(TotalConservative.com) – Republican representatives who are part of a bipartisan Congressional committee have urged President Joe Biden to practice caution and keep U.S. interests at heart when he next speaks to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The two leaders are expected to have an opportunity to meet on the sidelines of the upcoming APEC summit, which is going to be held in San Francisco.
Republican Wisconsin Representative Mike Gallagher, along with other GOP members of the House Select Committee on China, penned a letter to the president, urging him to “challenge Beijing” to provide proof of goodwill and intent to improve its relations with the U.S. rather offering “concessions” to the Asian powerhouse.
To that effect, the Republicans on the committee suggested a number of demands Biden can make of Xi, such as releasing all U.S. citizens who have been wrongfully jailed in China, as well allowing U.S. citizens with exit bans to “leave [China] immediately.” The Republicans also want Biden to insist that China stop “all near-collisions” and “unsafe” encounters with American vessels and assets in both air and sea. The letter also called on Biden to ask Beijing to suspend an important program in China’s “forced-labor programs in Xinjiang.”
Gallagher and his colleagues also asked Biden to stop trying to achieve a sort of “zombie engagement” with China in the event Xi does not grant the U.S.’ requests. Instead, the say the U.S. needs to take a more proactive and “assertive” stance in order to “defend American interests and values.”
The GOP representatives also pointed out that Beijing has done nothing to prevent the entry of “deadly fentanyl precursors” into the U.S., nor has it been forthcoming in providing enough “market access” according to the country’s trade commitments with its trading partners. They also allege that China has not made any attempts to stop its “unprecedented campaign of espionage” against the U.S.
The same group, however, also acknowledged that Biden has done a few things right, such as Washington’s sanctions against Chinese officials over actions that took away “Hong Kong’s autonomy” as well as for “genocide” against the Uygurs, a Chinese ethnic group based in Xinjiang.
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