Media Contact 202-226-8467
Washington, D.C. – House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul joined Leigh Ann Caldwell on “Washington Post Live” today to discuss his assessment of the U.S.-China relationship, NATO, and the latest on the Putin regime’s unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine.
On malign intentions of Putin’s unprovoked war on Ukraine:
“The longer [the war in Ukraine] drags out, the worse it gets. And that’s precisely what Putin wants. He wants a long, protracted conflict because he knows long-term that it can impact not only the will of the American people but the Europeans as well.”
On why Ukraine matters:
“I cannot say this strongly enough. I view this conflict in Ukraine is directly impacting what happens in Taiwan. We’ve never seen a threat like this to Europe or to the Pacific since my father’s war – World War Two – since the greatest generation liberated Europe and the Pacific. That is why I feel Ukraine is important.”
On the security implications for a CCP invasion of Taiwan:
“As we look at the threat to Taiwan… in addition to freedom and democracy, we have to look at the fact that TSMC is the largest [semiconductor chip] manufacturer. We have offshored [chips] for too many years in Taiwan… Imagine if a blockade was done tomorrow… the consequences to the rest of the world – if China owned or broke this global supply chain – [would be detrimental.]”
On China’s Belt and Road Manipulation Schemes:
“When [China] calls themselves a developing nation, the fact is, they’re not a developing nation. They’re the second-largest economy in the world. They’re a superpower economically, and yet they call themselves a developing nation to get the benefits of not having to comply with the Paris Accords, and I just don’t think that’s fair.”
“This qualifies them for low interest, if not, zero-[sum] interest loans from the World Bank because they’re a developing nation. This funds their Belt and Road Initiative.”
On Special Envoy for Iran Rob Malley:
“If he has leaked very classified sensitive information to our foreign adversaries like Iran and Russia, that’s a very serious act that would fall under, you know, treason. I’m not saying he has committed that but we need to know what is going on. We need to be briefed in Congress – by law, [the State Department is] required to do so.”
###
