Contact: Josh Holly, 202.226.3988
Hunter Calls on President Bush to Meet with Congressional Leaders to Discuss U.S.-China Policy
Washington, D.C. --- In response to the Chinese government’s recent decisions not to allow U.S. naval vessels access to its ports, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), senior Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, today urged President Bush to meet with congressional leaders as soon as possible to discuss an adjustment in America’s policies toward China.
The complete text of Rep. Hunter’s letter to the President follows:
“I am writing to ask you to convene a meeting as soon as possible with the chairmen and ranking members of the House Committees on Armed Services, Intelligence, Foreign Affairs, and Defense Appropriations to discuss an adjustment of U.S. policy towards China. Last week, despite a long planned port of call in Hong Kong, the Chinese government turned away the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier strike group. In addition, just days earlier, the Chinese refused to allow two U.S. Navy minesweepers from seeking refuge from a storm to make port in Hong Kong leaving them no option but to face the dangerous weather in the open sea. As these two incidents clearly demonstrate, China is embarking on a new more confrontational relationship with the U.S. and we need to be prepared.
“As you know, in recent years, China has embarked on an aggressive military production plan that includes the development of submarines, ballistic missiles, the F-10 multirole fighter aircraft and SU-27 fighter aircraft. Now that we have a clear picture of China's intention to flex their newly acquired military muscle at the U.S., we must take necessary steps to ensure our technological and military infrastructure will be sufficient to respond to potential Chinese aggression.
“Your upcoming Fiscal Year 2009 budget must include an appropriate investment in technologies to ensure our military remains prepared to meet the challenges that we will face with a China that has become more aggressive militarily. Increased investment in submarine production, the development of modem deep strike platforms, including new bomber aircraft, and enhanced electronic warfare systems are just a few systems that remain critical to our future military readiness.
“Therefore, I respectfully request that you convene this meeting with the appropriate Congressional committee leadership at your earliest opportunity, so that we can begin discussing and planning for the development of the appropriate military assets to meet our future defense needs.”
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