Schumer to lead Senate delegation to China next week

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) will lead a bipartisan delegation to China next week in a swing through Asia focused on national security and American business interests.

The trip, which includes stops in Japan and South Korea, will focus on opening markets in China to “level the playing field for American workers,” Schumer’s office said on Tuesday, as well as “maintaining U.S. leadership in advanced technologies.” The delegation will meet with government officials and business leaders in each country.

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Among the attendees will be Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID), the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee.

Schumer has made countering China a central pillar of his tenure in the upper chamber. He spearheaded the effort to pass the CHIPS and Science Act, which will pour tens of billions into semiconductor research in the United States, and has framed a series of summits on artificial intelligence in the context of competition with China.

The trip also comes on the heels of a diplomatic offensive by the Biden administration, which has simultaneously sought to defuse tensions with its geopolitical rival while restricting access to critical technologies. In recent months, high-ranking officials, from Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, have made visits to Beijing.

In contrast to his House counterparts, Schumer will not travel to Taiwan, the island democracy that China considers part of its territory. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) made a trip there before her term ended as House speaker, drawing the ire of Chinese officials, while her successor, Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in California in April.

Schumer does, however, plan to raise China’s human rights abuses and matters such as fentanyl. The Justice Department has announced charges against Chinese-based chemical manufacturers for the production of the highly lethal drug, which is being trafficked into the U.S. through Mexico.

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Besides Crapo, the majority leader will be accompanied by Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), John Kennedy (R-LA), and Jon Ossoff (D-GA).

The delegation could leave sometime after Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) Thursday funeral in San Francisco, according to Punchbowl News. The trip has been timed to occur over next week’s October recess.