US Prez Biden told by lawmakers to protect military ops in South China Sea

US lawmakers have urged President Joe Biden to raise with Beijing the issue of illicit fentanyl trafficking create a coercive environment for American businesses and stand up for the militarys ability to freely operate in the South China Sea during a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on WednesdayThey also said Biden should be adamant that China leans on Russia and Iran not to exacerbate the military crises happening around the worldBiden and Xi are scheduled to meet in San Francisco on Wednesday on the sidelines of the APEC Leadership meeting The White House is calling it a summitOn the Senate floor Majority Leader Chuck Schumer listed issues including fentanyl trafficking and the coercive environment for US businesses in China that he thought Biden should raise with XiOn the IsraelGaza conflict in particular we told President Xi that China needs to use its influence on Iran to stop them from acting in any way that would widen the conflict China should play a positive and not a negative role in this delicate crisis he saidIn fact during my meeting with President Xi I criticised the Chinese government for issuing a statement about October 7 militant group Hamas attack on Israel that failed to condemn the killing of civilians They ended up issuing a stronger statement the next day Schumer saidHe asserted that if President Biden is similarly firm that China should play a stabilising role with Iran and Russia I think it will make a big differenceThe Senate majority leader felt that Wednesdays meeting between President Biden and President Xi will be a real test for China to show that they truly want a better relationship with the United StatesI expect President Biden to be adamant as we were with President Xi that China must lean on Russia and Iran not to exacerbate the military crises happening around the world he saidCongressman Rob Wittman said that President Biden must send a clear message that the US will not tolerate the Peoples Liberation Armys increasing military aggression or the Chinese Communist Partys insidious attempts to advance their malign agendaWittman vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and member of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party said after sending a series of US cabinet officials to China over the past year without any tangible outcomes it was baffling that Biden was willing to meet with dictator Xi Jinping without making any demandsAny meeting between the US and Chinese Communist Party officials should only be held if China agrees to establish reasonable requirements to stop the flow of fentanyl to cease all nearcollisions and dangerous intercepts of US ships and aircraft to cease harassment of Philippine vessels around the Second Thomas shoal and to cease all military operations in Taiwans Air Defence Identification Zone east of the Median Line he saidCongressman Mike Rogers the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said Biden needs to clearly lay out the steep consequences China will face if its aggressive behaviour in the South China Sea continuesXi needs to understand that the US will not be intimidated We will continue to support our allies and partners in the IndoPacificPresident Biden must also stand up for our militarys ability to freely operate in the South China Sea Chinas dangerous harassment of our pilots and sailors needs to come to an end Rogers saidSenators Mitt Romney and Jim Risch sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken seeking clarification on whether the US invited Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee who has been sanctioned by the United States since 2020 for his role in implementing Hong Kongs draconian national security law imposed by Beijing to the leaders meeting of the 2023 AsiaPacific Economic Community APECLee is claiming publicly that the US government invited him personally and the Department of State has not confirmed or denied these claims the senators wroteInstead in its public statements the department has only said that participating in APEC 2023 will be in accordance with US law and regulations including with respect to sanctions they saidIn a speech on the Senate floor Senator Chuck Grassley said China is increasingly aggressive in the South China Sea and the Strait of TaiwanTo be sure our responses are being closely watched by all three of these adversaries Russia China and Iran This is a critical time when sending more messages of weakness would be very dangerous he addedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever