Rep. Michael Waltz explained why he disagrees with Secretary of State Antony Blinken's decision to visit China, telling "Sunday Morning Futures" that communication with China is "old thinking."
BIDEN IS DESPERATE TO IMPROVE RELATIONS WITH CHINA: REBECCA GRANT
REP. MICHAEL WALTZ: Secretary Blinken should not be on this trip. I don't know what more the Chinese Communist Party has to do to violate U.S. sovereignty and international law for us to take a tough stand and not send our Secretary of State and our defense secretary, last week, over there on bended knee. That plays right into Chinese propaganda. But, Maria, what this is really all about, is all of the major establishment institutions that the Democrats care the most about, the 'woke' corporations on Wall Street, academia, Hollywood, the sports industry are just desperate to keep the status quo so they can keep making money. Even as we see the most serious arms build-up in modern American history. And as Xi ramps up his rhetoric about replacing and defeating the United States and about the decline of democracy and the ascendancy of socialism with Chinese characteristics. But yet, there they go. That old thinking, if we just talk enough, if we just sit at the table enough, our adversaries will do so in kind and be nice as well.
ANTONY BLINKEN LANDS IN BEIJING, MARKING FIRST SECRETARY OF STATE VISIT IN CHINA SINCE 2018
American Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Beijing Sunday morning on a mission to defuse tensions between the U.S. and China.
The trip marks the first time a U.S. secretary of state has set foot in China in five years. The last one was former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in 2018.
Blinken is also the highest-ranking government official from the Biden administration to visit China since the president took office in January 2021.
The first Chinese official Blinken is set to meet with is Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on Sunday afternoon. The secretary of state is slated to meet top diplomat Wang Yi on Monday.
BIDEN ADMIN CONFIRMS CHINA SPY BASE EFFORTS IN CUBA, CALLS IT ‘ONGOING ISSUE'
Blinken may meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday as well, but their meeting has not been confirmed.
President Joe Biden and Xi agreed to Blinken's trip after the two met in Bali last year.
Blinken's visit was meant to happen in February, but was delayed due to foreign tensions over various Chinese spy balloon incidents in the U.S.
U.S. and Chinese officials have sparred over a variety of issues, including human rights in Hong Kong and Chinese military aggression towards neighbors in the South China Sea.
However, Blinken said on Friday that Biden and Xi agreed to improve messaging "precisely so that we can make sure we are communicating as clearly as possible to avoid possible misunderstandings and miscommunications."
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The Associated Press and Fox News' Andrea Vacchiano and Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.
