[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 208 (Wednesday, December 9, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S7290]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 CHINA

  Mr. McCONNELL. Now, Mr. President, on another matter entirely. Last 
week, the struggle to preserve freedom and autonomy in Hong Kong was 
dealt another disturbing blow.
  On Thursday, Jimmy Lai, a prominent media figure and pro-democracy 
activist, was denied bail. The Chinese Communist Party continues 
cracking down on dissent and free speech. Not long ago, the 
international community hoped China's modernization would create more 
respect for basic freedoms. Unfortunately, the CCP has just marshaled 
new tools for making its oppression even more stifling.
  Internationally, we have seen the Chinese Communist Party find more 
success exporting its warped vision into the global public square than 
the free world has had getting Beijing to respect the rules of the 
road.
  For the last 4 years, thanks to this administration's leadership and 
this Senate, we have begun exchanging the old naivete about China for a 
smarter and tougher approach. Through new national security and 
national defense strategies, the United States has committed to 
deterring a new wave of threats from near-peer competitors like China 
and Russia.
  Reforms to our budgets and policies are underway. We have used NDAAs 
and appropriations to invest in a military that is prepared to meet and 
defeat these threats. Maintaining our edge will mean sustaining these 
reforms, along with strong diplomacy, to counter China's influence.
  In coordination with the executive branch, our Intelligence Committee 
has highlighted the need for everyone to strengthen their defenses 
against the CCP's espionage, intellectual property theft, and political 
influence campaigns.
  Senators Cornyn and Feinstein, in particular, have led bipartisan 
efforts to reform CFIUS and protect against predatory foreign 
investments aimed at threatening or stealing high-tech and critical 
infrastructure. Allied countries are following our lead, and public and 
private sector cooperation has improved to defend the institutions, 
alliances, and international order the CCP wants to disrupt.
  The administration has worked with international partners to ensure 
the security of 5G, reassert freedom of navigation in the South China 
Sea, and blunt harmful elements of China's exploitive Belt and Road 
Initiative.
  Of course, more needs to be done, particularly on human rights. The 
treatment of Hongkongers in the spotlight reminds the world of the ways 
we know Beijing is treating Uighurs and Tibetans in the shadows.
  And if China treats its own citizens with brutal violence, just think 
how it plans to treat its neighbors. So I welcome the latest sanctions 
imposed by the administration and the latest authorities granted by 
Congress. We are raising the stakes for China's repression, but our 
work isn't over. Our partners will continue to look to us to lead with 
a tone of zero tolerance for this behavior. The United States must 
continue to work alongside China's peaceful neighbors and our 
democratic allies, like Japan and Australia. We must give voice to 
those in Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and Tibet who have been repressed and 
jailed. We must stand against the worst instincts and actions of the 
Communist Party.

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