Florida Senator Rick Scott (R) directed a letter today to the Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
In the letter, the Florida Senator asked for detailed information regarding how much funding the United States government is annually providing to China and Chinese-affiliated enterprises.
Over the weekend, President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping reached an agreement at the G20 Summit in Japan to resume trade talks, and the whole world watches as both countries look to get past their initial contentious talks.
Speaking to Russel Vought, Senator Scott warns that “we should all be greatly concerned about what is happening in China.”
The reason being because “the Chinese government sees the United States as its global adversary,” but the country is trying to ensure that they “win” what Scott calls “the great power conflict of the 21st Century.”
He then slams China because “they have been stealing our technology and our intellectual property, and are building up their military to compete with us.”
In addition, “China continues to prop up Nicolás Maduro’s murderous regime in Venezuela, along with Cuba, Russia and Iran.”
Fellow Republican Senator Marco Rubio (R) has been a vocal critic of Huawei, a Chinese tech giant, and Rubio has consistently slammed Huawei for spying on the United States and its allies.
Earlier in the week, Scott also directly responded to the negotiations between President Trump and President Jinping, saying that “China is not our friend; they are our adversary.”
Though he applauded the President “for his efforts to work out a fair deal for America,” Senator Scott asserted that “Huawei is non-negotiable” because “Huawei is a national security threat to the U.S. and our allies.”
In the letter to Vought, Scott voices his displeasure over the fact “that the federal government spends more than $32.5 million per year in foreign aid in China, a country wealthy enough not to need support from U.S. taxpayers.”
With this, the Florida Senator informs that “American taxpayers spent nearly $100 million on energy programs in China.”
So, “not only is our country supporting programs that China should be funding themselves,” but Scott also noted that a 2016 Government Accountability Office report also indicated that “the programs were lacking the proper performance monitoring.”
Senator Scott concludes that “there is no reason American taxpayers should be supporting the Chinese government with tens of millions of dollars every year,” and he stresses that it’s “even more unacceptable when you consider all the priorities we need to take care of right here at home.”
