Chair Cardin Remarks at Hearing on U.S. Strategic Competition with the People’s Republic of China

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, delivered an opening statement at the full Committee hearing, “Strategic Competition with the People's Republic of China (PRC): Assessing U.S. Competitiveness Beyond the Indo-Pacific.” In his remarks, Chair Cardin stressed that competition with China continues to be one of the most significant challenges we face on the global stage. He emphasized that the United States must offer the Global South an alternative to the PRC – a partner like the United States who values freedom, human rights, and democracy. Chair Cardin urged colleagues in the Senate to work with him to move career nominees currently pending before the committee and to pass legislation to invest in and modernize the tools of U.S. foreign policy. 

“In order to address these challenges, the United States should be not only be investing in our military, but also our diplomatic and economic development tools,” said Chair Cardin. “I am willing to work with any willing partner on the other side of the aisle to make this happen. It is simply that important.”

WATCH THE CHAIR’S OPENING REMARKS HERE

A copy of the Chair’s remarks, as delivered, have been provided below.

From the construction of a 290-mile railroad in Kenya; to the sale of armored vehicles, jets, and anti-ship missiles to Venezuela; to their attempt to broker a Saudi-Iran deal; to creating fake commentators whose pro-Beijing writings have been published across Asia, Africa, and Latin America, China is competing with the United States for influence in every region of the world and across every domain. And yet, last year, Xi Jinping claimed, and I quote, “China does not seek spheres of influence. China will never impose its wills on others.” I find that hard to believe given all the evidence we have to the contrary.

Look at Beijing’s economic coercion of countries like Lithuania, who expand their trade relations with Taiwan or South Korea after Seoul deployed a U.S. missile defense system in response to the threat from North Korea. In fact, China is a country with a decades-long, well documented track record of suppressing fundamental freedoms and abusing human rights. For those of us who value freedom and liberty, and human rights and democracy, China one of the most significant challenges we face on the global stage today.

In his speech outlining the Biden Administration’s approach to the PRC, Secretary Blinken said, and I quote, “China is the only country with both the intent to reshape the international order and increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power to do it.” NATO observed, just recently, that China is an enabler for Putin’s war against Ukraine.

So Secretary Campbell, thank you for joining us to discuss this important topic. I support the Biden-Harris Administration approach to Beijing’s global influence. The Administration has shored up our relationships with allies and partners in Europe and Asia. But the competition is on—particularly in the Global South. And it’s not clear to me that we are committing the time, attention, or resources to win the war of ideas. 

We should be making a compelling case for the kind of world that we seek to foster. Secretary Campbell, you have been clear-eyed about Beijing’s agenda when it comes to its pursuit of military basing and security agreements—its economic influence through the predatory terms of its infrastructure projects, the spread of its technologies that enable authoritarians around the world, and their disinformation campaigns. In order to address these challenges, the United States should be not only be investing in our military, but also our diplomatic and economic development tools. That is why every year the Biden Administration has requested additional resources to “out compete” China.

This Committee has spent a lot of time in this Congress talking about this competition. We have had four classified briefings directly related to China or Taiwan, and this is the seventh hearing on aspects of our strategic competition. But we have not yet been able to put this rhetoric into action by passing legislation to fund and modernize the U.S. foreign policy toolkit. I am willing to work with any willing partner on the other side of the aisle to make this happen. It is simply that important.

We have a lot of bipartisan legislation that has been written by members of this Committee and other committees that deal with this. The only way we’re going to get to the finish line is if we genuinely work together, listen to each other, be willing to compromise, and being willing to get to the finish line to get this done. That’s the only way we’re going to be able to fund and modernize our U.S. foreign policy toolkit. I’ll make it clear as Chairman of this Committee, I’m willing to sit down with any member to try to find that common path, I’m willing to compromise—I think it’s that important we get to the finish line in this Congress.

We should be providing an alternative to the infrastructure development that the PRC offers. We should be harnessing multilateral finance and development institutions like the DFC to provide flexibility and agility to be responsive in an increasingly contested strategic environment. And I’m going to tell you, members and staff on both sides of the aisle have worked together and have come very close to having modernization of DFC to meet these challenges. Let’s complete the task, let’s get it done. Let’s bring it to the Committee to a business meeting for a markup.

We should be better resourcing our efforts to secure critical minerals supply chains that will help power Artificial Intelligence and facilitate the clean energy transition. And we should be promoting U.S. values and protect human rights defenders from transnational oppression.

We also need to talk about nominations. And I have a map behind me to illustrate this point. There are more than 20 countries where China has an ambassador in place and the United States does not. That means we are not playing on a level playing field. That means we are giving up a strategic ability to compete in those countries. The PRC doesn’t have to deal with “advice and consent” of the Senate—we do. But we have to carry out our responsibility. Nonetheless, China’s ambassadors are pressing the flesh, cutting deals, getting their narrative out in local media outlets. And the United States is not. We have 25 ambassadors pending in the Committee and four on the floor waiting for a vote. Most of them have been nominated for missions where strategic competition is most fierce.

Most of these are career nominees who are highly qualified experts. This Committee works best when we work together. We believe in comity, we believe in working together because we know that’s the only way we’re going to get work done on the floor of the United States Senate, but I just urge my colleagues, let us come together for the sense of our strategic competition with the fairness to our career ambassadors. Let us have hearings and business meetings to move the career ambassadors that are pending in this Committee. Secretary Campbell, these are important issues and I look forward to your candid views about where we are doing well, and where we have to do better.

###