McCaul: Putin's Defeat 'Best Deterrence' Against China

By Sandy Fitzgerald    |   Sunday, 09 April 2023 01:27 PM EDT

Defeating Russian President Vladimir Putin in Ukraine is the "best deterrence" for keeping Chinese President Xi Jinping out of Taiwan, House Foreign Affairs  Committee Chair Michael McCaul, who traveled to Taiwan this weekend, said in an interview that aired Sunday. 

"I've talked to the prime ministers and the presidents of Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, and what's happening in Ukraine will determine what happens in Taiwan and the Pacific," the Texas Republican said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "I believe the best deterrence to Chairman Xi is a failure for Putin in Ukraine."

Weapons for Taiwan are also necessary to keep the peace, McCaul insisted. 

"If we're going to have deterrence for peace, we need to get these weapons into Taiwan," McCaul said. " I sign off on all foreign military weapon sales. Twenty-two weapon systems over three years ago, Chuck, have yet to get into Taiwan, onto the island. That will provide deterrence to Chairman Xi to think twice, you know, about an invasion."

Combat training must also be ramped up to a larger scale so Taiwan can project strength, said McCaul, as "they're not where they need to be right now."

China has made several threats toward the United States after Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen's visit and meeting with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, and also made threats over McCaul's visit to the nation this weekend. 

McCaul told show host Chuck Todd that while they were speaking for the interview, recorded Saturday, there were Chinese fighter jets conducting sorties, an "intimidation tactic that they're known for."

"The size of this one is quite large, one of the largest ones we've seen, but it's not going to intimidate us," McCaul said. "We have every right to be here, to meet with President Tsai and it actually strengthens our resolve."

The people of Taiwan, as well as the United States, do not want a military confrontation, said McCaul, but the nation got wake-up calls with Hong Kong and Ukraine.  

There is also a political debate going on in Taiwan, with one side wanting to negotiate, and with Tsai's party not wanting to be a part of China, McCaul added. 

"I think the next elections in next January are going to be extremely important," said McCaul, pointing out that as Taiwan's former President Ma Ying-jeou has wrapped up a 12-day visit to China, the nation will try to influence the next Taiwanese election "and take over the island without a shot fired."

McCaul also discussed U.S. politics, including the indictment of former President Donald Trump and other issues involving the Republican Party, and the congressman said he's a "Reagan Republican" who would ask first what President Ronald Reagan would have done. 

"Reagan, who brought down the Soviet Union, what would he do in Ukraine? What would he do in — with respect to Taiwan, and freedom, and democracy, and human rights, which Reagan stood for?" said McCaul. "I personally think my party needs to rejuvenate itself with the principles of Ronald Reagan."

However, McCaul said that doesn't mean his party is headed in the wrong direction. 

"We still believe in limited government, strong national security. There is a bit of an isolationist wing in the party that, you know, concerns me with respect to foreign policy, and we're going to have those internal discussions," he said.

However, President Joe Biden's policies aren't working well, McCaul added. 

"Since Afghanistan fell, we've been projecting weakness, and this is precisely why you're seeing aggression from Putin, Chairman Xi, the ayatollah, and Kim Jong Un, all four of them, and the struggle for the global balance of power," said McCaul.

"I think that the turning point was Afghanistan, when this president started to project weakness," he added. "I think Republicans have a very strong argument when it comes to, particularly, national security and foreign policy."

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