A bipartisan group of lawmakers has announced the formation of a task force to combat China’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific.
During a press conference at the House Triangle in Washington, House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) and Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) announced the creation of the new task force.
Westerman said, “There is perhaps no greater threat to America’s national security and future prosperity than the continued growth of the People’s Republic of China and its influence on the world stage.”
The lawmakers said the task force would combat long-term Chinese state strategies to dominate the Indo-Pacific region, which includes several U.S. territories like the American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CMNI), and Guam, as well as Pacific partners including the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau, which are collectively dubbed the Freely Associated States. The region is also home to international partners like Japan, India, and South Korea….