[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 153 (Thursday, September 21, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4638-S4639]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 CHINA

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, this morning, I was proud to welcome 
President Zelenskyy to the Capitol. I was glad our colleagues had an 
opportunity to hear from him firsthand and ask questions about the 
state of Ukraine's counteroffensive.
  At the risk of repeating myself, American support for Ukraine is not 
charity. It is an investment in our own direct interests, not least 
because degrading Russia's military power helps to deter our primary 
strategic adversary, China.
  As I have discussed this week, competition with China is a global 
proposition. But increasingly, the Biden administration's approach to 
the PRC reflects a faulty assessment of the challenge this competition 
presents.
  A few week ago, the Secretary of Commerce visited Beijing to tend the 
soft power of American businesses in China. Unfortunately, the PRC had 
already targeted Secretary Raimondo with hard power, successfully 
stealing her official email in a cyber attack just weeks earlier.
  To the extent that economic relations with China are deteriorating, 
it is because on President Xi's watch, Americans and other foreign 
businesses are facing a state that increasingly expropriates companies, 
steals intellectual property, welds workers inside of apartment 
buildings, and forces business leaders to attend communist 
indoctrination sessions.
  So the Biden administration is uninterested in negotiating trade 
deals with our allies and partners. But it seems desperate to double 
down on trade with Communist China.
  PRC officials publicly mocked Secretary Raimondo's efforts as 
``doomed to fail'' and vowed that ``China will never let down 
individual vigilance because of a few `beautiful words' from the U.S.''
  This is hardly the only time the Biden administration has tilted at 
windmills, literally and figuratively. Remember special climate envoy 
John Kerry's own recent trip to Beijing. He sought common ground on 
green energy goals with a nation that publicly pledged not to stop 
increasing carbon

[[Page S4639]]

emissions for the better part of a decade.
  Unsurprisingly, our former colleague failed to secure a meeting with 
President Xi or his foreign minister. Perhaps, as I have discussed 
before, the CCP had already made that latter official disappear.
  China is America's single greatest strategic adversary. The PRC is 
not inclined to do America or the West any favors. And political 
relations with Beijing have declined not because of insufficient 
economic ties but because of China's concerted efforts to intimidate 
its neighbors, spy on our communications, steal our technology, and 
undermine global free markets.
  The sooner the Biden Administration accepts that reality, the sooner 
the United States can engage more deeply with allies and partners who 
share our interests in preserving the peace.
  Russia's escalation against Ukraine has taught allies in Europe a 
valuable lesson about the dangers of economic overreliance. Views are 
changing across Europe as our allies take a new look at the nature of 
the dictatorship in Beijing and its friendship without limits with 
Moscow. The German foreign minister, for example, has publicly warned 
against replacing dependence on Russian gas with new economic 
dependence on the PRC.
  Asian allies have long been concerned with the PRC's growing 
assertiveness. They understand that Russia is a Pacific nation with 
significant air and naval presence in the Far East.
  Americans who focus single-mindedly on the Indo-Pacific would do well 
to consider Russia's own military power in that region. Just last 
month, the Russian and Chinese navies conducted a joint patrol off the 
coast of Alaska, the largest such operation in anyone's memory.
  These revisionist powers are not going to go away. They will not be 
classified by economic envoys. Strategic competition will continue to 
test global interests and reach.
  It is time to work more closely with friends and allies. It is time 
to invest more seriously in hard power and industrial capacity. It is 
time for the Biden administration to prioritize actions over words.

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