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US midterm elections 2022
China

After House gains, Republicans’ differences on being ‘tough on China’ to emerge: analysts

  • Whether on economic ‘decoupling’ from Beijing or bolstering support for Taiwan, American lawmakers’ approaches expected to span pragmatic to far-flung
  • Even without Senate control, Republicans to enjoy greater leverage to force US President Joe Biden’s hand in confronting China

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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California, arrives at a midterm elections event in Washington on Tuesday. McCarthy expressed confidence his party would seize control of the lower chamber of Congress. Photo: AFP via Getty Images/TNS
Bochen Han
Now that Republicans look poised to win control of the House after the midterm elections, their party faces the task of defining what economic “decoupling” from China and defending Taiwan will look like amid their broad push for a tougher stance against Beijing.
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Republicans are sounding calls for greater decoupling despite early consequences ranging from product shortages to inflationary pressure already being felt by voters. Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August this year and Beijing’s response renewed a larger conversation within the party about the costs of US intervention in foreign conflicts.
The Republicans are projected to gain a narrow majority of 222 seats to the Democrats’ 213 in the House of Representatives, seizing control of a chamber they last held in 2018 while former president Donald Trump was in office.

In the Senate, the Democrats may be able to retain their razor-thin control of the 100-seat body. Three of the 35 races were too close to call on Wednesday, and it could be weeks before control of the upper chamber is settled if it comes down to Georgia’s race, which is headed for a run-off in December.

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Even without the Senate, Republican control of the House equips the party with greater leverage to set forth the terms for US President Joe Biden to confront China.
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In addition, other scenarios beyond White House control, like congressional visits to Taiwan, could play out more provocatively under a Republican-led House and create more stress in US-China relations, said Yun Sun of the Stimson Centre, a think tank.
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