Republican Wisconsin Rep. Mike Gallagher, the chairman of the House Subcommittee on China, ripped special presidential envoy for climate John Kerry Monday for getting in bed with Beijing.
Kerry traveled to China this week to discuss the climate with People’s Republic of China (PRC) officials. Gallagher criticized Kerry’s attempt to “cooperate” with the Chinese Communist Party on climate change, which the committee chairman said is implausible.
“There is a real cost to this zombie engagement among the many officials who have traveled there,” Gallagher told Fox News’ Dana Perino. “John Kerry is actually the Chinese Communist Party’s favorite person to deal with because John Kerry believes we need to cooperate with China when it comes to climate change.”
“And John Kerry and many others in the Biden administration fail to see what’s obvious, which is that the CCP itself, not climate change, is the greatest threat we face,” Gallagher continued. (RELATED: Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher Blasts NBA, Disney For ‘Bending The Knee’ To China)
At a Thursday hearing on Capitol Hill, Kerry refused to refer to Xi as a dictator.
“It’s absolutely embarrassing and shameful. He’s quite obviously a dictator. Even people that are more dovish on China than I am will concede that point. He’s consolidated power massively. He’s the most powerful CCP leader since Mao himself. And the fact that John Kerry is not willing to say something obvious and true, again, illustrates the cost of this zombie engagement approach.”
Gallagher also condemned Kerry for allegedly being silent on the Uyghur Muslims reportedly being imprisoned in Chinese concentration camps. He claimed when Kerry was asked about building solar panels in the country, he claimed it was not his “lane.”
“That’s an abhorrent response, and it’s typical of all the zombie engagers and their thinking, where they delude themselves that they can separate their pet issue, whether it’s climate change or whatever, from the genocidal communist nature of the regime. We’re dealing with a Marxist, Leninist regime and a totalitarian regime with a complete rule by Xi Jinping,” the representative said.
The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability launched an investigation into Kerry over his negotiations with the Chinese government in February. Republican Rep. James Comer, the committee chairman, alleged Kerry “continued to downplay” Chinese human rights violations and its hostile relationship with the U.S.