Senator Schmitt Statement on Joe Biden’s Meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping

WASHINGTON – Today, Senator Eric Schmitt released a statement regarding Joe Biden’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping:

“Biden’s policy of empty engagement, appeasement, and doling out concessions has emboldened China and has made America less safe both militarily and economically. Contrary to the belief of the Biden Administration, healthy cooperation is not possible with a Chinese Communist Party that is hellbent on global domination, has spied on Americans through social media, and that has been poisoning Americans with lethal fentanyl. Biden needs to stop being soft on our chief adversary – Americans are tired of being put last. I will continue to advocate for strength when it comes to standing up to China around the globe,” said Senator Eric Schmitt.

BACKGROUND:

• China has a history of promising American leaders one thing, and then doing the opposite. For example, according to the New York Times, “Despite his assurances to President Obama not to militarize the South China Sea, Mr. Xi told his senior commanders in February 2016 that China must bolster its presence there, saying: “We’ve seized the opportunity, eliminated intervention and sped up construction on South China Sea islands and shoals, achieving a historic breakthrough in maritime strategy and defending maritime rights.”
  • Further, since becoming the leader of China, Xi has built up his country’s military, ostensibly preparing for conflict with the West.
• Since the fall of 2021, there have seen more than 180 incidents of Chinese harassment of US and allied aircraft. That’s more in the past two years than in the past decade. Some specific examples include:
  • February 2022, a Chinese naval ship directed a laser at an Australian P-8A Poseidon aircraft operating in Australia’s exclusive economic zone, endangering the health of Australian airmen. 
  • In June 2022, a Chinese J-16 fighter cut across the nose of another Australian P-8A Poseidon that was operating in international airspace over the South China Sea. The Chinese jet released a round of chaff, which was ingested into the Australian aircraft’s engine.  
  • Recently, the Chinese coast guard employed water cannons, military-grade lasers and erratic conduct to try and intimidate the Philippines from lawful operations within that country’s exclusive economic zone. In a separate incident in October, a Chinese Coast Guard vessel and a Chinese maritime militia vessel rammed a Philippine supply ship in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
  • In December 2022, a Chinese Navy J-11 pilot flew in front of — and within 20 feet of — the nose of a U.S. Air Force RC-135, which had to maneuver away to avoid a collision. The Air Force jet was lawfully conducting routine operations over the South China Sea in international airspace. 
  • In May, A Chinese J-16 fighter pilot performed an unnecessarily aggressive maneuver during the intercept of a U.S. Air Force RC-135 aircraft. “The PRC pilot flew directly in front of the nose of the RC-135, forcing the U.S. aircraft to fly through its wake turbulence,” Indo-Pacific Command officials said.
  • In June, the American destroyer USS Chung-Hoon and Canadian frigate HMCS Montreal conducted a routine transit from south to north through the Taiwan Strait when the Chinese destroyer Luyang III executed unsafe maneuvers in the vicinity of Chung-Hoon. The Chinese vessel overtook Chung-Hoon on its port side and crossed the Chung-Hoon’s bow at 150 yards.
• Despite these one-sided aggressive actions by the Chinese Communist Party, Xi and other Chinese officials blame the US. In March, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang demanded the US change course or else, “there will surely be conflict and confrontation.”
• China collaborates with aggressor states the world over, especially North Korea, Iran, and Russia. In fact, China subsidizes Iranian terror by illicitly purchasing sanctioned Iranian oil.
  • As of September, Iran’s crude exports of about 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) are the highest in more than four years, with more than 80% shipped to China, according to data from consultancies FGE and Vortexa.
  • This Chinese capital is funneled by Iran to their network of terrorist proxies around the world, including those who attack American troops overseas and Hamas, the group behind the grotesque attack on Israel on October 7. 
• President Biden should heed what President Xi said in 2015, “in international contestation, political operations are very important, but ultimately it comes down to whether you have strength and whether you can use that strength.”