[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 13844]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        CHINA'S AGGRESSIVE SOUL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Poe) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, there are five entities that have 
mischief and aggression on their minds--of course, ISIS, Iran, Russia, 
North Korea, and China.
  Recently, while the President preached climate change in Alaska, 
three Chinese combat ships got closer to the Alaskan coast than ever 
before. Military experts say this was the first time Chinese ships were 
in that area, just the latest example of China expanding its military 
operation globally.
  One expert said:

       The Chinese Navy is taking on more and more of an 
     expeditionary character . . . the Chinese Navy is going 
     global.

  He is correct. China has massively built up its military and uses it 
to project its power in Asia and other places. Like Russia's invasion 
of Ukraine, China is taking over territory while the United States just 
watches.
  There has been a fivefold increase in China's military expenditures 
since 1997. It is stockpiling nuclear weapons. A recent Pentagon report 
revealed that China is upgrading its ballistic missile delivery systems 
with multiple independently targeted reentry vehicles, or MIRV, 
technology. What that means in layman's terms is they can send one 
missile with several nuclear warheads; one could hit New York, and one 
could hit Texas.
  The Beijing Navy is taking control of disputed areas and intimidating 
other countries in the region who have rightful claims to the South 
China Sea. This is a poster, Mr. Speaker, of 1999--I know you can't see 
the background, but this is Beijing in the South China Sea area from 
Australia to almost Alaska and east and west Guam to Indonesia--1999 
military might of the Chinese depicted here by planes, ships, and 
submarines and U.S. military might about the same in 1999.
  What is it today? Let's look at the same map, superimposed with 
Chinese buildup since 1999. In 2015, you don't have to be real smart to 
understand the Chinese are building more airplanes, now aircraft 
carriers, more ships, and lots of nuclear submarines and conventional 
submarines. The United States, we are about the same with our military 
might in the area. That is today.
  This ratio here is a missile that can be fired in this region.
  Now, let's project just 5 years and see what the Chinese will have in 
2020 in the same area, same region. United States, we are about the 
same--but, look, planes, nuclear carriers, now intercontinental 
ballistic missiles, more ships, more submarines, Chinese military 
might, 2020 and today or in 1999.
  We should be concerned about Chinese aggressive tendencies. In 
December 2013, China also began a bold land-reclaiming project in the 
South China Sea in an effort to increase its influence. What does that 
mean? That means that the Chinese are going in the South China Sea and 
they are dredging areas and making islands in the South China Sea. On 
some of these islands, it intends to build runways. I wonder what for.
  Not only does China claim these newly created lands, but it also 
claims exclusive maritime rights in vast surrounding areas in the South 
China Sea. This has rightfully rattled our allies in the region. Not 
only has China become an economic giant, but it is a military bully in 
the area.
  China, of course, is a state-run communist country. There is no 
telling what China could do and what would happen to the global economy 
if China insists on controlling the sea lanes. Is China becoming like 
the Barbary pirates of old that used to control the Mediterranean? Is 
that what China is going to do in the South China Sea? Who knows.
  Other countries in the area are looking for the United States to 
lead. They haven't forgotten what China did the last time China was an 
imperial power. For over 1,000 years, until the 20th century, China 
required other countries that wanted to trade in Asia to pay tribute to 
China. That meant kneeling down before the emperor and paying heavy 
taxes. It was an extortion plan.
  Our friends in Asia don't want that to happen again. This is not a 
time to sit back and let the chips fall where they may in Asia. The 
United States should care about what China is doing because China's 
brazen move toward colonization of the South China Sea shows that 
Beijing is determined to expand its military and economic influence in 
the entire area.
  What is the United States going to do? Are we going to do the same as 
we did with Russia and just watch? The region and the world both are 
looking for the United States to lead. We should lead because that is 
the responsibility of the world's most important democracy.
  This should concern the entire world, not just the South China Sea 
area. Also, these lack of resources should concern Americans.
  And that is just the way it is.

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