US move on Venezuela sparks Taiwan comparisons as lawmakers debate China threat
Lawmakers are clashing over whether U.S. military action in Venezuela could be exploited by China as it weighs its next moves toward Taiwan, underscoring a sharp divide in Congress over...
By Fox News · Fox News
Lawmakers are clashing over whether U.S. military action in Venezuela could be exploited by China as it weighs its next moves toward Taiwan, underscoring a sharp divide in Congress over comparisons between American force and authoritarian aggression. Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-Md., argued that China sees an opening in the making. "They are looking at this, and they can justify what they're doing because it's the exact same thing that the United States is doing," Meeks said. Meeks is the ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST CALLS OUT PARTY FOR 'OPPOSE FIRST, THINK LATER' RESPONSE TO TRUMP'S CAPTURE OF MADURO When asked about Meeks’ concern, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., agreed that China might look at the moment opportunistically. "China might try to use any rhetoric anytime, any place. That wouldn't be surprising," Mast said. "It would be par for the course that they do that." But, in his view, the American effort in Venezuela bears little similarity to the one China has threatened against Taiwan. "It’s apples to oranges," Mast said. Where Democrats see rhetorical parallels that might invite parallel results, Republicans like Mast see key substantive differences in China’s aggressive posture toward Taiwan that separate it from American efforts in Venezuela. China, led by President Xi Jinping, maintains that Taiwan is not an independent country and that it is instead a portion of China that will one day reunite under the mainland’s government. For years, China has conducted military exercises around Taiwan’s borders. Just last week, China fired a series of rockets into the waters surrounding Taiwan as a part of military drills, drawing alarm from U.S. lawmakers. Clark Summers, professor of international relations at Belmont Abbey College, believes China’s view of Taiwan’s legitimacy is not unlike the way the U.S. saw Nicolás Maduro’s presidency in Venezuela — a regime the U.S. maintains had hung on to…