Ranking Member Ro Khanna Delivers Opening Statement in First Hearing as Top Democrat on the Committee
Washington, DC –– Today, Representative Ro Khanna (CA-17), Ranking Member of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, delivered opening remarks at a hearing titled Lies, Lawfare, and Leverage: The CCP’s Gaslighting and Manipulation to Marginalize Taiwan.
The following witnesses provided testimony:
- Dr. Mira Rapp-Hooper, Partner, The Asia Group; Visiting Senior Fellow, Brookings
- Mr. Julian Ku, Maurice A. Deane Distinguished Professor of Constitutional Law, Hofstra University
- Ms. Shirley Kan, Independent Specialist in Indo-Pacific Security Affairs
Below is a transcript of the opening statement from Ranking Member Khanna.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to the witnesses for being here this morning.
I’m grateful to serve as Ranking Member alongside you, Mr. Chairman, and look forward to working with you. I have appreciated your friendship and graciousness.
We must also deal in hard truths.
I will also be using this role to call out our failed China policy.
We sit here today at a dangerous time for Taiwan.
Unfortunately, this is not simply because of coercion from the Chinese Communist Party.
It is also because of appeasement from the White House, where President Trump is calling into question decades of bipartisan support for Taiwan.
The President is more eager to make bad deals with America’s strategic competitors than strengthen ties with our longstanding allies and friends.
He treats Taiwan as a “bargaining chip” in trade negotiations with China.
Last year, he forced Taiwan’s president to cancel a trip to the U.S. to avoid angering China during these negotiations.
He called the U.S.-Taiwan relationship a mere “insurance policy,” where Taiwan pays for U.S. protection and allegedly gives us nothing in return.
As if the aspirations of the people of Taiwan do not matter.
Most egregiously, when asked if Xi might attack Taiwan, Trump said “that’s up to him.”
Just last month, the Trump administration’s National Defense Strategy didn’t include a single mention of Taiwan.
Nor did it mention China’s growing aggression toward the island democracy—or for that matter, toward any other ally or partner.
And I’m not the only one to notice this.
According to official Chinese Communist Party media, Trump’s NDS showed that the United States is now “too lazy to even pretend to support Taiwan” and that it would eventually “abandon” Taiwan.
To his credit, President Trump did approve an important arms sale to Taiwan last December, although he previously held it up during last year’s trade negotiations, which further fed Beijing’s narrative about U.S. unreliability.
His administration is now reportedly considering another arms sale to Taiwan, which China is pressuring the president to cancel.
Whether or not this sale goes through will be an important test of President Trump’s willingness to stand up for Taiwan.
At the same time, the President’s administration would have you believe that China’s invasion of Taiwan is inevitable.
Why? He views a world where might makes right and great powers can dominate their neighborhood. It's why he has not stood up forcefully to Vladimir Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine and for Ukraine's sovereignty.
Meanwhile, the same neo-conservatives that push for cuts to healthcare, nutrition, and international aid, want to keep throwing money at a so-called Department of War that can’t even pass an annual audit of its own finances.
They can’t even tell us if critical components used for our military are built in China.
The surest way to maintain peace is through deterrence. But the President is undermining the very relationships that are critical to deterrence.
In his failed trade negotiations, Trump slashed his tariffs on China to 10%--a far lower rate than what he has forced on many of our closest allies like India, Japan, Canada, and South Korea.
From what I can tell, President Trump has never been to Taiwan, but I have.
I can tell you first-hand how important TSMC’s investment in the United States is to every state across America.
Taiwan is an economic powerhouse and a vibrant democracy of 23 million people worth continuing to stand by.
It is not a card to play in a trade negotiation.
As I said after my visit there: “Nothing about Taiwan without Taiwan.”
Assisting Taiwan in its strong defense needs to be coupled with listening to its leaders and people about their goals.
More than anything, Taiwan’s leaders and its people want peace.
But an effective deterrence strategy depends on credibility and consistency.
Mike Gallagher, our former colleague on this Committee, said it well: “Xi Jinping has made it clear that he has aggressive designs on Taiwan, by force if necessary... [We] need… to protect Taiwan and deter an invasion before it is too late.”
While ensuring that China’s leadership sees that any war would be a disaster for them, we also need to engage China through principled diplomacy to avoid needless escalation. To that end, any diplomacy with China must be grounded in our One-China Policy, the Taiwan Relations Act, and the Six Assurances.
But President Trump is not engaged in principled diplomacy.
He has a clear soft spot for China’s leader Xi Jinping, who he said just last month was an “incredible man” who has done “amazing” things.
Was he talking about the illegal dumping of goods into the U.S. market, extreme government subsidies, and other unfair market practices that are killing U.S. manufacturing jobs?
Was he talking about the billions in losses for soybean farmers?
Was it our 295-billion-dollar trade deficit with China?
Was it our increased manufacturing trade deficit as supply chains shifted to other low-wage nations like Vietnam without building up our factory towns and American manufacturing.
That’s why I call President Trump’s China policy the “art of the squeal,” not the “art of the deal.”
We will be leading a forgotten American tour on this Committee in May to speak to our farmers, our port workers, our factory workers who continue to be shafted.
Congress fortunately has continued its strong leadership on Taiwan policy, led in part by this committee, which has been a bastion of bipartisan support for Taiwan.
This committee’s work will be particularly important ahead of Trump’s meeting with Xi in April.
Let me be clear: any deal with China must actually put America’s workers and families first and include a clear commitment to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
Any other outcome would make for yet another disastrous summit with Xi and put America’s economy and our friends like Taiwan in only greater jeopardy.
Thank you, and I yield back.