An international coalition of lawmakers who convened in Washington, D.C. this week sounded the alarm about their fears of China's growing economic, diplomatic, and military pressure. Sixty-odd legislators from 30 countries including Fiji, Ukraine and Taiwan — participants at the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China's summit on Tuesday and Wednesday — pleaded with U.S. lawmakers for greater U.S. support in countering what they say is the ruling Chinese Communist Party's role in undermining their national security. Those calls underscore how Beijing's increasingly aggressive power projection is curdling perceptions of China as a threat to democracy. "The CCP's use of money and influence is particularly damaging for small island states where I come from … they know they can buy influence, particularly in support of authoritarian and anti-democratic politicians," said LENORA QEREQERETABUA, an IPAC guest legislator from Fiji. "I think it's incumbent on Western countries who are strong on democracy to please help us in the Pacific Islands and strengthen our institutions so we can be prepared for countries like China." Democracy at risk. That message resonated with attending U.S. lawmakers including Senators MARCO RUBIO (R-Fla.) and BOB MENENDEZ (D-N.J.). "There has now been a global awakening, the realization that the planet is threatened by the rise of a totalitarian bloc, an alliance of totalitarians who seek to redefine the world order in their image … and of course, Beijing's Communist Party leads the way in that regard," Rubio said. One of the front lines of that battle is Taiwan, which has struggled under an intensifying campaign of Chinese military intimidation since House Speaker NANCY PELOSI's trip to the self-governing island last month. Menendez sought to ease concerns that administration objections to elements of his Taiwan Policy Act may kneecap the effort to bolster the island's defenses. The bill — which the Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed Wednesday by a vote of 17-5 — authorizes $4.5 billion in security assistance for Taiwan and gives the island the distinction of being a "major non-NATO ally," among other provisions. "The thrust of the legislation will remain the same, which is to have a clear definition of support for Taiwan, for its territorial integrity, for assisting significantly in its defense posture through asymmetric weapons sales [and] to assist in [its] international participation," Menendez said. Taiwan firing line. But there are doubts about the ultimate utility of efforts to protect Taiwan from a possible Chinese invasion. There are growing concerns that Chinese President XI JINPING may launch an attack sooner than later to deliver on his vow to "reunify" the island with the Chinese mainland. "There is no way we get to the end of this decade without something happening one way or the other with regards to Taiwan, and that is a moment which threatens to be a seminal moment in human history," Rubio said. The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Washington pressed home the self-governing island's pursuit of greater international support by hosting a special reception for the IPAC summit participants at TECRO's famed Twin Oaks estate. "The Chinese government is buying your businesses, buying your ports, buying your universities and even buying your land… China has been using economic coercion to change your way of life," said Taiwanese legislator FAN YUN. The Ukraine lesson. A senior CCP official's justification on Friday of Russia's Ukraine invasion as a "necessity" for Moscow's security has fueled doubts about Xi's self-proclaimed commitment to "respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries." "China claims that it is neutral but in reality, it's not neutral," said Ukrainian lawmaker and IPAC Co-Chair for Ukraine OLEKSANDR MEREZHKO. "China helps Russia evade Western sanctions by buying Russian oil, [so] China in fact finances Russia's war machine and provides Russia diplomatic aid at the U.N. by voting against resolutions in support of Ukraine's territorial integrity." TRANSLATING WASHINGTON — POMPEO LAUNCHES CHINA-TARGETED YOUTUBE SERIES: Former Secretary of State MIKE POMPEO on Wednesday launched the first of a series of short YouTube videos critical of the ruling Chinese Communist Party. The three-minute video, subtitled in Chinese, features Pompeo speaking directly into the camera while brandishing a Winnie the Pooh mug, a sly reference to the now-taboo comparison of Xi to the pot-bellied fictional bear. Pompeo says his goal is to "talk directly to the Chinese people about U.S.-China relations." Pompeo then launches into an anti-CCP screed (a "totalitarian political organization committed to a foreign, anti-Chinese ideology") that references its history of mass murder while name-checking Hong Kong political prisoners JIMMY LAI and CARDINAL ZEN as well as devotees of China's underground house church movement. The Hudson Institute's China Center — where Pompeo serves as advisory board chair — hopes the video will circulate widely in China despite its daunting Internet censorship regime. MILES YU, director of the Hudson Institute's China Center and Pompeo's former planning adviser, nodded to the suggestion that the YouTube series may be useful branding for a possible Pompeo GOP presidential primary run. "If the country is facing an existential threat [from China], any politician would want to bring that warning to the nation," Yu said. The Chinese embassy in Washington didn't respond to a request for comment. — USTR AND COMMERCE TOUT IPEF PROGRESS: The Biden administration last week successfully tabled the "negotiation objectives" of its new Indo-Pacific Economic Framework at a ministerial meeting of the 14 countries signed onto the deal, Commerce Secretary GINA RAIMONDO and United States Trade Representative KATHERINE TAI said in a statement Friday. The administration launched the IPEF, the economic arm of the administration's China-countering Indo-Pacific strategy, in February — but so far it's been more slogan than strategy . Last week's negotiations produced joint statements outlining the negotiation objectives for each of the four IPEF pillars — trade, fair economy, clean economy and supply chains. India — which has the world's fifth-largest economy — refused to sign on to the trade pillar's joint declaration over what Indian commerce minister PIYUSH GOYAL called " possible discrimination against developing economies." That a la carte approach to the framework's key principles may undermine its success. "Now that India is trying to opt out of one of the [IPEF] pillars, that undercuts even further the notion that this can be an effective counterbalance to China," said HARRY G. BROADMAN, former U.S. Assistant Trade Representative and managing director at Berkeley Research Group. — PENTAGON: UKRAINE INVASION MAY PROTECT TAIWAN: A senior Pentagon official believes that the military and economic consequences to Russia of its Ukraine invasion may deter Beijing from considering a possible invasion of Taiwan. "I would hope that they would draw the lesson from Russia's experience that, 'Hey, maybe ... we shouldn't do that,'' COLIN KAHL, undersecretary of defense for policy, said at the Defense News Conference 2022 last week.
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