Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is set to lead a bipartisan delegation of senators to visit China, Japan, and South Korea in an effort to further U.S. interests in the region.
The delegation will include three Democrats and three Republicans who will be under Schumer and Sen. Mike Crapo. The latter is the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee and the group will travel to the regions once the Senate recesses in October.
Chuck Schumer To Visit Asian Nations
The planned visit comes during a time when tensions between Beijing and Washington are on the rise. Members of the delegation, including Sens. Bill Cassidy, John Neely Kennedy, Maggie Hassan, and Jon Ossoff are likely to be confronted with points of disagreement between their governments. These would include issues regarding human rights, trade, and geopolitics.
United States President Joe Biden's administration has also sent several high-level officials to China in the past few months. These are parts of an effort to improve relations with Beijing and started with Secretary of State Antony Blinken going to the Asian nation in June, as per the Washington Post.
Other administration officials also visited China in the last few months, including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and John Kerry, Biden's special envoy on climate change, as well as Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.
However, despite the efforts of the White House to mend relations, the Chinese government has not sent any of its officials to Washington. The situation has prompted Republicans to call into question the purpose of any official visits from the U.S. until the Chinese side reciprocates.
The issue is expected to come into focus next month, which is when the U.S. will host leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in San Francisco for the trade bloc's yearly summit. If Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the event, he could potentially meet with Biden in person for the first time since last year.
Discussing Various Issues
Schumer's planned visit comes as he had repeatedly urged the U.S. to take a harder line on China and has urged lawmakers to begin new legislation focusing on addressing concerns about the world's second-largest economy, according to Reuters.
The Senate majority leader's office said that the trip's focus will be to advance U.S. economic and national security interests in the region. It added that the trip will include meetings with government leaders and business leaders from each country and from American companies that operate in each nation.
In August, Raimondo said that U.S. companies had complained to her that China has become "uninvestable," citing fines, raids, and other actions that made it too risky to do business in the Asian nation.
Some of the issues that the American delegation is expected to discuss with China are the latter's alleged human rights violations as well as its involvement as the top source of fentanyl and fentanyl-related products that are currently fueling an overdose crisis in the United States.
Additionally, an aide for Schumer said that the delegation will also raise concerns regarding global competition and what many of the senators consider is China's unfair business and trade practices, Beijing's role in the international community, and potential areas for cooperation, said the New York Times.
