Rep. McCaul Likens Xi, Putin to Hitler at Meeting With Taiwan Vice President

Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas) talks about China during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center in Washington on Oct. 20, 2021. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) on April 6 drew a comparison between Adolf Hitler and Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

McCaul’s remarks were made in a meeting with Taiwanese Vice President Lai Ching-te in Taipei.

“This struggle for global power, the balance of power that we find ourselves in today, often reminds me of my father’s generation, often referred to as the greatest in the United States,” McCaul said on Thursday in Taipei, according to NBC News.

“Then we had Hitler, and today we have Putin and Chairman Xi,” he added.

McCaul, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, led a bipartisan delegation of legislators to Taiwan on Thursday amid criticism from China over House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) meeting with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in Los Angeles the day before.

In that meeting, McCarthy called Taiwan a “great friend to America,” adding that he was “optimistic” the two nations could work together to promote “economic freedom, democracy, peace, and stability.”

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) condemned that show of support on Thursday, vowing to take “forceful” measures in response.

But McCaul, undeterred by the CCP’s “saber-rattling,” told reporters that one goal of his Taiwan trip was to demonstrate that the United States would not bow to Chinese threats.

“Being here, I think, sends a signal to the Chinese Communist Party that the United States supports Taiwan and that we’re going to harden Taiwan, and we want them to think twice about invading Taiwan,” the congressman said.

Also noting that members of the delegation had received “threatening texts,” presumably from Chinese operatives, he added, “We’re not going to let this intimidation get to us.”

Lawmakers accompanying McCaul on the trip include Reps. Young Kim (R-Calif.), Ami Bera (D-Calif.), French Hill (R-Ark.), Madeleine Dean (D-Penn.), Guy Reschenthaler (R-Penn.), Michael Lawler (R-N.Y.), and Nathaniel Moran (R-Texas).

Tsai, who will return home to Taiwan on March 7, is set to meet with McCaul’s delegation on March 8.

The diplomatic meetings come as Taiwan faces escalating threats of military invasion from China, which views the island nation as part of its territory.

A day prior to the McCarthy-Tsai meeting, members of the congressional delegation set to attend received a threatening email from the Chinese Embassy.

“China will not sit idly by in the face of a blatant provocation and will most likely take necessary and resolute actions in response to the unwanted situation,” the email read.

Meanwhile, throughout the week, the Chinese regime sent military aircraft and naval vessels to surround and intimidate the island, further escalating tensions.

On March 29, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby warned China not to use Tsai’s transit through the United States as a “pretext” to ramp up aggression with Taiwan, stressing that the visit was “not uncommon.”

“President Biden and this administration has been keeping the lines of communication open with Beijing,” Kirby said at a White House press briefing. “We want to see that continue on this issue and other issues across the board. And we’ll continue to strive to do that.”

Brad Jones contributed to this report.