GOP Rep. Palmer: China Not an Adversary or Competitor — ‘They’re an Enemy’

Representative Gary Palmer (R-AL), the chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee, urges Americans to become more aware of the threat from China on the eve of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games.

Palmer told Mobile, AL radio FM Talk 106.5 that the next few months beyond the Olympics were pivotal for China and Taiwan.

“I think the fact that China is hosting the Olympic Games may be one of the reasons held off being more aggressive toward Taiwan,” he said. “I’m very, very concerned that in the coming months, China is going to make a real effort to take over that country. I don’t know if your listeners are aware of this, but 70% of the microchips and semiconductors come from Taiwan. Ninety percent of the advanced microchips come from Taiwan. If China were to take over Taiwan — and Taiwan, I think, will fight — and I think that there may be some others that engage because it’s not just the economic impact, and potentially a threat to our ability to maintain our military because we depend on microchips and semiconductors from there but also because of the threat it creates from Japan with China exerting even more control over the Taiwan Strait and as they already have — the South China Sea and the East China Sea.”

The Alabama Republican lawmaker said he had little confidence in President Joe Biden to react to the threat. But he also noted how China had become a dominant trader worldwide over the last two decades.

“I don’t think President Biden is going to do anything,” Palmer continued. “Literally, while Americans are on the podiums receiving gold medals, China is carrying out what many believe is genocide against the Uighurs. They’re using slave labor. They’re literally harvesting organs from prisoners like the Falun Gong religious group. China is not an adversary. They’re not a competitor. They’re an enemy, and the American people have got to wake up to this.”

“If you were to look at a map of the globe in the year 2000, 75% of the countries — the United States would have been their primary trading partner,” he added. “If you were to look at that map today, it is the exact opposite, and South America, all but two, possibly four — but I think all but two of the countries in South America, China is now their primary trading partner. And, they’ve become a major destabilizing force in Latin America.”

Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor