China committee to hold first public hearing on communist threat by month’s end
Ryan King
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The House Select Committee on China will hold its first public hearing on Feb. 28 about the “Chinese Communist Party’s threat to America.”
Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) is chairing the newly formed panel and has mused about running war game simulations to alert the public about the threats China poses. The hearing will take place in prime time, a spokesperson for the panel confirmed to the Washington Examiner.
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Senior officials from prior administrations are expected to testify before the panel during the hearing to opine on the United States’s relationship with China and how policy toward Beijing can be improved.
Gallagher has vented frustrations with the Biden administration for pointing to climate change as the greatest threat instead of the Chinese Communist Party, RealClearPolitics reported.
A bipartisan consensus has been emerging in Congress that China poses considerable challenges to the U.S., but there is debate over how to handle China. Ranking member Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) has publicly conveyed optimism about the prospect of reaching bipartisan deals on China.
To alert the public about troubles from China, Gallagher is reportedly eyeing flashy panel work, such as field hearings, to make the committee’s work more compelling for the broader public. He is also considering “creative wargaming” to gauge how a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would go down.
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Gallagher believes the U.S. should deter Beijing from invading Taiwan through aid and is likely to showcase China’s record on human rights.
Over recent days, tensions with China have soured amid a high-altitude suspected Chinese spy balloon’s incursion into U.S. airspace that began on Jan. 28 and stretched until Feb. 4. Beijing insists the device veered off course and just happened to fly over sensitive military outposts — something the Pentagon has denied.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken called off his trip to China amid the controversy, and Beijing has condemned the U.S. for shooting down the balloon off the Carolina coast on Feb. 4.