Republican leader in the U.S. House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, said recently he would form a select committee on China if he is elected speaker of the House, accusing President Biden and his administration of not standing up to Beijing.
“China is the No. 1 country when it comes to intellectual property theft. We will put a stop to this and no longer allow the administration to sit back and let China do what they are doing in America,” said McCarthy.
McCarthy also said he would keep his promise to remove several Democrats from important House committees, including the chairman of the intelligence committee, Representative Adam Schiff.
Rep. McCarthy also said he would remove Representative Ilhan Omar from the foreign affairs committee and Representative Eric Swalwell from the intelligence committee.
The GOP leader vies to become speaker after the party won a slim House majority in the midterm elections. However, he will need to secure enough support to be formally elected when the new Congress is sworn in in January.
McCarthy recently prevailed in the House Republican leadership elections, overcoming a challenge from conservative Representative Andy Biggs in a 188-31 vote by the caucus.
FBI Director Christopher Wray recently told lawmakers the United States was concerned about the government in China setting up unauthorized stations in cities across the U.S. McCarthy responded to Wray by saying his party would “stop these police stations in America.”
Safeguard Defenders, a human rights organization based in Europe, published a report in September that revealed the existence of dozens of Chinese police “service stations” in major cities around the globe, including New York.
The report said the stations were part of China’s efforts to put pressure on Chinese nationals to return to China to face criminal charges as well as a way to spread Chinese Communist Party propaganda and influence overseas.
Chinese Embassy denies sites are “police stations”
The Chinese Embassy in Washington confirmed the existence of sites run by volunteers in the United States but said they were not “police stations.”
An embassy official said the sites “assist Chinese nationals who need help accessing the online service platform to renew their driving licenses and receive physical check-ups for that purpose.”
According to McCarthy, “China is the No. 1 country when it comes to intellectual property theft. We will put a stop to this and no longer allow the administration to sit back and let China do what they are doing to America.”
