During an interview aired on Friday’s edition of the Fox Business Network’s “Maria Bartiromo’s Wall Street,” Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) stated that President Joe Biden’s criticism of House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) planned trip to Taiwan shows “the CCP’s coercion is working on the President of the United States” so much that Biden is going against U.S. policy. And that if China is “not going to let our officials travel to certain countries, then we shouldn’t let their officials travel here to the United States.”
Gallagher stated, “Apparently, the CCP’s coercion is working on the President of the United States. This is in contradiction to the purpose of the Taiwan Travel Act, which sets U.S. policy as explicitly promoting interaction between high-level officials and Taiwanese officials. Americans are allowed to travel to Taiwan. There’s no reason why the Speaker of the House shouldn’t be allowed to travel to Taiwan. But allegedly, the secretary of defense and the President of the United States don’t want her to go because they fear provoking China. Fear is what governs all of their foreign policy instincts. It’s why they’re so slow to provide assistance to the Ukrainians and now they’re so slow to get tough on China. They’re afraid of provoking. But in both this instance and in the real estate instance, reciprocity should govern our relationship. If, as you said, the Chinese don’t allow Americans to buy property near their military bases, then we shouldn’t allow them to do the same here in America. If they’re not going to let our officials travel to certain countries, then we shouldn’t let their officials travel here to the United States. Reciprocity, a level playing field, is what we should insist upon. And we should not allow the Chinese Communist Party to intimidate us into submission.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett