USA: top Indian-American lawmaker Raja Krishnamoorthi slams 'adversarial' China amid 'spy balloon' row

A senior Indian-American lawmaker has accused China's ruling Communist Party of becoming an "adversarial entity" for many nations as well as its own people.

US Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, who is the Ranking Member of the newly-created House Committee on China, made the comments during an interview with news agency PTI on 8 February 2023.

Commenting on the recent controversy over an alleged Chinese spy balloon flying in US airspace, Krishnamoorthi said that red lines need to be drawn, and the Asian country needs to be told that this type of behaviour is unacceptable.

Citing China's aggression in its neighbourhood, Krishnamoorthi said that Beijing "throws elbows" at Taiwan and India, and this cannot be tolerated. He added that "clear messages" need to be sent to Beijing, while preparing and deterring aggression at the same time.

Krishnmoorthi is the first Indian-American to be named a Ranking Member or Chair of a committee, a standing committe in the US House of Representatives or the US Senate, or a select committee.

Responding to a question on the Chinese surveillance balloon that was shot down by the US last Saturday, Krishnamoorthi said it shows that the Chinese Communist Party poses a threat and a challenge. "The threat is they conduct surveillance all over the world, and of course, in the United States, and they brazenly did so violating American sovereignty, and everybody in the world could see this," he said.

Acknowledging that the US-China relationship is "slightly tense", he hoped that it can be de-escalated. "But for that to happen, the Chinese Communist Party needs to ratchet down its rhetoric, ratchet down its activities, and start abiding by more international rules-based protocols and laws. That's really important going forward," he asserted.

(With PTI inputs)

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