Stefanik warns Russia, China ‘strengthening’ their ‘authoritarian alliance’

PONTE VEDRA, Fla. – House Republican Caucus Chair Elise Stefanik told Fox News that Russia and China began “strengthening their alliance” before the war in Ukraine, and she called on the Biden administration to enforce “much, much tougher” consequences should Beijing provide aid to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“That is dangerous to the West, dangerous to the United States, dangerous to all of our allies, particularly in Europe, and particularly you know, countries like Ukraine and Taiwan,” Stefanik told Fox News on the sidelines of the House Republican Issues Conference.

The Biden administration has voiced “deep concerns” about Russia’s “alignment” with China. Officials from Intelligence claimed that the Kremlin had turned towards Beijing for military and economic aid following its invasion of Ukraine in February. 24.

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President Biden had a secure video call with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week for nearly two hours in which he warned of the “consequences” should China “provide material support” to Russia amid its multifront war on Ukraine. White House national safety adviser Jake Sullivan met with his Chinese counterpart last week in Rome ahead of Biden’s meeting. He stated that the administration had not seen the “provisioning of military equipment by China” to Russia in the days following Biden’s meeting.

President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping pose during a meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse on Feb. 4, 2022.
(Photo by Alexei DruzhininTASS via Getty Images)

“But of course, this is something we are monitoring closely,” Sullivan said Tuesday. “We will continue monitoring it. “

When asked if China believes it is in its best interest to aid Russia, Stefanik stated that she believes Xi “has to evaluate the consequences of a potential aid to Russia.” “

“And this administration should be much more tougher about what the potential consequences towards China if they choose that route,” Stefanik stated. “We have not seen that from Joe Biden — they’ve been very weak when it comes to countering China, which is in stark contrast to the Trump administration’s position on China. “

Stefanik wasn’t content to criticize the Biden administration for its strategy regarding China. She also pointed fingers at House Democrats who she said were “weak in combating China.” “

“I was a member of the China Task Force. We had been working on it for months and months. It was going to be coequal, Democrats, Republicans, because we believe that this is an American issue. Stefanik spoke to Fox News. “And at the 11th hour, Democrats walked away, they pulled all their members, and it is just House Republicans who were seated on the committee now. “

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Stefanik said House Republicans have “put forward some really important legislative proposals” on that task force.

“Whether it was to make sure that we have robust manufacturing, that we’re protecting our intellectual property here that we’re calling out Chinese propaganda and calling genocide for what it is, which has been committed by the Communist Chinese regime,” Stefanik said.

Meanwhile, the House GOP Conference chair warned of “geopolitical consequences of the war on Ukraine” and warned that Putin’s invasion of Ukraine could embolden Xi in his ambitions to take Taiwan.

The White House stated that Biden reiterated that the U.S. policy regarding Taiwan has not changed and that the United States will continue to oppose unilateral changes to the status quo.

” We need to learn from the failed deterrence of Joe Biden,” Stefanik stated. “We must arm Taiwan now. We need to ensure that they have the weapons and resources to defend themselves against a Chinese Communist Party takeover and invasion. “

Stefanik was referring to the Biden administration’s move to send military aid and weapons to Ukraine after the invasion. Republicans claim that the president should have provided more weapons and aircraft, as well as military aid, prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 2. 24. The Biden administration provided almost $1 billion in military assistance to Ukraine last week.

The new package includes 800 Stinger anti-aircraft systems; 2,000 Javelins, 1,000 light anti-armor weapons and 6,000 AT-4 anti-armor systems; 100 unmanned drones; 100 grenade launchers, 5,000 rifles, 1,000 pistols, 400 machine guns and 400 shotguns; more than 20 million rounds of small arms ammunition and grenade launcher and mortar rounds; 25,000 sets of body armor; and 25,000 helmets. Biden stated that the equipment will be transferred directly to the Ukrainian military from the Department of Defense.

Biden’s statement was made by Stefanik to Fox News that he “projects weakness on the international stage.” “

“Joe Biden as commander in chief and president of the United States should not be signaling this weakness, should not be signaling to adversaries like Russia what we won’t do, because Vladimir Putin is going to take advantage of that — he’s going to take advantage of that vacuum, and weakness on the world stage. “

Stefanik said that “one of the greatest failures of the Biden administration has been their first year in office. “

“Joe Biden was weak, regardless of whether it was. you know, just slapping Russia on the wrist for the numerous Russian-backed cyberattacks on critical infrastructure, whether it was their failure and hesitation to stand with Israel — remember that in the first few months of the administration — or whether it was the catastrophic withdrawal of Afghanistan,” Stefanik said.

“House Republicans – Especially during the very tragic withdrawal of Afghanistan, we have stated that enemies like Putin, Xi and Communist China are looking and they’re watching this weakness and that they think they would profit from it,” Stefanik said. “And unfortunately, that’s what we’re seeing on the war in Ukraine. “

The president is currently in Europe and has participated in an emergency NATO meeting discussing the international response to Russia’s war against Ukraine. The meeting was held in Brussels, Belgium on Thursday.

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The president on Friday morning announced in Brussels that the U.S. and European Union will be launching a joint task force to help Europe pull away from its reliance on Russian gas. The task force will “work towards energy security for Ukraine, the EU and the next winter while supporting the EU’s goal to end its dependence upon Russian fossil fuels,” said the White House in a statement.

Under the plan, the U.S. and other nations will increase liquefied natural gas exports to Europe by 15 billion cubic meters this year. In the future, shipments will be even larger.

Biden announced earlier this month a ban on all oil-and-gas imports from Russia to America amid Moscow’s multifront war on Ukraine. It also imposed a number sanctions on Russian banks, and officials close to Putin.