Sen. Mark Warner discusses Nancy Pelosi's reported trip to Taiwan, and the US supply chain
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., says the United States should support Taiwan, and warns that the United States has not done enough to protect its supply chain from China.
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said the United States needs to stand with Taiwan in light of increased aggression by China’s President Xi Jinping, and added that whether Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi should visit is a decision "she has to make."
"I think we need to stand with Taiwan, particularly as [Chinese President Xi Jinping] becomes more aggressive in terms of urging unification. And there are plenty of senators going to Taiwan on a regular basis," Warner told Fox News Digital at the Aspen Security Forum in July.
"At the level of Pelosi, I think that’s a call she has to make, there are clearly up and downsides, but I think the United States needs to stand with Taiwan," he added.
Nancy Pelosi arrived in Singapore this morning beginning a tour of Asia with additional stops in Malaysia, South Korea and Japan, and a reported stop in Taiwan.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (R) (D-CA) accompanies Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (L) at the U.S. Capitol March 30, 2022, in Washington, DC. ((Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images))
Warner also called on Taiwan to make "more significant investments" in their own defense capabilities, drawing on lessons from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Beijing views Taiwan as part of its own territory, and President Xi warned Biden in a phone call last week that the U.S. must not "play with fire" regarding China’s involvement with Taiwan.
The United States does not have official relations with Taiwan, and Pelosi would be the highest-ranking elected U.S. official to visit the island since then-Speaker Newt Gingrich in 1997.
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Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) speaks during an oversight hearing with the Senate Rules and Administration in the Russell Senate Office Building on December 07, 2021, in Washington, D.C. ((Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images))
Warner also warned that the United States’ supply chain remains dependent on China, despite a post-COVID recognition of the challenges associated with not securing and diversifying the supply chain. Warner referenced both pharmaceuticals and electric cars as being overwhelmingly dependent on China.
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"We’re going to have to make that decision on a national security basis: Are we willing to pay … an extra few cents or a nickel more to make sure that devices are secure, that our drugs are secure, to not make sure that we are subject to what could be, frankly, economic harassment or, frankly, economic jeopardy from countries like China that might cut off critical supplies to our country," he added.
Warner also discussed the dangers of social media app TikTok, and its parent company ByteDance, which Warner and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., in July urged the Federal Trade Commission to formally investigate.
The TikTok logo is seen on an iPhone 11 Pro max in this photo illustration in Warsaw, Poland on September 29, 2020. (Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
"The Chinese law says [Chinese technology companies] have to have their first loyalty to the Communist Party," Warner said, warning that Americans who use TikTok risk handing their personal information over to the tech company.
"I say as a dad of three daughters, I wouldn’t want my daughters [on TikTok]," he added, noting that the Chinese Communist Party is getting access to information via TikTok.
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Warner and Rubio’s request for the FTC to investigate TikTok was in response to reports that the company has permitted engineers and executives in the People’s Republic of China to access private data of U.S. users, despite claims that the data was protected, according to a press release.
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"We write in response to public reports that individuals in the People’s Republic of China have been accessing data on U.S. users, in contravention of several public representations, including sworn testimony in October 2021," the senators said in a letter to Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan.
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