Sen. Hawley Makes the Case Against U.S.-China Relationship

By William Potter @ Shutterstock.com

John Jiang reports in The American Spectator on Sen. Josh Hawley’s frightening “analysis of the U.S.–China strategic situation.” He writes (abridged):

Watching the news nowadays, it seems clear that a massive new set of political fault lines are opening up both in Washington and abroad, centered on the issue of the U.S.’s relationship with China. President Trump is fighting a political proxy war with the Chinese Communist Party over influence in the World Health Organization. Leading conservative pundits like Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity denounce Beijing almost nightly to audiences of millions.

Hawley’s remarks on Wednesday, the transcripts of which are available on his website, are perhaps the most systematic case made against the U.S.–China relationship by any national elected official to date. He defines the threat posed by China in full-spectrum terms: economic, cultural, military, and ideological

Policymakers in Washington would do well to pay attention to Hawley’s analysis of the U.S.–China strategic situation.

Anyone who doubts that hard power flows from a solid manufacturing base should pay attention to China’s own military leaders. An interview published earlier this month by the Global Times, featuring a retired general of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, addresses the question of manufacturing in stark terms: “This is the problem of the United States today. It has high technology, no production methods, and no production capacity, so it has to rely on Chinese production.

Still, Sen. Hawley has plenty of allies in Washington. Trump seems to agree with him on the direction,

A bill to delist Chinese companies from American stock exchanges, currently moving at “warp speed” through Congress.

Many of Hawley’s colleagues in the Senate, most notably Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), have also been active in proposing legislation to push back against Chinese influence.