Republican Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso slammed the Biden administration’s foreign policy dealings with China, calling them a “national security disaster” in the wake of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s visit to Beijing.
Appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” Barrasso expressed his concerns over Yellen’s recent remarks regarding her visit to Beijing in which the secretary stated the world was big enough for both the United States and China to thrive, despite competing interests.
“Joe Biden is playing right into the hands of communist China. Never again can we allow ourselves to be dependent upon them as a nation for anything,” Barrasso argued, stating it was “embarrassing” to see Yellen repeatedly bowing down to officials in Beijing.
“Just a couple of days before she got there, [China] choked off a supply of key minerals that we need for semi-conductors, for solar panels. These are the people who are stealing our trade secrets, they’re buying up our farmland, they’re killing our citizens with fentanyl. This foreign policy — it’s a national security disaster,” Barrasso stated. (RELATED: Xi Tells Chinese Troops To Double Down On War Prep As Janet Yellen Touches Down In Beijing)
.@JoeBiden is playing right into the hands of communist China. Never again can we allow ourselves to be dependent upon them as a nation for anything. It’s embarrassing to see @SecYellen bowing down repeatedly in China and it’s emblematic of this administration. pic.twitter.com/Yfj0wKXye0
— Sen. John Barrasso (@SenJohnBarrasso) July 9, 2023
Yellen met with Chinese officials in Beijing for approximately 10 hours over the course of two days during her visit after arriving July 6. While Yellen acknowledged the disagreements that exist between the U.S. and China, she maintained it was possible for the two nations to achieve a healthy “economic relationship that is mutually beneficial in the long term” while protecting their respective national security interests, Politico reported.
“We need to be diversifying our supply chain,” Barrasso argued, claiming President Biden was making the U.S. more dependent on China through his actions.
“He’s shutting off mining for critical minerals in the United States while forcing people to buy expensive electric cars. He’s making us poorer. He’s making China richer and it’s going to get worse next week when he sends John Kerry to China to continue this surrender,” Barrasso stated.
Kerry is scheduled to visit Beijing in his capacity as a special envoy for the Biden administration for climate change. Kerry has stated his goal for the visit is to find “common ground” with China in regards to reducing carbon emissions. As two of the “largest economies in the world” and two of the “largest emitters,” Kerry expressed the need to gain “genuine cooperation” with Beijing, the New York Times reported.