Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y) said the Biden administration has to be “resolute” with China.
“China is our greatest geopolitical foe in the world,” Lawler said on “The Sean Spicer Show” Thursday after President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping had a high-stakes meeting Wednesday. “And they have entered into an unholy alliance with Iran and Russia and North Korea. And the actions that, collectively, they have taken, have sought to undermine and destabilize the United States and our allies around the world.”
Lawler called China the biggest state sponsor of terror and purchaser of Iranian petroleum, claiming, “They use the sale of Iranian petroleum to fund terrorist operations by Hamas, by Hezbollah.”
He called for the Biden Administration to be firm and steadfast in its dealings with the East Asian country.
“We need to crack down on this, and the administration needs to be resolute and clear-eyed, in dealing with Xi Jinping and China. They are not our ally, they are not our friend,” Lawler continued.
During their meeting, Presidents Biden and Xi took steps to try and smooth over tensions between the two countries. They reopened military-to-military communications and discussed the future of Taiwan. Biden said the meeting resulted in “positive steps” between China and the U.S., despite referring to Xi as a “dictator.”
The two leaders met in Woodside, Calif., on the edges of an Asia-Pacific economic summit in San Francisco. The meeting followed worsened relations between the two countries after the U.S. shot down a Chinese spy balloon at the beginning of the year.
“We’re talking to our competitors,” Biden said at a press conference after the meeting. “Being blunt with one another so there’s no misunderstanding is a key element to maintaining global stability and delivering for the American people.”