OPINION:
For some time now, Republicans have wandered around thinking that there is significant bipartisan agreement about the threat posed by China.
Unfortunately, they are almost certainly wrong about that.
The reality is that lots of Democrats are prepared to place other agenda items before getting serious about the threat posed by China. A very recent example would be the presence of Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois — the senior Democrat on the House Select Committee on Competition with China — on a dear colleague letter urging that his fellow Democrats vote against a measure that would require the Biden administration to enforce tariffs on solar panels from China.
On Friday, the House of Representatives will vote on House Joint Resolution 39, which expresses disapproval of President Biden’s June 2022 announcement that he has no intention of enforcing the finding of his own Commerce Department that China had circumvented a previous round of tariffs on solar panels.
The resolution should and will pass the House and the Senate as well. Mr. Biden is waiting with his veto pen.
But on Friday — before Mr. Biden gets to cave to China and veto the resolution — a bunch of House Democrats, led by Mr. Krishnamoorthi, will vote to take it easy on the communists in China.
This is especially discouraging because Mr. Krishnamoorthi seems to know better. When he was appointed to the House Select Committee on China, Mr. Krishnamoorthi said: “The Chinese Communist Party poses serious economic and security threats to the United States and to democracy and prosperity across the globe. … I look forward to working with my colleagues in both parties on this committee to counteract the CCP’s escalating aggression and ensure that our nation is prepared to overcome the economic and security challenges that the CCP presents to our country.”
At least for Mr. Krishnamoorthi, those challenges obviously don’t include making sure that China plays by the rules with respect to trade. If Mr. Khrisnamoorthi were serious and true to his word, he wouldn’t support an effort to let China illegally evade U.S. tariffs and dump solar panels — almost certainly made with slave labor — into the market.
In their dear colleague letter, Democrats make it simple: More solar panels, from wherever, under whatever conditions or circumstances, are more important than any national security, long-term economic or human rights considerations. The need of their environmental donors to raise cash trumps all.
It is always fun to point out the hypocrisy and inconsistency of Democrats. The unfortunate reality, however, is that it is not even clear that there is agreement among Republicans about how to assess and what to do about the threat posed by China.
The Republican Congress has failed to do even the most rudimentary things with respect to that challenge. Banning TikTok, which both India and the state of Montana have somehow managed, seems beyond the reach of this Congress. Similarly, the House Committee on Financial Services recently failed to advance Rep. Andy Barr’s legislation excluding Chinese companies aligned with their military from American capital markets.
Now, everyone is treating the arrests of two New Yorkers who were running a covert Chinese detention center in New York City as a major accomplishment. It’s discouraging that we are excited about not letting other nations unlawfully detain people on American soil; that seems like a minimum requirement to remain a sovereign nation.
The ditch is probably deeper than we imagine.
It should come as no surprise that Democrats are wobbly on China when it conflicts with the preferences of environmentalists. It is surprising, however, that among the wobbliest is the man they chose to lead them on a committee specifically designed to counteract China and its aggressions in all arenas.
It is also a surprise that just a few months into a new Congress, the Republicans seem to be willing to play small ball with respect to China. Banning TikTok and shutting down detention centers run on U.S. soil by foreign nationals are the low-hanging fruit. If that can’t be done expeditiously and with resolve, it is not clear how we will be able to do the much more difficult and complicated tasks.
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