Senator Bill Hagerty, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee and former U.S. Ambassador to Japan, today issued the following statement in advance of the bilateral meeting between senior U.S. officials, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, and senior Chinese officials, CCP Director of Central Commission for Foreign Affairs Yang Jiechi and PRC Foreign Minister Wang Yi:
“To protect the national security interests, economic interests, and moral interests of the United States and our allies in the Indo-Pacific, I urge the Biden Administration to hold China accountable for its wide range of malign and predatory behavior. We cannot ignore that China is engaged in ongoing genocide against Uyghurs in Xinjiang province; strong-armed and even illegal tactics to steal intellectual property in the United States and around the world; ending Hong Kong’s autonomy in violation of an international agreement; secrecy and disinformation to frustrate investigations into the origin of the pandemic; increasing threats and intimidation against democratic Taiwan; militarizing the South China Sea to pursue unlawful claims in that region; and economic coercion against U.S.
allies to censor criticism and compel concessions.
"Because Beijing respects only strength, I urge Secretary of State Blinken and National Security Advisor Sullivan to continue and expand the strong and effective China strategy and policies implemented during the Trump Administration until we and our allies are able to verify that China’s malign activities have ended.”