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Bipartisan lawmakers on the Select Committee on China accused Beijing of escalating tensions in the region on Tuesday, warning that Capitol Hill had taken notice of their military display around Taiwan.
“As the world turns toward a new year, the People’s Liberation Army’s live-fire military exercises around Taiwan represent a deliberate escalation by Beijing,” the committee’s chairman, Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., and ranking member Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., said in a joint press release.
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“These drills are intended to intimidate Taiwan and other democracies in the region and to undermine peace and stability across the Indo-Pacific.”
Moolenaar and Krishnamoorthi’s statement comes as China conducts a two-day show of force in the Taiwan Strait. The country fired rockets into the international waters around Taiwan and deployed amphibious assault ships, bombers, drones and other vessels to the area.
China is conducting exercises on all four sides of Taiwan, grounding international flights.
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This is not the first time China has engaged in saber-rattling around Taiwan, which Beijing claims as part of its territory.
President Donald Trump, in a statement on Monday, said he was not worried about China’s display of force, adding that he has a “great relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trump noted that China has been conducting naval and military exercises in the region for 20 years.
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Lawmakers in the House said China’s displays of power are intended to extend the CCP’s influence beyond its borders.
“By rehearsing coercive military scenarios and projecting force beyond its borders, the Chinese Communist Party is seeking to reshape the regional order through aggression and intimidation,” the committee said.
Lawmakers added that they would continue to support Taiwan.
“The United States stands with Taiwan and fellow democracies and will continue to work with partners to preserve Taiwan’s security and uphold a free, open, and stable Indo-Pacific,” their statement said.
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