Congressman Mike Waltz
A note from Morgan:
“I’ve known Mike Waltz for years - he is the definition of an American patriot. He served our country across the world as a combat-decorated Green Beret with four bronze stars, including two for valor. I was so glad he got elected to Congress in 2018, where he fights every day for a stronger America that can protect our sons, daughters, and loved ones against our enemies - foreign and domestic. Mike aptly sits on the House Select Committee on Intelligence, Armed Services, and Foreign Affairs Committees, continuing his long career defending our country by working in Congress to stop the ever-growing China threat around the world.”
This month, Americans were again stunned by the news of yet another Chinese espionage campaign leveled against our homeland.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the totalitarian regimes in Communist China and Cuba had come to an agreement to allow the Chinese to build an “eavesdropping facility” on the island - just 90 miles away from Florida.
What then transpired was almost more troubling. The Biden administration first questioned the accuracy of the report, only then to backtrack a few days later to confirm the facility had been operational since 2019, saying they had inherited this problem from the Trump administration.
Even if this is true, it calls into question the Biden administration’s efforts – or lack thereof - to thwart Chinese influence in our hemisphere.
One of the hallmarks of the Trump foreign policy doctrine was building partnerships in Latin America to curb our adversary’s influence and strengthen mutual interests with countries in the region. These include: the Trump administration’s successful efforts, along with several Latin American countries, to sanction the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah which is spreading terror cells across South America; the isolation campaign against the Maduro regime to starve his corrupt narco-syndicate government of resources; and designating the Cuban government a state sponsor of terrorism. These actions sent a clear-eyed signal of American resolve to the rest of the world.
Despite all these successes, there is still an enormous problem plaguing Latin America – Chinese investment and influence. Unfortunately, to our peril, the Biden administration has done little to push back.
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China’s predatory Belt & Road Initiative has locked in participation from at least 21 regional countries who receive high-interest loans for Chinese-run development projects. We need to communicate to our Latin American partners this is a dangerous policy to undertake and provides the Chinese government with massive leverage over their government.
Approximately 56% of the world’s 86 million tons of identified lithium resources are located in the South American Andes range. In her testimony to Congress, SOUTHCOM Commander Laura Richardson said: “The PRC’s efforts to extract South America’s natural resources to support its own population of 1.9 billion people are conducted at the expense of our partner nations and their citizens.”
In May 2021, a Chinese state-owned entity purchased a Canadian mine in Argentina that undermined the Trump-era U.S.-Canada Joint Action Plan for Critical Minerals Cooperation.
Under this agreement, the U.S. should have been notified of such a purchase by the Trudeau government. However, two years later, we still don’t have answers whether the Biden Administration was even consulted. Allowing such purchases to be made flies in the face of such bilateral agreements.
We must quickly address the dangerous national security implications of Chinese ownership of major ports and mines in the Western Hemisphere. Currently, Chinese investment firms control major ports on the Panama Canal, a major global trade route the U.S. economy is reliant on, and other critical chokepoints throughout Latin America.
These ports could easily become militarized with a simple directive from Beijing. This must not be allowed to happen. In fact, the Chinese military already runs a space station in Argentina that is ‘black box’ in the local community and shrouded in secrecy.
The U.S. desperately needs a new Monroe Doctrine focused on securing the Western Hemisphere from this communist expansion into the region. To counter aggressive Chinese maneuvers such as the spy base in Cuba, hoarding critical minerals, or buying up vital infrastructure in the region, the U.S. should consider implementing secondary sanctions on countries who do the bidding of Communist China. We should target the private sector companies in the region if they are doing business with Chinese entities that further endanger U.S. interests and our national security.
Time is running out and it’s time the federal government act with urgency.
Mike Waltz represents Florida’s 6th Congressional District. He serves on the House Select Committee on Intelligence, Armed Services Committee, and Foreign Affairs Committee. He is also a National Guard Colonel and combat-decorated Green Beret.
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