众议院情报委员会主席、众议员迈克·特纳周日猛烈抨击了他所说的中国日益加剧的军事敌意，并坚称美国“立场坚定”，因为最近在美国船只和飞机附近以及在东海岸被击落的疑似间谍气球附近进行了近距离通话。
“我们看到的是中国令人难以置信的侵略，”俄亥俄州共和党人特纳告诉美国广播公司“本周”联合主播玛莎·拉达茨。“如果你看一下飞越美国、中国警察局上空的气球，以及对我们的飞机、船只和国际水域的侵略性，这正是Xi主席在俄罗斯与普京总统(弗拉基米尔·普京总统)站在一起时所说的话的核心，他说，他们正在努力做出100年来从未发生过的改变。”
特纳说：“他们试图施展拳脚，推进威权主义。我们需要坚强起来，本届政府需要坚强起来反对这种胁迫。”
特纳发表强硬言论之际，华盛顿和北京之间的关系在台湾、贸易和俄罗斯入侵乌克兰等问题上变得紧张，尽管乔·拜登总统表示，他寻求“竞争，而不是冲突”
美国官员认为，中国一直在协调越来越多的骚扰行动，包括最近几天发生的两起美中飞机和船只之间的事件。
周日，当拉德达茨追问什么是足够的回应时，特纳表示，拜登总统应该明确表示，政府将中国视为“对手”
特纳说：“我认为这意味着要把他们叫出来。我的意思是，这是不可接受的。”。“我认为政府需要加大力度，明确表示中国已经将自己视为对手，我们将这样对待它。”
周五在新加坡，国防部长劳埃德·奥斯汀重申了对印太地区的承诺，并在被拒绝与中国国防部长李尚福坐下来后呼吁加强沟通。
奥斯汀说：“我们谈得越多，就越能避免可能导致危机或冲突的误解和误判。”。周六，他说：“面对欺凌或胁迫，我们不会退缩。”
尚福最近指责“某些国家”的“霸凌”和“双重标准”，并表示“冷战思维正在死灰复燃。”
特纳在“本周”节目中表示，美国还应该加强对朝鲜的防御能力。朝鲜继续发展核计划，并从中国获得大部分援助。
“威慑的概念——我们有武器，他们有武器——已经过时了。我们需要转向威慑加防御，”他说。“这意味着一个侵略性的导弹防御系统。”
特纳特别指出，纽约市周围需要更强有力的保护，并指出共和党众议员Elise Stefanik和其他人为提高纽约州北部德拉姆堡的导弹防御能力所做的努力。
他说：“我们需要建立这个体系，我们需要让中国对朝鲜负责。”。
他还赞扬了在预计对俄罗斯发动反攻之前武装乌克兰军队的努力，称那里的军队使用美国提供的弹药，包括击落一枚关键的俄罗斯金扎尔导弹，“令人惊讶”。
然而，特纳表示，美国的武器不应用于在俄罗斯境内发动袭击，因为俄罗斯边境城镇的暴力事件急剧增加，这些暴力事件是由坚持为乌克兰而战的准军事组织引发的。
特纳在《本周》节目中承认：“我不知道谁是幕后黑手。”
拜登政府表示正在进行调查。
特纳说：“当然，我们必须明白，乌克兰需要能够保卫其领土，他们需要保护自己免受俄罗斯的侵略。”。“(沃洛德米尔·泽连斯基)总统承诺不会在(俄罗斯)使用美国的武器系统，当我最后一次见到他时，他已经向我做出了这一承诺。”
US must 'stand strong' in face of 'unbelievable aggression from China': Turner
Rep. Mike Turner, the chair of the House Intelligence Committee, on Sunday lambasted what he called increased military hostility by China and insisted the U.S. "stand strong" after recent close calls near American ships and planes and the suspected spy balloon that was shot down off the East Coast.
"What we're seeing is an unbelievable aggression by China," Turner, R-Ohio, told ABC "This Week" co-anchor Martha Raddatz. "If you look at the balloon that flew over the United States, the Chinese police stations, the aggressiveness against our both planes and ships and international water, it goes right to the heart of what President Xi [Jinping] said when he stood next to [President Vladimir] Putin in Russia where he said they are trying to make change that has not happened in 100 years."
"They're trying to flex their muscles and advance authoritarianism. We need to stand strong," Turner said, "and this administration needs to stand strong against this type of coercion."
The tough rhetoric from Turner comes as relations between Washington and Beijing have become frayed over issues including Taiwan, trade and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, though President Joe Biden has said he seeks "competition, not conflict."
U.S. officials believe China has been coordinating an increasing campaign of harassment, including two incidents in recent days between U.S. and Chinese planes and ships.
When pressed by Raddatz on Sunday on what would be a sufficient response, Turner said President Biden should make it clear that the government views China as an "adversary."
"I think it means calling them out. I mean, this is unacceptable," Turner said. "I think the administration needs to step up and make clear that China has identified itself as an adversary, and we're going to treat it as such."
On Friday in Singapore, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin both reaffirmed a commitment to the Indo-Pacific region and called for more communication after being refused a sit-down with his Chinese counterpart, Li Shangfu.
"The more that we talk, the more that we can avoid the misunderstandings and miscalculations that could lead to crisis or conflict," Austin said. On Saturday, he said, "We will not flinch in the face of bullying or coercion."
Shangfu recently blamed "bullying" and "double standards" by "some country" and said, "A cold war mentality is now resurgent."
In his "This Week" appearance, Turner said the U.S. should also bolster its defense capabilities against North Korea, which continues to develop a nuclear program and gets much of its aid from China.
"The concept of deterrence -- we have weapons, they have weapons -- is dead. We need to go to deterrence plus defense," he said. "That means an aggressive missile defense system."
Turner singled out a need for more robust protection around New York City, pointing to efforts by Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik and others to increase missile defense capabilities at Fort Drum, in upstate New York.
"We need to build out that system and we need to hold China accountable for North Korea," he said.
He also praised efforts to arm the Ukrainian military ahead of an expected counteroffensive against Russia, saying it was "amazing to see the ingenuity" with which troops there have used U.S.-supplied munitions, including by taking out a key Russian Kinzhal missile.
However, Turner said the U.S. weaponry should not be used to launch attacks inside of Russia -- as Russian border towns have experienced a sharp spike in violence fueled by paramilitary groups who maintain they're fighting for Ukraine.
"I don't know who's behind those," Turner acknowledged on "This Week."
The Biden administration has said it's investigating.
"Certainly, we have to understand that Ukraine needs to be able to defend its territory, they need to defend themselves from Russian aggression," Turner said. "President [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy made a commitment that he would not use U.S. weapon systems in [Russia] and he's made that commitment to me when I saw him last."
