Pompeo, Panetta to testify at hearing on China’s support for US foes

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former CIA Director Leon Panetta are slated to testify at next week’s House hearing focused on China’s support for U.S. foes. 

The hearing, set for Jan. 30, is titled “Authoritarian Alignment: The CCP’s Support for America’s Adversaries” and will center on China’s relationship with U.S. adversaries such as Russia and Iran.

The U.S. has repeatedly warned China against supporting Russia’s war on Ukraine, while the U.S. is currently engaged in dangerous tit-for-tat attacks with Iranian proxies in the Middle East.

Pompeo, a staunch China hawk and former CIA director, served under former President Trump and was the architect of some of the administration’s most aggressive policies toward Beijing. He deemed China’s repression of Uyghur Muslims a “genocide and crimes against humanity.”

Panetta, who served as Defense secretary under President Obama, has pushed China to establish better relations with the U.S. to avoid future conflicts. 

The House select committee is led by Chair Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and ranking member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.). The committee has held hearings on business ties with China and Beijing’s human rights record, as well as on war gaming an invasion of Taiwan.

Pompeo, who at one point considered running for the Oval Office, shut down the speculation in April, saying it “wasn’t the moment for us.”

The committee released a report in late December last year calling for “a reset” in U.S.-China trade relations.

Semafor first reported the news about Pompeo and Panetta’s planned testimonies.