A new bipartisan consensus in Congress on the threat posed by communist China has resulted in a barrage of proposals and hearings to strengthen the U.S. position against the regime in Beijing.
Salvoes of legislation focused on supplying arms to Taiwan, curbing illicit organ harvesting, banning the social media app TikTok, and uncovering the true origins of COVID-19 have all come to the fore since the House’s Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) held its first hearing on Feb. 28.
“We may call this a ‘strategic competition,’ but this is not a polite tennis match,” Select Committee Chair Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) said. “This is an existential struggle over what life will look like in the 21st century, and the most fundamental freedoms are at stake.”
Fortifying Taiwan
Leading the charge to counter the CCP’s malign influence are a number of efforts to further fortify democratic Taiwan against a CCP invasion. The CCP claims that Taiwan is part of its territory, although the regime has never controlled the self-ruled island. The United States, for its part, is legally required to furnish Taiwan with the weapons necessary to maintain its self-defense against the CCP.
To that end, the United States approved on March 3 the potential sale of $619 million in new weapons to Taiwan, following continued intimidation efforts by the communist regime, which frequently sends military aircraft and ships near the island.
The deal includes 200 anti-aircraft air-to-air missiles and 100 air-to-surface missiles capable of taking out land-based radar stations, which would help to give Taiwan an asymmetric advantage against the much larger CCP regime.
The United States is also working to overhaul its acquisition of certain high-end precision munitions, which experts are concerned might be depleted in the event of a war with China.
U.S. Army officials are in the process of ramping up production to overcome challenges associated with replenishing domestic stockpiles of munitions that were either sold to Ukraine or would be needed for a potential fight in the Indo-Pacific, according to Assistant Secretary of the Army Douglas Bush.
