Exclusive: Representative Carlos Gimenez, member of the House Select Committee on Chinese Communist Party (CCP), He said China represents the “biggest threat” to the United States and that President-elect Donald Trump will achieve “peace through strength, not peace through appeasement.”
Sen. Gimenez, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital that the Chinese Communist Party is “the adversary we should be watching, both militarily and economically.”
Jimenez said, “China is making great strides around the world,” pointing to its production capacity, specifically in defense materials and weapons. “It is superior to those in the United States and we have seen what we are missing.”
Jimenez said the Russia-Ukraine war “showed us that our defense capability has deteriorated over decades.”
Rep. Carlos Gimenez, Republican of Florida. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images/File)
“This shows that we could run out of ammunition very quickly if we fight a long battle with China,” he said, warning that China also “has the capacity to produce a much larger number of ships than we do.”
Jimenez said the United States is “trying to catch up.”
“We have to modernize the way we do things at the Pentagon, we have to be smarter, we have to engage the private sector, and we have to eliminate the bureaucracy that has hindered our ability to protect ourselves,” he said.
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But regarding the approach to the Chinese threat, Gimenez criticized the Biden administration, specifically President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
This view shows the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. (VCG via Getty Images/File)
“I think China, with Biden and Blinken, thought they could do anything they wanted or they thought they could fool them,” he said. He added: “The Biden administration has always shown weakness and tried to appease our enemies, while Trump knows exactly who our friends are and who our enemies are and will put America's security first.”
Jimenez added: “He realizes that America's security lies in peace through strength, not peace through appeasement.”
Regarding confronting the threat in the coming months, Jimenez pointed out the importance of the United States being energy independent.
Rep. Carlos Gimenez, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping (Getty Images/File)
Jimenez said he wants to “make America the energy tap of the world, where the world goes to for energy is America.”
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“This will help our financial position and balance sheet and give us the ability to help our friends and weaken our enemies,” he said.
He continued: “We can use our energy dominance as an economic weapon against our enemies, helping our friends and hurting our enemies.” “We could replace Iranian and Venezuelan oil with American oil, and Russian oil with American oil, thus starving those countries allied with China of their largest source of income and thus hindering their ability to help China.”
“If China finds itself isolated in the world, I think this is the best way to contain this threat,” he said. “But we have to show strength and willingness to confront the Chinese Communist Party’s aggression.”
President Biden meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a virtual summit at the White House on November 15, 2021. (Mandel and/AFP via Getty Images)
As for the House Select Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, he said they have “a lot of work to do.”
“The Chinese threat is increasing,” he added, noting that the committee is bipartisan in nature and that members on both sides of the aisle “are convinced that China is the threat and that China will be the threat.”
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“It's not about climate change, it's about China,” he added. “We must confront this threat or live in a world dominated by the Chinese Communist Party.”
“Trump will show strength and back up those words with action.”
