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ORLANDO, Fla. – Republican Rep. Scott Perry said it is “not too late” for the Biden administration to “show some strength” with regard to China’s ambitions in Taiwan amid concerns that Beijing has been emboldened by Russian aggression in Ukraine.
During an exclusive interview with Fox News on the sidelines of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Perry, R-Pa., said the Biden administration’s leadership has been “an abject failure.”
“How we got into this, in my opinion, is twofold,” Perry said. “It’s our energy policy in the United States. When we pull the United States offline of producing the energy that the world needs, it opens it up for other actors who use it to extort their neighbors, and Vladimir Putin is one of them.”
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Perry said when U.S. “assets” are pulled off the market, it “raises prices because there is less of it.”
“And when you do that, somebody like Vladimir Putin, who’s got an economy that is 40-50%, driven by fossil fuels, it raises the amount of money he’s making, so it makes it affordable for somebody — some autocrat — to do what he’s doing. So that’s number one,” Perry said. “The Biden energy policies have facilitated what’s happening in Ukraine right now.”
Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., takes a question from a reporter at a news conference held by the House Freedom Caucus on Capitol Hill in Washington Aug. 23, 2021.
(AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades, File)
“Number two, his rhetoric has been weak,” Perry said. “We saw him being weak in Afghanistan and so too the rest of the world, certainly, but Vladimir Putin did, and then just recently, with Ukraine talking about a little invasion or something like that, would be something we wouldn’t do anything about it. That’s very, very provocative.
“When a tyrant is looking for a green light, that’s essentially opening the door completely.”
Some have raised concerns in recent days that Russia’s multi-front war on Ukraine could embolden adversaries like China in their ambitions to take Taiwan, but Perry told Fox News there is still time.
“It’s not too late, but the actions obviously haven’t had any effect on Russia’s calculation, on Vladimir Putin’s calculation, and the risk related to invading another country on the world stage,” Perry said, referring to the Biden administration’s sanctions on Russia.
“There’s a risk to that and, apparently, he’s determined that it is worth the whatever that risk is.”
As for China, Perry said he believes “China is making an assessment right now.”
“It’s ongoing,” he said. “It’s a continuous assessment, and I still think that there is time for the Biden administration to show some strength here and some resolve.
President Biden delivers remarks on the debt ceiling during an event in the State Dining Room of the White House Oct. 4 in Washington.
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
“But if they continue to fail or fail more spectacularly than they already have, I think it kind of opens the door wide open to China’s regressions, and then it’s just a matter of timing.”
Taiwan scrambled its air force Thursday as nine Chinese aircraft have entered the island nation’s air defense zone, the Taiwan Ministry of Defense announced.
A small fleet of eight J-16 fighters and a Yun-8 technical reconnaissance aircraft breached the airspace. The Taiwanese aircraft broadcast a warning and monitored the Chinese fleet’s activities.
A Defense Department spokesman said that the Pentagon is “aware of the reporting” and that the U.S. remains “concerned” by “provocative military action near Taiwan.”
“The United States will continue to support a peaceful resolution of cross-strait issues, consistent with the wishes and best interests of the people on Taiwan,” the spokesman said, stressing that such action is “destabilizing” and undermines regional peace and stability. “Our commitment to Taiwan is rock solid and contributes to the maintenance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and within the region.”
The last such incursion occurred on Jan. 23, when 39 Chinese aircraft flew into the defense space, but the new fly-by occurs at a time of heightened tensions.
In this undated file photo released by the Taiwan Ministry of Defense, a Chinese PLA J-16 fighter jet flies in an undisclosed location
(Taiwan Ministry of Defense via AP)
Taiwan increased its alert levels as Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine Thursday local time. China criticized the move by saying Taiwan is “not Ukraine.”
Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Tan Kefei stressed that Taiwan was a “core issue” for China, and it would tolerate no foreign interference.
“We urge the U.S. side to recognize the high sensitivity of the Taiwan issue, stop interfering in China’s internal affairs and stop playing with fire on the Taiwan issue,” Tan said, according to Reuters.
And China appeared to stress that coverage of Russia’s invasion could play into helping “solve the Taiwan issue once and for all.”
Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., takes a question from a reporter at a news conference held by the House Freedom Caucus on Capitol Hill in Washington Aug. 23, 2021.
(AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades, File)
Meanwhile, when asked why the average American should care about the conflict in Ukraine, Perry said there is a “macro issue which maybe most of Americans don’t realize.”
“We are a treaty signatory. We made a guarantee with some of our European NATO partners that if they’re ever attacked, we would be there to defend them, we would come in with armed forces,” Perry said. “Vladimir Putin hasn’t gotten there yet, but he’s on the doorstep right now, and if he goes any further, we are there, so that’s a good reason to be concerned.”
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Perry also said that “every single day,” when Americans are “buying goods and services, whether you’re paying for it at the pump, or whether you’re buying a half a chicken for your family for dinner this evening, you’re paying more because of the fuel prices.”
“It is unnecessary,” he said. “We don’t have to sacrifice. We can still have the ideals that people should be free and should not be invaded while producing our own fossil fuels and driving the cost down for us.”
Fox News’ Peter Aitken and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
