Several Republican Senators ask Blinken to tell China its aggression against India and Taiwan is 'unacceptable'
The Hindu
The lawmakers have written a letter to Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, ahead of their upcoming trip to Beijing.
Several influential Republican lawmakers on Wednesday urged Secretary of State Antony Blinken to tell the Chinese leadership that their blatant aggression against Taiwan and India in the Himalayas is "unacceptable".
The lawmakers have written a letter to Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, ahead of their upcoming trip to Beijing.
The Republican Senators led by Marco Rubio from Florida urged them to avoid giving the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) a propaganda win and hold the CCP accountable for its egregious human rights abuses, unfair trade practices, leading role in the fentanyl crisis, and aggression towards allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific.
India, the U.S., and several other world powers have been talking about the need to ensure a free, open and thriving Indo-Pacific in the backdrop of China's rising military manoeuvring in the resource-rich region.
China claims nearly all of the disputed South China Sea, though Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam all claim parts of it. Beijing has built artificial islands and military installations in the South China Sea.
China also has territorial disputes with Japan in the East China Sea.
“The CCP has stepped up its aggression in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond,” they wrote.