Baumgartner makes rare visit to China as part of bipartisan House delegation

WASHINGTON – A Republican and a Democrat from Washington state met with Premier Li Qiang and other Chinese officials in Beijing on Sunday and Monday, the first delegation of House lawmakers to visit China since 2019.

Rep. Michael Baumgartner, a freshman Republican from Spokane, joined the bipartisan delegation led by Rep. Adam Smith of Bellevue, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee. In a statement, Baumgartner said Washington is one of the most trade-dependent states in the nation and touted the state’s agriculture and aerospace industries.

“This trip is about safeguarding those shared interests while pressing for market access for U.S. goods and technology, protecting intellectual property, and ending coercive practices,” he said. “The U.S.-China relationship is pivotal to global peace and stability, and Congress is united – Republicans and Democrats alike – in seeking candid discussions on China’s role in helping to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, strengthen nuclear non-proliferation on the Asia continent, and ensure free navigation of the seas.”

Baumgartner added that the U.S. delegation would “welcome educational exchange that builds understanding,” while raising concerns with their Chinese counterparts about access to China for American students, the Chinese government’s interference on that nation’s college campuses and the flow of precursor chemicals used to manufacture fentanyl that come from China.

Smith, a longtime leader on foreign policy and military issues, invited Baumgartner on a delegation to Iraq, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates in April. As he was on that previous trip, Baumgartner is the sole Republican in the delegation to China, joined by Democratic Reps. Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania and Ro Khanna of California.

Baumgartner sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and worked as a State Department official in Iraq and as a U.S. government contractor in Afghanistan before he began a career in politics. A delegation of U.S. senators last traveled to China in 2023, but no House delegation had visited the country since 2019. Since then, tensions have continued to rise between China and the United States.

Li, whose full title is premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, is the second -most senior member of the Chinese government, after President Xi Jinping. In welcome remarks on Sunday, as reported by The Associated Press, Li called the Americans’ visit an “icebreaking trip that will further the ties between the two countries.”

“It is important for our two countries to have more exchanges and cooperation; this is not only good for our two countries but also of great significance to the world,” the premier said.

Smith, in his own opening remarks, said the U.S. delegation looked forward to discussing trade and economic issues as well as ways to avoid potentially dangerous miscommunication between the U.S. and Chinese militaries, saying he is “deeply concerned that our two militaries don’t communicate more.”

“China and the U.S. are the two most powerful and influential countries in the world,” Smith said to Li, as the AP reported. “It’s really important that we get along and we find a way to peacefully coexist in the world.”

Baumgartner echoed that sentiment in a post on X on Monday, writing that China is Washington state’s biggest export market. He thanked U.S. Ambassador to China David Purdue for inviting the lawmakers and thanked Li for a “frank and honest conversation about the challenges and opportunities in the US-Chinese Relationship.”

“The most important part of reestablishing Congressional dialogue with the highest levels of the Chinese government revolves around US national security interests,” Baumgartner wrote. “It is vitally important that China allow increased regular direct communication between its military and the US military, that it take immediate steps to curb the flow of fentanyl into America and that it partner with the US to help bring the Russia-Ukraine conflict to a close and keep Iran from nuclear proliferation.”