Moulton Delivers Opening Remarks at Select Committee on China Hearing on Human Rights in China Ahead of Xi’s Visit to Washington

WASHINGTON, DC—Today, Congressman Seth Moulton (MA-06) delivered opening remarks at the House Select Committee on China hearing examining human rights in the People’s Republic of China ahead of President Trump’s upcoming summit with Xi Jinping in Washington. The hearing focused on U.S. policy responses to the Chinese government's oppression of Uyghur and Tibetan populations, crackdown on Hong Kong, and broader civil rights restrictions.

Congressman Moulton’s opening remarks as delivered are below: 

“Serving on the Select Committee on China – the full name of the committee is the Select Committee on Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party.

“The verb there is competition. And the competition between the United States and China is not just for economic dominance or military dominance; it's for leadership, and it comes down to not just which country is stronger, but which country has the values that the rest of the world wants to follow.

“That's really what's at stake: who will lead the world, not just from power, but values.

“China under Xi Jinping has spent the past decade and a half systematically eroding the rights of everyone living in China. For most of that time, the United States has pushed back in a strongly bipartisan manner.

“We engaged on the genocide of Uyghurs in one of the most effective pieces of legislating the U.S. Congress has ever done on a human rights issue with the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. 

“And then under this presidency, we stopped trying. This administration has canceled dozens of grant programs supporting civil society, pro-democracy programming, and independent journalism that were actively undermining the CCP's efforts to suppress independent thought in China. 

“This administration is uniquely good at shooting themselves in the foot. But the decision to gut the U.S. Agency for Global Media was, even for them, a historically tragic decision.

“This is an institution that, for a very small amount of money, dramatically shaped the world's information environment in ways that align with both U.S. values and the truth. 

“My colleagues on the Select Committee have often heard me harp on the fact that while ‘competition’ is the verb and the title, the first order of business in our relationship with China today is deterrence. It's to prevent a war, a war that Xi Jinping has made very clear he is ready and willing to start. 

“We think about deterrence usually in just military terms, but if you ask the Pentagon about deterrence, they'll tell you that there are four elements: there's military, economic, diplomatic, and information. 

“We understand the importance of military power. We understand the importance of economic power. But in that information realm, we have to tell our story. We can't cut off the very organisms of our government that are designed to do that and tell a better story, not just to the world but to the people in China today. 

“And on diplomacy, that brings us back to where I began: the question of moral leadership. Who will be the next great superpower leader of the world? The question, not just of power, but of values. This administration seems to throw those values out the window. It's critical we get them back. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.”

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