A newly formed congressional committee is considering holding a hearing that would include war games for a scenario where China invades Taiwan.
Rep. Mike Gallagher, a Republican and chair of the House Select Committee on China, says that the committee will demonstrate what the military and economic consequences of an invasion would be.
“We’re exploring options where we could do creative wargaming that integrates financial and economic warfare into purely kinetic warfare to tease out the importance of Taiwan,” he told news outlet Semafor in an interview.
Gallagher believes U.S. military assistance to Taiwan is a key component of deterring China, and stresses the need to educate the public on the importance of that aid.
“We can learn the lessons of Ukraine and surge hard power west of the international dateline and turn all this happy talk about arming Taiwan to the teeth to reality,” he said. “Then I think we can prevent war.”
The announcement comes amid strained relations between the U.S. and China. On Jan. 28, a Chinese spy balloon entered U.S. Airspace near the Aleutian Islands in Alaska, moving south and traveling across the entire continental U.S. before being shot down on Feb. 4 by an F-22 fighter jet roughly six nautical miles off the coast of South Carolina.
China says the U.S. has flown more than 10 balloons in its airspace over the last year, as both countries trade accusations of wrongdoing. Other reports indicate that China is arming subs with ICBMs that can reach the U.S., as well as becoming more emboldened in its desire to takeover Taiwan, and that the U.S. military is so unprepared for war with China, if conflict broke out in the Pacific, the U.S. would run out of munitions in less than a week.
In addition to the war games, Gallagher says the committee will also focus on China’s human rights record, while breaking the mold of traditional congressional hearings by permitting members out of the Capitol to hold field hearings.
“Putting this in the context of a pattern of aggression we’re seeing from the CCP, connecting it to their spying on university campuses, connecting it to their purchase of land near military bases, connecting it to their illicit police stations that they have on American soil, I think, is the area where we can play a unique role,” he said.
