The GOP rejects the Taiwan comparison as Democrats raise alarms about Venezuela
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Lawmakers are debating whether the US military’s actions in Venezuela could be exploited by China as it balances its advance on Taiwan, underscoring the deep divide in Congress over the comparison between the US military and the regime’s violence.
Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-Md., argued that China sees an opening in the making.
“They’re looking at this, and they can justify what they’re doing because it’s the same thing that the United States is doing,” Meeks said.
Meeks is the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
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Rep. Gregory Meeks, DN.Y., during a roundtable discussion with the House Foreign Affairs Committee at the Rayburn House Office Building on Feb. 12, 2025, Washington, DC (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
When asked about Meeks’ concerns, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., acknowledged that China may view this period as an opportunity.
“China may try to use any speech at any time, any place. That would not be surprising,” said Mast. “It could be the same way they do that.”
But, in his opinion, the American effort in Venezuela is not at all similar to the one threatened by China against Taiwan.
“It’s apples to oranges,” Mast said.
Where Democrats see similarities that may invite similar outcomes, Republicans like Mast see a stark contrast in China’s aggressive stance toward Taiwan that separates it from America’s efforts in Venezuela.
China, led by President Xi Jinping, maintains that Taiwan is not an independent country, rather it is a part of China that will be reunited under the mainland government. For years, China has been conducting military exercises along the Taiwan border.
Just last week, China fired a series of rockets into the waters around Taiwan as part of a military exercise, raising alarm from US lawmakers.
Clark Summers, a professor of international relations at Belmont Abbey College, believes that China’s view of Taiwan’s legitimacy is not the same as the US’s view of President Nicolás Maduro’s position in Venezuela – a regime in which the US illegally clings to power.
“At the same time that the US asserts the legal authority to act in relation to Venezuela, that in particular becomes a double-edged sword because Beijing can assert the same fundamental right to intervene within its sphere of influence.,” Summers said.
VANCE SAYS CROCKETTE ‘DOESN’T KNOW WHAT HE’S TALKING ABOUT’ ABOUT VENEZUELA MADURO OPERATION.
Chinese President Xi Jinping on March 23, 2019, in Rome, Italy. (Photos by Antonio Masiello/Getty)
““I think China will say anything that will help them build an argument that the use of force is appropriate and under international law,” he said.
Some Republican lawmakers rejected the idea that Maduro’s capture in the US bears any resemblance to the aggression shown by China and Russia.
Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif., chairman of the House Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific, described the U.S. efforts as an attempt to strengthen the poorly constructed law.
“[Maduro] He is accused of drug trafficking, causing and smuggling drugs into the United States, which killed hundreds and thousands of Americans,” Kim said.
“This was a law enforcement operation, accurate, targeted, very successful, very limited. On the contrary,” said Kim.
Mast echoes Kim’s thinking.
“We did work to enforce the law. It wasn’t a job to say ‘we’re taking you out because we don’t see you as a government.’ That would be about China, wouldn’t it?” Mast said.
MORNING GLORY: THE UNITED STATES IS NOW ‘CONTINUED’ VENEZUELA AFTER THE PUSHING OF MADURO OUT
Representative Brian Mast, R-Fla., leaves the House Republican Conference meeting at the US Capitol on May 22, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)
Democrats remain uncertain.
Meeks argued that the idea that the US should use its superpower position to align its neighbors more closely with its interests reflects thinking more in line with authoritarian governments.
“That goes with the same reason why Putin says he’s going to Ukraine and doesn’t want NATO there,” Meeks said.
Rep. George Latimer, DN.Y., is deeply concerned that when the US will stand up to future aggressors, those countries will use Venezuela to avoid international pressure.
“What is our moral position when Russia goes to Ukraine, as China may go into Taiwan, like any superpower after another? They will look at us and say, ‘What did you do in Venezuela?’
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Lawmakers in the Senate voted Thursday to advance legislation that would prevent the Trump administration from taking further military action in Venezuela. It is not clear when it may be taken up by the House of Representatives.
