WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, issued the following statement:
“Any meeting between the President of the United States and President Xi Jinping carries enormous consequences for our economy, our national security, and the world. As President Trump arrives in Beijing, he must be clear-eyed about who and what he is dealing with. President Xi heads the Chinese Communist Party, an authoritarian regime that leverages every instrument of state power – including economic coercion, intellectual property theft, military expansion, censorship, and political and humanitarian repression – to undermine American workers, challenge U.S. leadership, and erode the rules-based international order in service of the CCP’s ambitions.
“The U.S.-China relationship is too important to be driven by improvisation, personal flattery, or the illusion that tough rhetoric alone represents strategy. This is not a relationship that responds to optics or personal rapport; it demands discipline, resolve, and a clear understanding and defense of American interests.
“We cannot afford to trade lasting American strength for a short-term political win or to mistake a photo op for real strategic progress. Any agreement reached with Beijing during this summit must deliver tangible results for American workers, our security, and our long-term competitiveness. That means protecting American workers and growers, defending our technological edge, standing firmly with our allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific, and making clear that the United States will not waver in defending peace and stability, including across the Taiwan Strait.
“My hope is that the president arrives in Beijing fully prepared to advance American interests and not simply to claim a headline.”
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