House select committee on China set to hold first hearing

The Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party will hold its first hearing Tuesday night in primetime. The bipartisan panel wants to show the public that the threat from China is not just overseas, it’s right here at home. 

One of the committee’s focuses will include so-called “police stations” China set up in 100 countries around the world, including at least four in the United States. The Chinese Communist Party uses those stations to crack down on dissidents abroad. 

The committee also wants to talk with companies like the NBA and Disney, which have been accused of tailoring their products and turning a blind eye to human rights abuses so they can continue doing business in the country. 

“But I think we can have a productive conversation with companies that have substantial business interests in China and we want to make sure that the power of the Chinese economy is not seducing certain companies into betraying American values,” Chairman Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., said on “Face the Nation.”

Committee members say they don’t want this to become political, and they’ll work to ensure it remains bipartisan and unified.

“The Chinese Communist Party likes nothing better than to have divisions between Democrats and Republicans. In fact, their chief political theorist, a guy named Mr. Wang Huning has said that this is a huge weakness in America, that Democrats and Republicans don’t get along. And so we have to get over that to be effective,” Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., said on CBS. 

The witnesses for Tuesday’s hearing include retired General H.R. McMaster who served as former President Donald Trump’s national security advisor, and former Deputy National Security Advisor Matthew Pottinger.

The committee is expected to release a series of small reports about legislation they think can pass in a divided government.