Republican Senators Caution Administration Officials Ahead of China Visit

Fourteen Republican senators, led by Florida's Sen. Marco Rubio, wrote to the treasury secretary and secretary of state as the Cabinet officials traveled to China to meet with President Xi Jinping.

"We urge you to use the trips to hold the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) accountable for its human rights violations, unfair trade practices, and increasing aggression in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond. Anything less would be a concession to our country’s greatest threat," they said in their Jan. 31 letter.

They detailed abuses against Uyghurs, Tibetans, Christians and Falun Gong practitioners, and added: "Beijing also has a long history of unfair trade practices and industrial espionage, which has caused immense harm to American workers and our economy. Over the last several decades, the PRC has engaged in a methodical campaign to steal American intellectual property and research, often redirecting the acquired technologies to military ends. It has repeatedly abused its privileges in the world trading system to exploit our nation’s open economy and establish itself a leader in critical industries, including pharmaceuticals, rare-earth minerals, and commodities such as steel."

They said they're glad Section 301 tariffs have continued, and said they should stay in place. "Meanwhile, much more needs to be done to rebalance our economic relationship with Beijing," they wrote.