Republican China committee chair urges tough Trump line with Xi

The Republican chair of the US congressional committee on China on Friday urged President Donald Trump to take a tough line in his summit with Xi Jinping next week, warning against concessions and calling for tighter technology restrictions and consequences for China's alleged support for Iran.



The outreach reflects concerns among China hawks in Washington that Trump could offer too many concessions in his summit with Xi, aimed at stabilizing US-China relations.



In a letter to Trump, John Moolenaar, chairman of the House Select Committee on China, said Trump should raise reports that Chinese entities provided targeting support for Iranian strikes that killed US service members, describing such support as a major escalation.



He said Trump should make it clear to China's ruling Communist Party that enabling adversaries like Iran "is tantamount to an act of war against the United States and will be met with the most severe consequences," he wrote.