Mast Says U.S. Must ‘Show Up’ on China

Florida Republicans have been vocal critics of China, and now some are warning that the United States needs to do more. In an exclusive interview with The Floridian, Florida Rep. Brian Mast (R) warned that the U.S. needs to “show up” on issues because it’s being “shown up” by China.

Tension between the United States and China continues to grow as China takes on a larger role on the global stage.

Xi Jinping, the President of China, has shown interest in wanting to help end the war between Russia and Ukraine. Most recently, France’s President Emmanuel Macron met with Jinping to further discussions related to the war.

Similarly, Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa announced that they would be ditching the dollar to form their own currency.

In light of this, Rep. Mast laments that China is taking on a more commanding role on the global stage, and he suggests that the United States needs to make an effort to “show up.”

“America needs to be showing up because we’re getting shown up. We’re getting shown up by Xi Jinping who’s out there wanting to create treaties and peace-fires and make negotiations between Saudi Arabia and Iran… that hasn’t existed since the early 1980s,” Mast noted.

“The U.S. is getting shown up, and if we don’t show up to these places… we gotta go in these places and be a part of the conversation because we can and because we do have a say, and we should have a say,” Mast clarified, arguing that “that has to be the attitude of America.”

Tension is also building between the U.S. and China regarding national security concerns. Republicans like Florida Senator Marco Rubio (R) have raised the alarm, warning of the threat that China poses on the country. The social media application TikTok has been at the center of those concerns.