DeSantis would view China as an adversary, not ‘healthy competition’
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FLV) – Gov. Ron DeSantis hit on a number of issues facing the United States in the shadow of the growing threat from the Chinese Communist Party.
DeSantis, a GOP presidential candidate, discussed the cause and effect and his solutions to China in a sit-down interview with CNBC’s Brian Sullivan on Monday.
“If you go back to when China was put in the WTO, and given most favored nation status, what was promised to the American people, they said it would lead to China becoming more democratic and peaceful,” DeSantis said on “Last Call” Today.
DeSantis noted a number of assurances “has not happened” to the American people under the CCP and President Xi Jinping.
“They said it would provide protections against theft of intellectual property,” he said. “They said that we would manufacture things and then export those goods to China, but we wouldn’t lose massive manufacturing.”
DeSantis slammed the Biden administration’s stance on China.
“I think they think that China’s just like, you know that this is kind of like a healthy competition,” the governor quipped. “And that’s not how I would view it. I would view them as an adversary.”
DeSantis pinpointed that China’s military capabilities and economic prosperity have only grown through the United States’ dependence on the nation.
According to data from the Peterson Institute for International Economics, United States goods and services imports from China were at there highest levels in 2022, rising 6% from the previous year.
“They have built up their military, they are the top threat to this country. Now their military may not be at our level yet, but they’re going there,” DeSantis said.
“Their leader President Xi is the most ideological leader that China’s had since Chairman Mao, his ambitions are very significant. They want to overtake the United States,” DeSantis continued.
For the United States to become less reliant, DeSantis called for a “strategic decoupling” strategy against the CCP, referencing the coronavirus pandemic and policies under the Biden administration.
“Almost everything that we needed to respond to Covid was made in China,” he added. “So many things that are vital to our national survival, we rely on China to be able to get some of those materials.”
“You also have policies now with the Biden administration trying to force electric vehicles. All that stuff is created initially in China, so it makes us more dependent on it.”
