WASHINGTON, D.C. — Dave Beckwith, the Republican nominee for Virginia’s 10th Congressional District, says the United States should take stronger action against Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-linked intimidation happening within the country, while continuing to bolster support for Taiwan.

Beckwith, a retired Air Force colonel and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, spoke with Vision Times on Sept. 15 about transnational repression, religious freedom, Taiwan, AI, and broader U.S.-China relations. During his 30-year tenure with the Air Force and Pentagon, he worked on a slew of national-security issues involving space, nuclear forces, missile defense, and intelligence programs.

Now, Beckwith is running in Virginia’s 10th District, which includes Loudoun, Fauquier and Rappahannock counties, Manassas and Manassas Park, and parts of Fairfax and Prince William counties.

RELATED: Survivors of Persecution Urge Trump to Raise Religious Freedom at Xi Summit

‘Respecting basic human rights’

When asked about reports of Chinese transnational repression targeting Falun Gong practitioners, dissidents, prisoners of conscience, and other Chinese-American communities, Beckwith said foreign-government intimidation should not be tolerated within the U.S. “There shouldn’t be any official CCP activities here in the United States,” Beckwith said, adding, “The FBI should be working to track down any foreign influence and making sure they get thrown out of the country.”

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“Clearly, we don’t want a shadow police force or any sort of shadow government activities going on within the country,” he continued. “Anybody who’s here in this country legally should have the freedoms to live anywhere, do whatever they want, and move wherever they want without being threatened by a foreign government.”

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual practice rooted in the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. Despite being peaceful in nature, the CCP launched a brutal campaign to eradicate the practice in July 1999 after seeing its rapid rise in popularity as a threat to its authoritarian regime. Since then, thousands of practitioners have perished at the hands of Chinese police, with many today still undergoing routine monitoring, arbitrary travel bans, and arrests.

The FBI defines transnational repression as efforts by foreign governments to stalk, intimidate or harass people in the United States, including dissidents, journalists and members of ethnic or religious minority groups. Federal prosecutors have charged Chinese public-security officials in cases of harassment involving U.S.-based critics of Beijing, including an unauthorized police station in New York.

Beckwith noted that human rights should remain part of the broader U.S.-China relationship. “I think clearly, we should be basing our relationship, just like we did with the Soviet Union, on human relations as a critical part of that relationship, and I believe we should do the same thing with China,” he said, adding, “We should be insisting that they respect basic human rights.”

Beefing up support for Taiwan

On the Taiwan issue, Beckwith drew on his Pentagon experience, describing one of the department’s priorities as ensuring the U.S. had the capabilities needed to deter Chinese military action in the Indo-Pacific. Though Taiwan operates as an independent nation since its establishment in 1949, Beijing views the island as a “breakaway province,” and has vowed to reclaim it by any means necessary, even if that means resorting to military force to achieve unification under its “One China” policy.

“I think it’s incumbent upon us to make sure Taiwan has the right resources they need to defend their their island, and I think the United States needs to make sure we have the right forces,” Beckwith said. He added that U.S. readiness cannot be treated as a fixed objective because China continues to expand its military capabilities in the region.

“China is advancing very quickly, both with their nuclear weapons, with their conventional weapons, and with their navy and air force and space forces,” he said, adding, “So just to keep ahead of them requires us to continually adapt and improve our forces.” Beckwith added that longstanding U.S. policy calls for cross-Strait differences to be resolved peacefully while making defensive arms and services available to Taiwan under the Taiwan Relations Act.

Asian-American outreach and China policy

When asked how he would engage Northern Virginia’s Asian American communities, Beckwith said he planned to make direct outreach a regular part of both his campaign and, if elected, his congressional office. “That’s a big yes on all of those,” he said when asked about Chinese- and English-language media, community events, and direct engagement. “I want to represent the district, whether people vote for me or not,” Beckwith said, “I want to understand their concerns and their issues.”

He added that he would also support district offices where constituents could seek help navigating federal agencies. Beckwith argued that Washington should focus on Chinese intellectual-property theft as competition over AI continues gaining steam. “I think the best thing we could do with AI right now is stop. Use our use our cyber forces to make sure China stops stealing our intellectual property,” he said.

He also backed raising China’s relationship with Iran in U.S.-China talks, while arguing more broadly that economic engagement should not displace discussions over security and human rights. With U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping slated to meet in Washington on Sept. 24, issues including trade, AI, and other strategic disputes are expected to be featured prominently in the talks.

Across the interview, Beckwith returned to the idea that U.S.-China competition should not be reduced to tariffs, military hardware, or technology alone, but should also encompass the treatment of people affected by Beijing’s policies at home and abroad. “I’m very interested in highlighting where we have problems,” he said, “[and] I’m willing to go to those places and try and bring shine light on that.”

Original article