Saturday, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) outlined the threat communist Asian superpower China poses to the United States, calling it the “single-great political threat” to the country over the next 100 years.

“China is in my judgment the single-greatest political threat the United States faces over the next century,” he said. “They engage in espionage. They engage in censorship. They engage in torture and murder of their own citizens. They cover up free speech.”

Cruz pointed to legislation that he was introducing. One imposes sanctions on Chinese government officials for the coronavirus “coverup,” as he deemed it. Another he was introducing took aim at Hollywood for kowtowing to the Chinese government in movie scripts.

“The Script Act says we’re not going to allow the Pentagon to cooperate with moviemakers, to let them use ships and jet airplanes and equipment if they are going to allow the Chinese government to censor,” he said. “And so it uses the power of government to stop Chinese censorship through Hollywood.”

The Texas Republican U.S. Senator pointed to the soon-to-be-released sequel to “Top Gun,” which stars Tom Cruise. Reportedly, the Japanese and Taiwanese flags were removed from a jacket worn by Cruise’s “Maverick” in the sequel at the behest of Chinese censors.

Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor