US Lawmakers Sound Alarm Over China's Rising Threats

Key US officials highlight China's economic, military, and technological tactics aimed at undermining the US and its allies. Lawmakers John Moolenaar and Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall stressed the growing threats posed by China, from market manipulation to military advancements aimed at Western Pacific dominance.

US lawmaker and Chairman of the Select Committee on Strategic Competition with China, John Moolenaar, has highlighted China's interventions and malicious intentions to harm the US and countries located in the South China Sea. Moolenaar, speaking on Wednesday, stated, "I, along with many Americans, believed that unbridled economic engagement with China would lead to democracy in China and prosperity at home. As we know, that has not come to pass. From the militarization of the South China Sea to unabashed economic coercion and market manipulation to flooding our communities with fentanyl, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has shown its true colors. The CCP has taken technological tools that we originally gave them to form new surveillance chains to hold the Chinese people in bondage. They try to extend these chains around the world, including to America itself."

Highlighting China's questionable economic practices, Moolenaar added, "They see economics as an extension of politics, one in which they win by eliminating the competition." Moolenaar stated that China frequently uses joint ventures and capital investments to manipulate, eliminate, and steal market-dominating technology, forcing countries' businesses into submission by flooding their markets with CCP-backed, cheaper products. In another event, Secretary of the US Air Force Frank Kendall, delivering a keynote address at the Air & Space Forces Association convention in Washington, said, "I've been closely watching the evolution of China's military for 15 years. China is not a future threat; China is a threat today."

Kendall, addressing key US Air Force officials, emphasized that in his 15 years of observing China's activities, he found the CCP continues to heavily invest in capabilities and operational concepts designed specifically to defeat the United States' and its allies' ability to project power in the Western Pacific. These include weapon systems targeting U.S. land and sea assets like air bases and aircraft carriers. Calling it a major threat and concern, he noted other countries are also raising alarms over China's growing capabilities and intentions in the Indo-Pacific region.

Discussing China's repeated attempts to invade Taiwan, Kendall remarked, "I am not saying war in the Pacific is imminent or inevitable. It is not. But I am saying that the likelihood is increasing and will continue to do so." (ANI)

(With inputs from agencies.)