Biden is a lunatic for submitting like this?
House Republicans are expressing their concern over President Biden’s potential agreement with Beijing’s reported demand to lift human rights sanctions against China in exchange for cooperation on fentanyl trafficking.
According to Fox, in a letter addressed to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Rep. Young Kim, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul, and China select committee Chair Mike Gallagher criticized the Chinese Communist Party for using American lives as a bargaining chip to seek sanctions relief for human rights abuses.
The letter referenced a Wall Street Journal report, which indicated that Chinese officials want certain economic penalties related to human rights abuses to be lifted by the U.S. in return for China’s assistance in tackling the fentanyl crisis in the country. The lawmakers warned that Congress might intervene if the talks continue in this direction and move to block any such effort.
The Republican lawmakers emphasized the significance of holding China accountable for its human rights violations, especially in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. They accused China of trying to link unrelated issues as a negotiation tactic to obtain diplomatic rewards for what the CCP perceives as “good behavior.”
The Institute of Forensic Science under China’s Ministry of Public Security, which was sanctioned in 2020 by the Trump administration for human rights abuses in Xinjiang, was specifically mentioned as an example of the CCP’s negotiation tactics. The lawmakers highlighted that fentanyl overdoses originating from China are a significant cause of deaths among Americans, and they insisted that export controls or sanctions should not be lifted as conditions for cooperation with China.
The letter also criticized the Biden State Department for prioritizing engagement and meetings with CCP officials without yielding concrete results or addressing the fentanyl crisis effectively. They expressed their concern that the administration’s approach has not produced any tangible deliverables and has led to a decrease in essential risk management communications with China.
In conclusion, the House Republicans are urging the Biden administration to take stronger actions against China’s human rights abuses and to prioritize meaningful outcomes in their dealings with China, particularly in tackling the fentanyl crisis that continues to claim thousands of American lives each year.