Washington: A US Congressional report has sought decisive action to combat threats posed by China, alleging that it is engaged in human rights violations and has increased military buildup and violated other nations’ sovereignty.
China Task Force of the House Republicans unveiled its report on Wednesday laying out more than 400 policy recommendations to address issues ranging from national security concerns, human rights violations, problems with the supply chain, missteps in its handling of the coronavirus pandemic and China’s overall expanding influence on the world stage.
The report said that China is engaged in “fatal skirmishes to conduct a land-grab on the Indian border.”
It also supported the proposal of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson for the creation of a new D-10 group of leading democracies (the current G-7 members, plus South Korea, India, and Australia) for addressing both 5G mobile communications and vulnerable supply chains.
The report pushed for coordinating a whole-of-government offensive information statecraft campaign to counter the propaganda machine of ruling Chinese Communist Party by using truth and American values to undermine CCP’s “lies and malign” ideology.
It said that in the past one year alone, the CCP has violated an international treaty and dismantled Hong Kong’s civil liberties; continued its oppression of ethnic minorities, including Uyghurs and Tibetans; increased its military buildup, conducted increasingly belligerent provocations, and violated other nations’ sovereignty at sea; engaged in fatal skirmishes to conduct a land-grab on the Indian border; and asserted new territorial claims over Bhutan.
Praising the State Department’s July 2020 statement which said that China’s territorial aggression in the South China Sea is illegal, the China Task Force said that the administration could take similar action regarding its illegal conduct in other areas, including around the Senkaku Islands and along India’s border.
The US, it said, should improve predictability of arms sales with allies and partners and expand military training with allied and partner nations.
“Doing so will improve interoperability with the US, support and protect American values, advance US national security and foreign policy interests, and promote the US as the partner of choice,” it said.
Further, the US should expand forward presence and improve interoperability with allies and partner nations through the use of joint training and exercises, including by bringing together and regularising multilateral exercises with like-minded nations such as Australia, Japan, India, and other interested nations, the report said.
Supporting Johnson’s proposal for creating D-10 group of leading democracies, it said the US should work with the UK and other nations in leveraging technical expertise of each nation in emerging technologies for the benefit of democratic countries.
“China presents a unique challenge to America’s interests and security. Confronting China will take a whole of government approach. We cannot rely on the military or on our diplomats alone; Congress also has an important role,” said Congress Mac Thornberry, ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee. (PTI)
