US lawmakers warn of 'existential struggle' from China

The first meeting of a special House of Representatives committee to address challenges posed by China was filled with a bipartisan chorus of warnings from lawmakers about the "existential struggle" posed by Beijing.

The meeting of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) late Tuesday during television's prime time hours was a forum for Congress to tell the American people that it will investigate the all-encompassing challenges posed by China as tensions in the US-Sino relationship hit all-time highs.

Relations have long been sour but hit a nadir following the discovery of a suspected Chinese spy balloon above the continental US, which was ultimately downed Feb. 4 by fighter jets after it traversed much of the country. China acknowledged its ownership of the balloon but said it was a weather monitoring aircraft that was blown off course, angrily accusing Washington of overreacting.

President Joe Biden and his senior officials have been unrepentant, maintaining the balloon was part of an international surveillance program run by China that has been used to monitor dozens of countries and repeatedly violated US sovereignty.

Republican Committee Chairman Mike Gallagher said representatives from both parties will work "hand-in-hand" to "expose the ideological, technological, economic and military threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party."

"We may call this a strategic competition, but it's not a polite tennis match. This is an existential struggle over what life will look like in the 21st century," he said during the more than three-hour hearing.

Raja Krishnamoorth, the committee's ranking Democrat, largely concurred but maintained lawmakers do not want a "clash of civilizations," emphasizing the importance of ensuring the committee does not veer into partisan attacks and anti-Chinese or anti-Asian stereotyping "at all costs."

"At our best, this committee can help us as Americans to up our game as a people," he said. "We must recognize that the CCP wants us to be fractious, partisan and prejudiced. In fact, the CCP hopes for it. But what they don't get is the diversity of our viewpoints and backgrounds is not a bug in America's operating system, it is our defining feature and strength."

In a sign of the bipartisan consensus for the committee's work, the vote to create it saw an overwhelming majority of the House vote in favor. It is now expected to help move through the chamber several pieces of legislation related to China over the next two years.