Utah Republican Senator Mitt Romney warned Sunday that China is on track to becoming the world’s most powerful military and economy, likely representing the most significant challenges to U.S. foreign policy.
“The real challenge…is the emergence of China, which is on track to become the most powerful economy in the world and the most powerful military in the world. And that represents a greater challenge over the coming couple of decades.
“I think the president is increasingly aware of that challenge, as is his secretary of state, [Antony] Blinken, and I think they’re looking to try to pull together our alliances to wake up to that reality and take action to dissuade China from the path of confrontation and military aggressiveness,” he added.
Romney went on to discuss China’s lack of transparency regarding the coronavirus pandemic, and its role in committing several human rights abuses against ethnic minorities and citizens in Hong Kong.
The nation has been accused by the U.S. and other world leaders of placing over 1 million Uyghurs—a predominantly Turkish Muslim minority—into detainment camps in the Xinjiang region and forcing them to work in hazardous conditions against their will.
