Show Notes
Rep. Mike Garcia (R-CA) is a badass who flew more than 30 combat missions during Operation Iraqi Freedom in the skies above Baghdad, Fallujah, and Tikrit.
Now a congressman, Garcia confronts a greater adversary as a member of the House GOP’s China Accountability Task Force. He joins Peter and Eric on the most recent episode of The Drill Down to give us a preview of what the new majority will be focused on starting next year with respect to America’s “peer threat,” the People’s Republic of China.
“China used to be seen as a ‘near-peer’ threat, but now we need to acknowledge they are really a peer threat to America,” he tells us. Economically, diplomatically, and militarily, China is the US’s leading adversary. Yet, American policy seems to be lagging behind this reality.
“We’re at war and, so far, we are the victims,” he added.
He refers not just to China’s predatory trade practices, nor solely to the creation and possibly intentional release of the COVID-19 virus, but especially to the fentanyl crisis.
He says that for a long time, American policy towards China was “a big carrot with a small stick,” referencing Peter Schweizer’s book, Red Handed.
Eric asks, “What can your task force do?”
Garcia cites the finds in the task force’s 2020 report as and notes that little was done with its findings while the GOP was in the minority, but says that is about to change.
From China’s industrial strategy of “rob, replicate, and replace” foreign competitors to its role in the COVID-19 pandemic, there is much to fix. But the PRC’s role in the crisis of fentanyl is critical.
“This is a byproduct of our open southern border, caused by the policies of the Biden administration,” he tells Eric. One hundred thousand Americans, as many as from the Hiroshima atomic bomb, die from fentanyl overdoses every year. And China is the key player in that drug, providing not just the pre-cursor chemicals for Mexican drug cartels to manufacture it, but money-laundering services through state-owned Chinese banks to make it irresistible.
“These are poisonings… not overdoses, Garcia warns.
Looking more broadly at US-China relations, Peter wonders why this has not been more response from Congress. Is this because of corporate entanglements or their strategy of elite capture?
“Both, Garcia says.
Peter is surprised by the lack of seriousness. “We don’t have a fentanyl task force, but instead we have a monkeypox task force.”
Red Handed dealt not just with politicians but business, financial, big tech. and academic interests and their involvement with China.
Garcia replies, “I recommend your book because you trace the connections of politicians and business leaders back to China.”
Garcia says we need to pursue “boycott, disinvestment, and sanction (BDS) strategies with China. “We need to figure out how to disentangle from a corporate level. We need better controls on technology exports to them., The “entities list” (a blacklist of companies that may not do business in the US because of their military and intelligence service ties within China) should be 6,000 entities. There are only 59 now.” Garcia notes his amazement that government pension programs are still investing in the China stock market.
We need to wean ourselves off China and reduce our dependence on them. “We can’t compete with China, but we can surpass China,” as he puts it. “We need to play to win. Chinese companies in the US must abide by the same terms that US business in China does.”
Peter asks about Hunter Biden and his documented involvement with China.
“I couldn’t care about him less, but he is the son of a president and there are financial dealings with what is now a threat,” Garcia responds. “That will be a high priority investigation for us when we take over the majority in the House next year.”
Garcia closes with gratitude to the hosts. “Thanks for all you do. Keep getting the information out there. It helps us get smarter about this issue,” he says.
