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US lawmakers urged to boost American alliances and trade blocs after Chinese balloon row
- Top concerns about Washington’s efforts amid Beijing’s competitive advances aired at House hearings by financial services and armed services panels
- Biden administration should renegotiate Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, ex-Trump official says
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The Chinese balloon shot down last week by the American military became a main talking point at a US congressional hearing on Tuesday about economic challenges from Beijing, in which former government officials urged lawmakers to bolster ties with allies and trade blocs to counter China’s growing influence.
A witness who advised former president Donald Trump said the US should return to an Asia-Pacific free trade bloc Trump withdrew from, while an ex-Biden administration official called on Washington to work closely with partners and “throw sand into the gears” of Chinese efforts to build an alternative international payment system.
The hearing, focused on “combating the economic threat from China” and convened by the House Financial Services Committee, took place as the world’s two largest economies stay locked in an increasingly tense competition spanning a wide range of pursuits.
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That strain grew more pronounced in recent days over a Chinese balloon detected over American air space and the ensuing postponement of a planned trip to Beijing by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. His visit was meant to “build a floor” under the fraught bilateral relationship.
“The actions of the Chinese Communist Party last week serve as a clarifying moment,” said Republican congressman Patrick McHenry, the committee’s chairman, in his opening remarks at the hearing.
“China is not an ally or a strategic partner. They are our competitor and pose the single greatest threat to America’s global standing,” McHenry of North Carolina added.
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