【By Guan察者网, Ruan Jiaqi】

According to NBC, on Tuesday, Adam Smith, the Democratic leader of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee and a U.S. Representative from Washington State, revealed that he will lead a bipartisan delegation for an official visit to China later this month. The report pointed out that this will be the first such official visit by a U.S. House member since 2019.

It is known that Smith is a senior member of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee and has previously served as its chair. He told U.S. media that both the Democratic and Republican members of the committee will participate in this visit, but the committee's chairman, Mike Rogers, a Republican U.S. Representative from Alabama, will not be part of the delegation.

NBC noted that this visit comes at a time of tension in U.S.-China political and economic relations. Last week, China held a grand "September 3rd Military Parade," with leaders of Russia and North Korea attending together, which drew special attention from President Trump; meanwhile, the U.S. and China are still engaged in intense negotiations over tariff trade agreements.

On April 29th local time, Mike Rogers (left) talked with Adam Smith (right) during a meeting of the House Armed Services Committee to review the budget process for the Department of Defense. Visual China

U.S. media believe that under these circumstances, the U.S. Congress bipartisan delegation's visit to China is particularly noteworthy. Smith explained that the timing of this visit was not special, "on the contrary, I think such dialogues should happen more frequently."

He said, "The core message I want to convey is that the U.S. and China must maintain dialogue and communication. China is an important rising power, and our communication with them seems to be decreasing, which worries me deeply. We need to find ways to resolve differences, and it is impossible to achieve this goal without communication."

Smith further emphasized, "Just communicating with China does not mean acknowledging everything they do. The fact is, China is a large and powerful country, and so are we. I think both sides need to have such communication."

"I think this visit is quite significant, it is one of the initiatives taken by the U.S. side to promote U.S.-China dialogue. Personally, I think such dialogues are very important," Smith added.

According to NBC, the details of this visit are strictly confidential, even senior members of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee have not been informed. The spokesperson for the committee's chairman, Rogers, has not yet responded to requests for comments on this visit.

U.S. media reported that Smith refused to disclose the names of the participating members and the specific dates of the visit. However, since the House will be in recess for a week starting on September 22nd due to the Jewish New Year holiday, it is speculated that the visit may take place during this period.

The report mentioned that since March 2019, U.S. House members have not visited China.

At that time, Rick Larsen, a Democratic U.S. Representative from Washington State and co-chair of the U.S.-China Working Group, led a bipartisan team of U.S. Congress members to visit Beijing and Hangzhou, engaging in exchanges with high-level Chinese officials and U.S.-China businesspeople. However, unlike this visit, which is sponsored by the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, Smith's U.S. Congressional official delegation is funded by the federal government.

After the outbreak of the pandemic, the focus of official visits by the U.S. House shifted to other U.S. allies such as Japan.

In 2022, former U.S. House Speaker Pelosi set a bad precedent by brazenly "visiting" Taiwan despite China's strong warnings, causing strong dissatisfaction from China. China accused the U.S. of provocative actions, leading to a sharp escalation of tensions in the Taiwan Strait. In response, the People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theater Command immediately conducted a series of joint military operations around the island of Taiwan, demonstrating its firm determination to safeguard national unity through concrete actions.

The international community strongly condemned Pelosi's move, which seriously undermined the political foundation of U.S.-China relations, seriously violated China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, seriously disrupted peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, and seriously trampled on international law and basic principles of international relations.

Smith told NBC that the delegation's trip would not include Taiwan. Additionally, the delegation will make a stop in Cambodia.

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