Letter to President Biden on Demands For Xi Jinping Ahead of Meeting in San Francisco

Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and the Republican members on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party wrote to President Biden ahead of his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco next week. The lawmakers advised President Biden to reverse months of misguided approaches to China and challenge Xi to fulfill basic demands such as releasing American citizens wrongly imprisoned in Communist China.

The other lawmakers writing to President Biden include Reps. Rob Wittman (R-VA), Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO), Andy Barr (R-KY), Dan Newhouse (R-WA), John Moolenaar (R-MI), Darin LaHood (R-IL), Neal Dunn (R-FL), Jim Banks (R-IN), Dusty Johnson (R-SD), Michelle Steel (R-CA), Ashley Hinson (R-IA), and Carlos Gimenez (R-FL).

In the letter, the lawmakers write, "[Y]our administration has presided over an overwhelming decline in action [toward the CCP] in the last 18 months, particularly those related to human rights. With notable exceptions such as strengthened semiconductor export controls and new restrictions on outbound investment – which we have strongly supported – self-censorship of defensive actions appears to have skyrocketed... 

"While your administration’s public position on competition and cooperation with the PRC has remained the same, it is clear that competitive actions have been sacrificed to advance aimless, zombie-like engagement.

"So far, these very real tradeoffs have led to negligible benefit. Despite repeated concessions from Washington, Beijing has taken no action to stem the flow of deadly fentanyl precursors to North America, no action to increase market access in line with its trade commitments, no action to reduce tensions in the Taiwan Strait or to stop its dangerous military provocations in the South China Sea, and no action to stop its unprecedented campaign of espionage against the United States. On the contrary, many of these problems have only gotten worse, especially over the past year."

Chairman Gallagher and the lawmakers asked President Biden to make ten basic demands of Xi Jinping.The lawmakers describe the actions as a bare minimum for Xi to announce next week if he desires to demonstrate good faith and move towards a more constructive relationship with the United States.

• Release all U.S. citizens the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs has determined to be wrongfully detained in the PRC.

• Allow all exit-banned U.S. citizens to leave the PRC, immediately.

• Establish know-your-customer requirements on PRC shipments of fentanyl precursors.

• Cease all PRC near-collisions and unsafe intercepts of U.S. maritime and aviation assets.

• Cease all military operations in Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone east of the Median Line.

• Cease all present and future harassment of Philippine naval re-resupply efforts around the Second Thomas shoal.

• Remove the exit ban on Ayshem Mamut (阿依夏木 · 马木提) the mother of Nury Turkel, the Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

• Release and drop charges against Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, and the “Hong Kong 47” pro-democracy advocates.

• Release Gulshan Abbas (古丽仙 · 阿巴斯), Ekpar Asat (艾克拜尔 · 艾塞提) and Kamile Wayti (佧米莱 · 瓦依提) who are family members of Uyghur-Americans Rushan Abbas, Rayhan Asat and Kewser Wayit.

• Suspend the “mutual pairing assistance” programs in Xinjiang, which is a key program in the PRC’s forced labor programs in Xinjiang.

View the lawmakers full letter to President Biden HERE