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U.S. House Foreign Affairs Chair McCaul: “What keeps me up at night is I don’t want to see another world war like my dad."

Back from Taiwan and Europe, U.S. House Foreign Affairs chairman told Inside Texas Politics which global hot spots to watch closely.

DALLAS — As chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, Congressman Michael McCaul, a Republican who represents central Texas, is one of the few Americans with first-hand knowledge of what’s happening on the ground in global hotspots.

“What keeps me up at night is I don’t want to see another world war like my dad. We have two hot wars in hot zones – one in the Middle East and one in Eastern Europe. If the unholy alliance comes together against the free west, we could see another scenario like my father did,” McCaul said on Sunday’s Inside Texas Politics after returning from Normandy, France marking the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion.

“Long term, the great power competition is with China and it’s on a lot of levels; advanced technologies, A.I., [and] warfare. We have a lot of export controls on our committee to stop selling the technologies they use to build their war machine like the hypersonic weapon,” he added.

Before his trip to Europe, McCaul led a congressional delegation visiting Taiwan and meeting with that country’s newly inaugurated president, Lai Ching-te. 

Credit: AP / Taiwan Presidential Office
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, right, puts on a Stetson cowboy hat gifted to him by U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, during a meeting in Taipei.

When asked whether he was concerned that Taiwan is teetering on the edge of a Chinese military invasion, McCaul said: “I was greeted when I landed on the island [with Chinese] warships and aircraft that surrounded Taiwan in a blockade as a prelude of what an invasion would look like. I am worried about it. I think we have to emphasize to Chairman Xi – at what cost?”

If China were to invade Taiwan, Texans would directly feel the economic impact of it. The price of mobile phones, electronics, cars and trucks, airplanes and more would increase overnight. Many of the products going into short supply -- similar to what happened in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, or TSMC, which is headquartered in Taiwan, produces 90% of the semiconductor chips in the world that are used in electronics.

“We’ve met with TSMC. Their report was if China invades, we will shut down and it will have a devastating impact globally on economies of scale. Is it really worth the reward versus risk if he inherits an island that’s been bombarded, with people who will hate him and shut down the global supply of semiconductors?”

In addition to Taiwan, McCaul said he is also in communication with Israeli officials in their ongoing war against Hamas.

Next month, Israeli Prime Minister  Benjamin Netanyahu will address Congress, invited by U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson.

McCaul addressed criticism facing Israel that it’s not doing enough to prevent civilian casualties as it bombs schools, apartment buildings, hospitals and more.

“Every time I’ve talked to them I’ve told them don’t forget about the humanitarian aspects of Gaza. Do not block aid to Gaza,” McCaul said of his conversations with Israeli officials.

“They opened up more access after I’ve talked to them. I think it had an impact. They said we want to flood Gaza with humanitarian aid. I just talked to Cindy McCain, World Food Program, there’s still a problem when you’ve got 1.5 million [people] evacuated from Rafah to a humanitarian zone but you can’t get proper access to them. The last thing we want to do is breed more anti-Israeli sentiment so I stressed to them why humanitarian aid is so important.”

Watch the entire unedited interview with Congressman Michael McCaul.

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