U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., chairman of the new House Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, told Newsmax on Monday night it is time for the United States to establish economic independence from Beijing.
Gallagher told "The Record With Greta Van Susteren" the U.S. gambled on integrating China into the global economy, believing it would moderate the Communist Party's political behavior. But "obviously it did not work, and we misunderstood some of the internal dynamics of the Chinese Communist Party in the process."
"It's time for us to wake up," Gallagher said. "It is time for us to reclaim our economic independence because … we aren't going to be able to deter them if we're economically dependent on them.
"So, that is why I say we need to wake up. We cannot repeat the mistakes of the past, and we need to reclaim our economic independence in key areas."
Gallagher said he is not advocating for full economic independence from China, instead arguing for "selective economic decoupling."
"I do believe we can make proper progress," Gallagher, beginning his fourth term representing Wisconsin's eighth congressional district, said. "For example, I do not think American dollars should be financing Communist genocide or China's military modernization. I think we can put in place sensible restrictions on the flow of U.S. capital to China to make sure we are not funding our own demise."
Gallagher said he is eager to investigate such issues as China's culpability with the coronavirus pandemic and the nation's role in allowing shipments of fentanyl precursors to Mexico, where drug cartels produce the synthetic opioid and smuggle the drug into the United States, leading to tens of thousands of deaths a year.
He said the committee will first focus on "how we got China wrong."
"It's important to understand what we got wrong in order to identify the path forward," he said. "We also want to get really creative with field hearings. I want to get out there when it comes to the issue – for example, of Chinese land purchases in the United States, we want to go to states like North Dakota or Florida, where this is happening and hear from the people on the ground and thereby communicate directly with the American people and get beyond the standard congressional hearings. … We want to mix things up and make it more interesting for the American people."
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