Sen. Tom Cotton blasted President Obama’s invitation to China’s President Xi Jinping’s visit to the U.S., saying, “China is an adversary in many ways.”
Cotton, appearing on the Hugh Hewitt Show Monday denoted that China “continue[s] to engage in cyberattacks against the United States. They’re building militarized islands out of whole cloth in the South China Sea. They’ve manipulated their currency to promote their own economy to the detriment of ours.”
Hugh Hewitt: I want to read to you a statement that was put out a couple of hours ago by Governor Scott Walker ahead of President’s Xi Jinping’s state visit to the Unites States next month. Governor Scott Walker wrote, “Americans are struggling to cope with the fall in today’s markets driven in parts by China’s slowing economy and the fact they actively manipulate their economy. Rather honoring China’s president Xi Jinping with an official state visit next month, President Obama should focus on holding China accountable for its increasing attempts to undermine U.S. interests given China’s massive cyberattacks against America, its militarization of the South China Sea, continued state interference with its economy, and persistent persecution of Christians and humans rights activists. President Obama needs to cancel the state visit. There is serious work to be done rather than pomp and circumstance. We need to see some backbone from President Obama on U.S.- China relations” [end of statement]. What do you think of that, Senator Cotton?
Tom Cotton: Hugh, I agree with what Governor Walker said. I’ve been mystified as to why President Obama invited Xi Jinping to the United States. China is an adversary in many ways as Governor Walker said in his statement. They continue to engage in cyberattacks against the United States. They’re building militarized islands out of whole cloth in the South China Sea. They’ve manipulated their currency to promote their own economy to the detriment of ours. They’re oppressing Christians at alarming new levels, and I think Governor Walker even mentioned the New York Times scoop from last week about undeclared Chinese agents in the United States trying to intimidate and harass Chinese Americans into returning to the mainland. So I think we should be inviting more of our allies and our would-be allies in the region to the United States for state visits. I was just in East Asia for 10 days actually – South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan – and I went in part because so many countries in East and Southeast Asia are looking for more American leadership to stand up to the alarming and aggressive moves that China has been making in the region.
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