China is not only an immediate threat to the United States, but it will continue to be our number one foe for the foreseeable future, Sen. Ted Cruz said Saturday.
"China is, in my judgment, the single-greatest political threat the United States faces over the next century," the Texas senator told Fox News's Jeanine Pirro. "They engage in espionage, they engage in censorship, they engage in torture and murder of their own citizens. They cover up free speech."
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Cruz said he's introducing legislation this week dealing with China.
The first is focused on the coronavirus cover-up.
"It imposes strict sanctions on Chinese officials who covered up this pandemic. They are directly responsible for the pandemic that killed over 240,000 people worldwide," he said, adding that the Chinese communist government cracked down on physician whistleblowers.
"We used to think of their suppression of speech as a human rights issue, well, now it's clear to everyone this is a national security issue and a public health issue," he continued.
The second piece of legislation is called the SCRIPT Act and addresses Chinese propaganda in Hollywood.
"Hollywood far too often lets the Chinese communist government censor American films," Cruz said. "The SCRIPT Act says we're not going to allow the Pentagon to cooperate with moviemakers to let them use ships and jet airplanes and equipment if they are going to allow the Chinese government to censor. So it uses the power of government to stop the Chinese censorship through Hollywood."
Cruz pointed to the forthcoming sequel to Top Gun as an example. Japanese and Taiwanese flags were removed from the back of Maverick's jacket because Chinese censors didn't want them there.