By Kevin McCarthy & Michael McCaul
Thursday, October 01, 2020
As the Chinese Communist Party commemorates its 71st
anniversary of seizing power, Americans increasingly recognize a simple fact:
The fundamental character of the Communist regime has never changed and will
never change.
Despite promising reforms for decades, the CCP is no
closer to allowing political freedom than it was at Tiananmen Square in 1989.
The brutal crackdowns in Hong Kong, the systematic attempt to destroy the
Uyghur culture in Xinjiang, and the relentless assault on the sovereignty of
neighboring nations all testify to a stubborn truth: The People’s Republic of
China remains a ruthless, one-party dictatorship.
We’ve seen what happens when American politicians and
businesses ignore this reality. It isn’t good.
For more than 40 years, previous administrations pursued
a policy of accommodation towards the PRC. President Obama welcomed a strong
PRC, claiming it was “a positive good” and “ultimately translates into more
American jobs.” The tradeoff was simple: We bend to their wishes, they reform.
But the optimistic prognostications proved wrong. By
accommodating them, we were changed by the CCP, not the other way around.
America hemorrhaged millions of manufacturing jobs, the CCP and its companies
stole billions through intellectual-property theft, and the PRC’s military
presence expanded across three continents.
If this policy of unprincipled engagement continues, the
United States stands to lose the future to today’s Communist superpower. It’s
time to confront their global malign ambitions head on.
House Republicans on the China Task Force have put
forward policies to end America’s dependence on the PRC while protecting
Americans’ safety and well-being. Our comprehensive
recommendations mobilize strategic U.S. government action in six areas:
ideological competition, supply chains, national security, technology, the
economy and energy, and competitiveness.
Without question, we must strengthen our military, and
stop both CCP theft and its influence operations here at home. We begin by
giving the Department of Defense the resources it needs to modernize the force
and close the capability gap in specific areas, such as research and
development. We also focus on providing the Department of Justice the resources
it needs to investigate and prosecute visa fraud.
Beyond strengthening our national-security capabilities,
we must also fortify our position on the commanding heights of the economic
battlefield. Our plan doubles research and development funding for artificial
intelligence and quantum computing across the federal government over the next
two years, and ensures that both international 5G standards and the fabrication
of advanced semiconductor chips are led by America. But just as American companies
need to understand the stakes, CCP-affiliated companies need to face
consequences. That is why our plan protects homegrown innovation by imposing
sanctions on PRC entities that engage in industrial spying, including hacking
U.S. researchers who are developing a vaccine for COVID-19.
But there is perhaps no more urgent strategic undertaking
than breaking the CCP’s supply-chain monopoly. The coronavirus pandemic exposed
our dependence on the PRC for medicine, personal protective equipment, and
technology. That must end. Our plan increases U.S. manufacturing and builds
supply-chain resiliency through full expensing on a permanent basis for all
U.S. investment and restores domestic-production tax credits.
And while solidifying our domestic strength, we must
courageously address moral wrongs. Recent satellite images of desecrated
mosques in Xinjiang remind us of an old truth: “In keeping silent about evil .
. . we are implanting it, and it will rise up a thousand fold in the future.”
We have a responsibility to speak clearly about the CCP’s human-rights abuses
and those aiding them. Our plan calls for the Trump administration to determine
whether the CCP’s attacks on Uyghurs constitute genocide, a label that brings
serious foreign-policy ramifications. We also call for disclosure requirements
for movies and sports that are approved by CCP censors or partner with
CCP-controlled entities.
The China Task Force’s blueprint reverses the failed
consensus on the CCP and responds to urgent threats to our safety, security,
and self-sufficiency. It makes more than 400 recommendations, including over
170 legislative proposals. Nearly two-thirds of these proposals are bipartisan,
and more than one-third have already passed the House or the Senate. It is not
only the most thorough congressional report on China in history, but is also
realistic and achievable.
The CCP has launched a coordinated campaign across
government and society, exploiting our institutions to eradicate them. It seeks
to replace the American Dream with the Chinese Dream. The United States cannot
afford to underestimate the CCP’s ambitions or accommodate its rise any longer.
To secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity, we must
adopt our own comprehensive and forward-leaning strategy.
We’ve done this before. We overwhelmed the Axis powers
with an “Arsenal of Democracy,” overtook early Soviet advances in space and
were the first to put a man on the moon, and overcame a massive Soviet military
buildup by rebuilding our economy and investing in cutting-edge technology. In
each instance, private and public sectors were not afraid or ashamed to work
together to advance our national interests while keeping their necessary
separation. We should take a similar path today.
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