Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) warned that Taiwan could be the next democracy invaded if the United States doesn’t make Russian President Vladimir Putin pay for his “unprovoked, naked war of aggression” against Ukraine.
“If we fail to impose the steepest price for Russia’s invasion, not only will Ukraine become a new captive nation, but soon Taiwan will also find itself in the crosshairs,” Cotton said. “If Joe Biden won’t make him pay, then the Republican Party must.”
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has fueled speculation about the fate of Taiwan, and whether the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will be emboldened and invade the self-governing island soon.
Driving the speculation is that China might have Russia’s support, if not militarily but at least politically, if Beijing does choose to invade Taiwan, considering how the communist regime has responded since the war in Ukraine began. So far, Beijing has refused to denounce Russia over its aggression, sided with Russian rhetoric and not called the attack an invasion, and abstained twice in United Nations votes.
The statement also set the terms of the current Sino–Russian alliance, with a “no-limits” partnership and “no ‘forbidden’ areas of cooperation.”
Wang also accused the United States of trying to form an Indo–Pacific NATO, echoing a key justification for Russia’s invasion.
“Now China is our most dangerous enemy,” Cotton said. “The Chinese Communist Party has committed every economic crime in the book—product dumping, intellectual property theft, illegal subsidies, economic espionage, currency manipulation, even using slave labor.”
He said the U.S. decision to grant China permanent most-favored-nation (MFN) status was the “single worst mistake of this generation.” The status got a new name in 1998, becoming known as the permanent normal trade relations.
“Many states like mine have lost a quarter of their manufacturing jobs. factories closed, families splintered, and opportunities crumbled,” the lawmaker said. “It’s time to end our economic reliance on China.”
“It’s time to decouple our supply chains. But decoupling is not enough,” Cotton added. “We ought to ban U.S. investment in strategic Chinese industries, and encourage reshoring of U.S. factories and jobs, and punish offshoring to China.”
“We are the party that tore down the walls of Russian communism and that will send Chinese communism to the ash heap of history,” Cotton concluded.