Two peace activists disrupted the first session of a new committee on China in the House of Representatives, the lower house of the US Congress.
The two protesters chanted slogans while holding banners with messages such as “China is not the enemy” or “Stop hatred against Asians”, before being removed by police.
After the incident, the president of the Alliance for North American Manufacturing, an association that promotes local industrial production, Scott Paul, said that “these protesters in China would be silenced.”
WATCH: “China is not our enemy.”
Protesters hold placards during the testimony of HR McMaster, former President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, at the first hearing of the Chinese Communist Party’s new House of Representatives committee pic.twitter.com/846W8JbZgl
– Bloomberg Politics (@bpolitics) March 1, 2023
During Tuesday’s session, which lasted about three hours, representatives from the Democratic and Republican parties agreed on the importance of competing with the Asian giant, the world’s second largest economy.
“We are in an existential battle over what life will be like in the 21st century,” said committee chairman Mike Gallagher.
The session discussed, among other things, possible plans by the Chinese authorities to invade Taiwan.
Tong Yi, former secretary to Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng, said Beijing wants to control the island because it is a good example that it is possible to maintain traditional Chinese values and develop “a vibrant democracy”.
Former President Donald Trump’s (2017-2021) executive adviser Matthew Pottinger said the United States should recognize Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s hostility to Western values.
The researcher encouraged members of the House of Representatives to protect Chinese immigrants residing in the United States so that they can “enjoy the freedoms” that distinguish the country from China.
The importance of fighting discrimination against Asian Americans was echoed by some Democratic lawmakers, including Raja Krishnamoorthi, one of the committee’s leaders.
Mike Gallagher said he is committed to ensuring the committee’s focus is on the Chinese Communist Party, not the people of China.
On the other hand, Krishnamoorthi called for continued investment in US industry, citing the recent Semiconductor Manufacturing Promotion Act passed by the Joe Biden administration as an example of the way forward.
The session also discussed issues such as the security of the social network TikTok, the international version of the Chinese application Douyin, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance.
The US gave federal agencies 30 days on Monday to remove TikTok from government devices because of “risks the application poses to sensitive data.”
The creation of the bipartisan committee on China was one of Republicans’ commitments when they seized control of the lower house of the US Congress during the November midterm elections.
Source: DN
