The public is both increasingly worried about a rising China and increasingly distrustful of U.S. institutions like Congress. The answer to both rising problems can be found in an unlikely place: a recently established special committee in the House of Representatives.
The Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, launched in 2023, is a rare thing in Washington: a bipartisan success. Chaired by Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), the committee serves as a model for how the nation should move forward to address looming threats. Gallagher announced on Feb. 10, 2024, that he won’t be seeking reelection. But he leaves behind a committee that has done substantial good for the nation.
The select committee was created to assess the military, technological, and economic challenges posed by the CCP. And it has done just that, holding hearings that examine China’s growing prowess and its revisionist aims.
Shortly before he died three decades ago, the late President Richard Nixon worried that America’s Cold War alliance with Beijing had created a “Frankenstein.” Nixon’s fears seem to have been realized. In China, the U.S. faces a foe whose military and economic power dwarfs previous adversaries like the Soviet Union or Nazi Germany. Regrettably, the U.S. has done much to boost its geopolitical foe.
The committee launched investigations into how the CCP exploits ties with American universities to gather sensitive, defense-related research, including on hypersonic weapons. As Gallagher wrote to Alfred University in June 2023: “It is extremely concerning that $17 million in American taxpayer dollars has gone to fund advanced weapons-related research at a university that actively partners with a Chinese research institution working hand in hand with the Chinese military.” The committee’s efforts resulted in the college closing its CCP-affiliated Confucius Institute.
Unfortunately, the CCP has its claws in other U.S. institutions, including venture capital firms and long-standing American companies like Ford, which announced a partnership with a CCP-aligned battery company, Contemporary Amex Technology, Co. Limited. The select committee highlighted these problematic ties, spreading much-needed awareness about how U.S. entities were profiting from “investments that fuel the military advancement of America’s foremost foreign adversary.”
They also drew attention to China’s dangerous, and long-overlooked, spying capabilities. When it was revealed that China was operating secret police stations on American soil to harass and intimidate dissidents, Gallagher and fellow committee members were front and center, applying pressure on federal law enforcement to address the threat. The U.S., he warned, was in an “existential struggle.” The committee later held hearings on the “CCP’s Transnational Repression,” highlighting China’s efforts to “silence and coerce critics overseas.”
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Indeed, the number of hearings and investigations launched by the committee in its short existence is staggering. Ditto for the number of subjects covered. It is also clear that significant efforts have been made to cultivate and work with various stakeholders, from the American business community to Chinese dissidents and everyone in between. This underscores another secret to the committee’s success: excellent staff work. If personnel is policy, and it often is, it is clear that the committee has been served well by both its members and its staff.
From its inception, the select committee has emphasized bipartisanship, working to ensure that the threat posed by China does not become a political football. This has been essential to its success. Gallagher can leave Congress knowing that the work that he started will go on — as it must.
The writer is a Washington, D.C.-based foreign affairs analyst. His views are his own.
