Ranking Member Risch Opening Statement at Hearing on Modernizing U.S. Alliances and Partnerships in the Indo-Pacific

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today gave the following opening remarks at a full committee hearing on modernizing U.S. alliances and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific. Witnesses included The Honorable Harry B. Harris Jr., former U.S. ambassador to South Korea and former commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, and Mr. Walter Russell Mead, professor of foreign affairs and humanities at Bard College and columnist at the Wall Street Journal.

Ranking Member Risch gave the following remarks:

"Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

"The United States has had a strategic interest in Asia being open and free for over two centuries. We opened a consulate in India in 1792. In the 1850s, various U.S. senators made speeches about thwarting efforts by various colonial powers to dominate the region.

"A balance of power favorable to the United States protects U.S. interests and allies' sovereignty, advances economic prosperity, and ensures no one has to bow to a bully. However, this balance is being challenged. The greatest threat of regional domination of course comes from China, supported by a growing China-Russia strategic partnership. It has been interesting to watch Russia become the junior partner in the relationship.

"China has improved its strategic posture by creating trade and economic dependencies and seizing territory from the South China Sea to the Indian border. China knows it can get what it wants if it proves U.S. alliances and partnerships are not up to the task when things get tough.

"Time and again, we have played into their hands. In 2012, the United States stood by as China seized the Scarborough Shoal from the Philippines uncontested - a failure we must not forget or repeat given China's growing encroachment on more territory like the Second Thomas Shoal.

"Weak responses spread the idea that we are unreliable. Left unanswered, our allies' confidence is shaken, and we should not be surprised if they seek to engage with China to protect their own national interests.

"Even in the face of a deteriorating strategic position, we remain unserious about ensuring our alliances can address our shared objectives and contend with shared threats. U.S. allies plead for deeper economic engagement with us. Yet, the U.S. does not have a substantive economic agenda. Biden's Indo-Pacific Economic Framework sounds good but delivers nothing.

"While there are calls for reviews of foreign investments by allies in the United States, we allow Chinese firms to benefit from U.S. tax credits and to profit off research at U.S. universities. This approach should be reversed.

"Meanwhile, the administration's approach to allies puts ideology ahead of reality. The last three budgets proposed by the administration prioritize gender and climate over countering China's advantages in transportation and digital infrastructure. The administration instructs allies to stop buying Russian energy, and then at the same time bans U.S. LNG exports. This ham-handed move has not gone unnoticed by our allies, and for obvious reasons, is roundly criticized.

"Numerous political declarations and joint statements obscure the lack of substance and progress with our allies. AUKUS is the most egregious example. I strongly support AUKUS, but the administration announced this security alliance in 2021, but did not negotiate what it meant until after the press release went out. It is now 2024, and we still don't know when any new military capabilities will be produced.

"To make it worse, the administration refuses to certify that Australia and the UK - our closest allies - have the laws to adequately support defense cooperation. But this didn't stop the administration from announcing moves to add a new AUKUS partner last week.

"Similarly, the administration announced with great fanfare a Nuclear Consultative Group with South Korea to deter North Korean aggression. A great idea - a year later, where is the progress?

"Further, the administration fails to prioritize greater burden sharing. The demands of this security environment are immense. Our partners need to step up and buy more capability and conduct more presence operations.

"Finally, the administration's Indo-Pacific alliance strategy does not account for the growing China-Russia alignment. Our Asian partners recognize that what happens in Ukraine will affect Asia's future. The administration is politely asking China to restrain Russia, rather than imposing effective economic punishment on China for its active role in Ukraine's suffering. That is the only thing China will understand or respond to.

"The administration's approach to alliances is not serving our interests. Protectionism over economic engagement, ideology over pragmatism, and form over substance do not advance U.S. interests or give our Indo-Pacific partners strategic options.

"Initiatives must have concrete actions if they are to help us win this competition. The administration's performance is underwhelming.

"I look forward to hearing our witnesses' thoughts. Thank you, Mr. Chairman."

These remarks have been lightly edited for clarity. Witness testimony is available on foreign.senate.gov.

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