GOP lawmakers slam Biden commerce secretary, see ‘appeasement strategy’ in China trip

Republican lawmakers are criticizing Commerce Secretary Gina Raimando’s trip to China this week, calling it a “continued concession” to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that poses a growing threat to the United States. 

“When I look at the failed diplomatic engagement we’ve seen with China, everything we’re seeing come out of her trip is an appeasement strategy,” Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, told Fox News Digital in an interview. Hinson sits on the bipartisan House Select Committee on Strategic Competition. 

“We’re seeing restrictions loosened on 27 Chinese companies just days before her visit. That seems like a confession to me. And the CCP state media is applauding that decision,” Hinson added. 

On Tuesday, during her meetings in Shanghai with officials, including Vice Premier He Lifeng, Raimondo said the U.S. does not want to “decouple” from China. 

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Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo speaks during a press briefing in the briefing room of the White House in Washington July 22, 2021.  (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

“The U.S.-China commercial relationship is one of the most globally consequential, and managing that relationship responsibly is critical to both our nations and, indeed, to the whole world,” Raimondo said. 

“And while we will never, of course, compromise in protecting our national security, I want to be clear that we do not seek to decouple or to hold China’s economy back.”  

Hinson said this is the “wrong strategy.” 

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“We should be increasing our export controls on CCP entities, not loosening them, because we know that they’re not playing by the rules. And we’ve seen this consistently. So, the Biden administration truly hasn’t learned from their mistakes,” Hinson charged. 

Hinson says Biden’s “appeasement” of China stems from failures in diplomatic engagement based on what “the CCP is saying, not what they’re doing.”

U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol June 15, 2021, in Washington, D.C. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

“We need to be focused on what they’re doing. And, as far as I see it, they have not given us one good reason to trust them,” Hinson stated. 

“They are perpetrating genocide against the Uyghurs. They’re never going to end that. They’re not going to stop spying on the United States. They’re facing zero accountability. So why would they stop now?”

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, echoed those sentiments, saying, “China’s veiled attempt to indicate it is open for business is a Hail Mary to save its struggling economy, not an olive branch of friendship.”

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U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa. (Getty Images)

“The Biden administration must stop taking the bait,” Ernst said. “Make no mistake, the CCP is still seeking to undermine the United States at every turn. No one should realize this hostility more than Secretary Raimondo, who was hacked by the CCP but still traveled to our greatest adversary’s own turf to negotiate.”

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“I think we need to make sure we’re urging our allies and partners to, to adopt restrictions on economic investments in China because this is about making sure that the CCP actually feels maximum pressure because the status quo is too dangerous to maintain,” said Hinson.