China is "worse than the Soviet Union" of the 1980s and the United States must stand up against its aggressive behavior on Taiwan and in other matters, Rep. Claudia Tenney said on Newsmax Friday.
"We need to stand up as Americans and realize this is the enemy not only of the United States but to the world, the world's norms and the world's rules-based order," the New York Republican said on Newsmax's "National Report."
Her comment comes as a bipartisan group of five House representatives traveled to Taiwan Thursday to meet its president and other leaders and to show support for it while it faces pressure from China. The delegation includes Reps. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich.; Mark Takano, D-Calif.; Colin Allred, D-Texas; Sara Jacobs, D-Calif.; and Nancy Mace, R-S.C., and the group is the second to travel to Taiwan in recent weeks.
"China could take over Taiwan in probably a matter of hours if they chose to do that," said Tenney. "China is very emboldened, very aggressive. They're moving in across the world, whether it's in the African nations, whether it's in southeast Asia … they're using their economic strength and their global dominance to leverage these countries. They're giving them through their Belt and Road Initiative ... through infrastructure, to leverage their support for the Chinese Communist Party."
The United States, however, did not do anything to stand up for Hong Kong, she added.
"We allowed that to happen, and so many other aggressive behaviors that China has taken. Now is the time to act," Tenney said.
The congresswoman also said she's concerned about Russia's growing threat to Ukraine, including reports that Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday his country has uncovered a plot, backed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, to stage a coup and overthrow his government.
House Republicans, she said, are asking for reinforcement in the form of troops and intelligence in Ukraine to make sure a coup doesn't happen.
"Certainly the Russians are going to deny it, but we know that they would be behind it," Tenney said. "When they took over Crimea in 2014 over 14,000 people were killed. So this could be a very violent conflict if we don't show that we're going to be strong."
Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier this week warned Russia against making a "serious mistake" where Ukraine is concerned, reports The New York Times, and Tenney said she hopes he stands by his words and will seek support from NATO allies to back Ukraine.
"I don't see a lot happening, but we're hoping that the Biden administration will continue to show some strength in this," she said.
However, Tenney said she's concerned that enemies of the United States are "emboldened" after the "debacle in Afghanistan" and the lack of response by the Biden administration.
"Obviously we're not looking for an escalation," she said. "We're looking to tamp it down more intelligence, so we know exactly what's happening at the border. I mean, these people aren't coming into the border for and causing disruption along the Ukrainian west border for peace.
"They are obviously backing something, and we need to know more of what that is, and I think that showing more strength, actually sending troops there, I think would be helpful."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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