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Risch on Biden-Xi Virtual Meeting

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today released the following statement after the conclusion of President Biden’s virtual meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping:

“While the Biden Administration would like to cooperate with Beijing on certain global issues, the CCP has shown time and again that it can’t be trusted – it always puts the Party’s interests first. In the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, it put its interests ahead of the entire world’s. 

“Any time the U.S. engages with the Chinese government, we must include a strong message of deterrence on Taiwan and affirm the United States’ commitment to bolster Taiwan’s defenses. China’s rapid nuclear build-up is destabilizing and alarming, and the security of our allies and our own nation lies in truly credible extended deterrence.

“While President Biden used this meeting to raise concerns regarding Beijing’s unfair trade and economic practices and the importance of transparency in global health, it’s past time for concrete results from Beijing. If President Xi actually wants a cooperative relationship with the United States, then he must stop threatening Taiwan, economically coercing and punishing other countries, and perpetrating egregious human rights abuses, including genocide against Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang.

“Our interest in cooperation with China cannot detract from our will to compete and defending American values. I expect to hear more from the administration about this meeting.”

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