A bipartisan group of House lawmakers is on its way to London to meet with top British leaders to find ways both nations can work together to effectively counter China’s growing aggression on multiple fronts.
The delegation led by the House Select Committee of Chinese Communist Party Chairman Mike Gallagher will leave Thursday morning.
“Aggression from the Chinese Communist Party is global and the United States and the United Kingdom face common economic, military and ideological threats from the CCP,” Gallagher told DailyMail.com of the upcoming trip.
Gallagher, R-Wis., said that “for the sake of both our nations and the free world,” the US and UK must work together to face the rising CCP threat.”
Gallagher said that “in the interest of both our nations and in the interest of the free world,” the US and UK must work together to counter the rising CCP threat led by Xi Jinping.
China’s most pressing threats include technology theft and transnational repression, which he says are “flagrant violations” of the sovereignty of both nations.
“I look forward to working with my friends in parliament and government to build on our special relationship and fight CCP aggression and malign influence around the world.”
The bipartisan group includes Representatives Mark Green, R-Tenn., Haley Stevens, D-Mich., Michelle Steel, R-Calif., Donald Norcross, DN.J., Blake Moore, R-Utah, Joe Courtney, D-Conn ., Walt Wittman, R-Va., Michael Waltz, R-Fla., and Dan Newhouse, R-Wash.
On Friday, the Chinese hawks will meet with the UK’s Deputy National Security Adviser Beth Sizeland and Secretary of State for Defense Ben Wallace.
Lawmakers will also participate in a roundtable discussion with the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance for China (IPAC) – MPs who have taken a hard line in their dealings with the CCP.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith, Nusrat Ghani, Judith Cummins, Lord Bethel, Stuart McDonald, Bob Seeley, Lord Alton and Tim Loughton is expected to attend, DailyMail.com has learned.
Google DeepMind will also meet with lawmakers to discuss artificial intelligence (AI) threats.
In addition, the Ronald Reagan Foundation and Institute is partnering with London-based foreign policy think tank, the Henry Jackson Society, to hold a conference with US and UK lawmakers.
The conference marks the inaugural meeting of the Reagan-Jackson Security Dialogue, which the organizations hope to hold annually.
It will be held in Cambridge over the weekend and aims to foster discussions about safety with leading thinkers and lawmakers in the US and abroad.
Rachel Hoff, director of policy at the Ronald Reagan Institute, told DailyMail.com that the conference will promote dialogue between individuals on both sides of the Atlantic about “rising challenges from China to Russian aggression, challenges and opportunities related to technology and emerging technologies, and everything in between.’
“The congressional delegation led by President Gallagher will be an important part of American participation in the conference,” she added.
The delegation led by the House Select Committee of Chinese Communist Party Chairman Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin leaves Thursday morning
UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace will meet with a bipartisan group of lawmakers this week
The idea for the conference grew out of discussions at the annual Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California.
“The Reagan-Jackson Security Dialogue is the first international meeting of the Reagan Institute,” Hoff added.
“And so this year we see it as a starting point to bring participants from the US and UK together in the context of the special relationship and in the context of shared challenges we all face.”
A select committee assistant added that lawmakers and leaders in the UK recognize that the trip is to find the best ways to work together to counter China’s aggression as they are “all in this together.” to sit’.
“The CCP’s aggression is global,” a committee official told DailyMail.com. “It extends to all facets, including economic, military and cyber coercion.”
The UK parliament recently banned the CCP-linked app TikTok from all parliamentary phones and devices over fears that data could be shared with the Chinese communist regime in Beijing.
The US has taken similar measures to limit the spread of TikTok across the country. A handful of states have already passed laws banning the use of the app on government devices and networks.
And Montana became the first state in the nation to ban the app from being downloaded statewide.
Gallagher previously teamed up with Senator Marco Rubio to introduce a bill last Congress to completely ban TikTok from operating in the US.
The House Select Committee of the Chinese Communist Party will hold a hearing on Wednesday evening on the best ways to counter the CCP’s economic aggression.
Gallagher said in a statement to DailyMail.com ahead of the hearing that he hopes the US “takes charge” of its own economic sovereignty with its allies because the country’s current relationship with China is “tangled”.
“I think some people want to go back to the glorious days of economic engagement, hoping that this could improve the relationship between the US and China. I just think that represents the triumph of delusion over experience.”
The hearing will include testimony from former United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Roger Robinson, the president of the Prague Security Studies Institute, and Dr. Eric Schmidt, chair of the Special Competitive Studies Project.