The US House of Representatives select committee on China is to hold its first hearing on Tuesday next week, focusing on human rights abuses in China and how to protect Taiwan, CNN reported yesterday.
The news came after US Representative Mike Gallagher, who chairs the committee, on Monday returned from a four-day visit to Taiwan.
The hearing would be attended by high-profile figures involved in the US’ rivalry with China, such as former US national security adviser H.R. McMaster and former US deputy national security adviser Matthew Pottinger, CNN cited sources familiar with the hearing as saying.
Photo courtesy of the US House Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the Us and the Chinese Communist Party
The hearing would also be attended by Tong Yi (童屹), a former secretary to Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng (魏京生), and Alliance for American Manufacturing president Scott Paul, the news channel reported.
The committee is planning to focus on the Chinese government’s human rights abuses and how the US can help protect Taiwan against increasing hostility from China, it said.
The committee members are to talk about the threats posed by China to help the committee identify priorities in dealing with Beijing’s provocation, it said.
The committee would also focus on finding ways to address challenges posed by China concerning its role in the semiconductor supply chain, CNN said.
US Representative Ro Khanna, who visited Taiwan with a delegation from Sunday to Thursday, told CNN that he hopes top officials such as CIA Director Bill Burns would discuss strategies to avoid a conflict with China with the committee, it said.
Gallagher told Fox News yesterday that the US is “not moving fast enough to learn and implement the lessons from Ukraine. Foremost among them is the need to arm our friends and partners before it’s too late,” referring to a backlog of military sales to Taiwan.
After meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in Taiwan, he realized the necessity of countering China’s “cognitive warfare,” including online attacks and disinformation that are meant to undermine democracy in Taiwan and around the world, he said in a statement on Wednesday.
The most powerful weapon against cognitive warfare is the truth, he said, adding that the committee is dedicated to revealing Beijing’s aggression toward the US and other allies, and seeking strong bipartisan support to take action against China’s threats and to safeguard the interests of the US.
Additional reporting by CNA
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2