challenge of CCP Aggression," which will hear testimony from State Department officials on the recent Chinese surveillance episode and China’s aggressive stance on Taiwan.
At the same time, the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology was preparing to hear from scientific experts on "The United States, China and the Fight for Global Leadership."
Also in the morning, the House Financial Services Committee is scheduled to consider seven bills dealing with China – some of which are aimed at protecting Taiwan from a possible invasion, and others aimed at reacting to Chinese currency manipulation and other finance bills.
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On Taiwan, the Financial Services Committee will vote on a bill requiring the Treasury Department to impose sanctions on financial institutions that serve top Chinese officials if China makes a military move against Taiwan. Another bill getting a committee vote today would direct the administration to exclude China from all major international groups once China moves against the island.
A third bill encourages Taiwan’s participation in the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
On China, the committee will vote on two bills aimed at putting pressure on China in the IMF to stop undervaluing its currency in order to gain a trade advantage, and another bill requiring the IMF to report on the global economic risks caused by China’s financial sector. A fourth bill would require the U.S. Treasury Department to come up with a strategy for defending U.S. companies from predatory export subsidies China gives to its own companies.
In the afternoon, the House Foreign Affairs committee will vote on five more bills aimed directly at China. Those bills are aimed at holding China accountable for the spy balloon incident, updating the government’s guidelines for defending Taiwan, boosting funding to counter China’s influence in third countries, adjusting U.S. trade policy toward China, and demanding China’s release of U.S. businessman Mark Swidan, who has been held for a decade.
And on Tuesday evening, the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party will hold a primetime hearing on China’s "threat to America."
"We will have a series of hearings that identifies constructive and immediate solutions to problems posed by the CCP that we can do now, even in a divided government over the next two years," said Committee Chairman Mike Gallagher, R-Wis.
