New report to US Congress supports an increasingly hawkish view on China
- US-China Economic and Security Review Commission says China’s rise has ‘put at risk the national security and economic interests of the United States’
- Annual review contends President Xi Jinping seeks to change the global order to facilitate Beijing’s ambitions
China’s global rise has “undoubtedly put at risk the national security and economic interests of the United States, its allies, and its partners”, according to a commission that advises the US Congress on national security implications of the US-China trade and economic relationship.
The warning came in a 525-page report by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC), which calls on lawmakers to enact a broad range of measures to better monitor and counter China’s global expansion strategies, trading practices, and influence campaigns abroad.
The commission contends that Chinese President Xi Jinping is seeking to fundamentally change the global order to facilitate China’s ambitions and warns US policymakers that the country is on track to reverse the strategic philosophy once espoused by the reform-minded leader Deng Xiaoping that China should “hide [its] capabilities, bide [its] time, and never take the lead” in international affairs.
The report offers a hawkish view on China that is finding increasing resonance within mainstream US politics, against the backdrop of an administration pursuing – with broadly bipartisan support – an aggressive rebuke of perceived unfair trade practices on the part of China.
The report, to be delivered on Wednesday to Senator Orrin Hatch, the chairman of the Finance Committee, and House speaker Paul Ryan, was compiled on the basis of classified and unclassified hearings with witnesses from government, academia and the private sector, as well as research trips to Taiwan and Japan.