Rep. Waltz to Newsmax: Blinken Shouldn't Have Visited China

Secretary of State Antony Blinken should not have gone to China over the weekend to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other officials, considering the levels of violations of American sovereignty China has made, Rep. Michael Waltz said on Newsmax Tuesday.

"I don't know what they have to do for us to say, You know what? You don't get the privilege to talk to our secretary of state until you knock this behavior off," the Florida Republican, a House Foreign Affairs and Armed Services committees member, told "Wake Up America."

Waltz pointed out that China's Communist Party has been violating American sovereignty by spying on U.S. nuclear bases with a spy balloon, harassing U.S. airplanes and ships, and working toward opening spy bases in the Caribbean and Cuba.

"Instead we go on bended knee with 'Mother, may I,' going to them on their soil after being lectured, and harangued in a phone beforehand," said Waltz. "I think it sends all the wrong messages to the Chinese communists, and it sends all the wrong messages to our allies."

He said he does agree with those who say the channels of communications must be kept open with China, but "that's where the low-level deputy assistant undersecretary [goes], not the secretary of state, not the secretary of defense, who was also rejected in the recent weeks, and certainly not with our commander in chief."

President Joe Biden said Saturday he hopes to meet with Xi in the upcoming months, and last week, reports indicated the president wanted to speak with his Chinese counterpart after the U.S. shot down a Chinese spy balloon after it traveled across the country.

Waltz also on Tuesday said Blinken's comments about Taiwan while he was in China sent a "very confusing message."

Blinken commented after he met with Xi that the One China policy has not changed, that the United States remains "opposed to any unilateral changes to the status quo" and it does "not support Taiwan independence."

"It's kind of techno-diplo speak that technically is correct under the One China policy, but again sends a very confusing message," said Waltz. "At the end of the day, we know that Taiwan is a thriving democracy that is charting its own path. And if you're going to say something like that, on the international stage on Chinese soil, then you also say we will stand firm with Taiwan and its right to govern itself. You put heavy qualifiers in there."

But Blinken's words, as said, are a "green light" for China's communists, said Waltz, and could invite aggression through "appeasement, weakness, and poor diplomacy."

Waltz also discussed special counsel John Durham's upcoming testimony before two congressional hearings this week to discuss his findings on the FBI and its conduct while investigating former President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign for accusations of collusion with Russia.

Reforms must be made with the FBI, said Waltz, adding that even though its Director Christopher Wray has pointed out that several key players in the investigation have been fired, the "Crossfire Hurricane" investigation was so large that there have to be mid-level people who remain with the agency.

"I would recommend everybody read this Durham report," said Waltz. "[Crossfire Hurricane] was an absolute hoax and it damaged our commander in chief. It damaged our trust in our law enforcement agencies and damaged our ability to deal on the international stage for years."

Further, the congressman noted that then-Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton's campaign was behind the Russian collusion "hit job."

"They all knew it, all of the Obama administration and everybody inside the Department of Justice at the senior levels knew it, and they let it go on," said Waltz. "It's just disgraceful."

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