Nashville Standard

United States Senator Bill Hagerty has engaged former Senator David Perdue in a discussion on the responsibilities of a U.S. Ambassador to China. Perdue, nominated for the ambassadorial position, vowed to address perceived inequities in the treatment of U.S. diplomats by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and to counteract the reported financial assistance the CCP provides to Iran's regime.

Reflecting on past challenges, Hagerty emphasized, "When I served as U.S. Ambassador to Japan, one of my top priorities was taking care of my staff and their families." He criticized the actions toward diplomatic staff during the Covid-19 pandemic, saying, "If I think about what happened during Covid [in China], they put some of our [diplomatic] staff in containers, held them in isolation in moldy hotel rooms," adding, "They took stool samples from them, blood tests for them. I just think it’s totally egregious what took place."

Hagerty sought commitment from Perdue on immediate reporting of any future incidents of harassment, to which Perdue responded affirmatively, saying, "Absolutely."

The concern of Iran's financing was also discussed, with Hagerty stating, "As I’ve discussed many times in this committee, the Biden Administration’s non-enforcement of sanctions against Iran has provided that regime with over $100 billion that they have used, therefore, to go out into the Middle East and foment terror and insecurity." He referenced actions by the previous administration, "President Trump intends to actually enforce sanctions against Iran, and last month, his Administration announced sanctions against the Chinese teapot oil refinery."

Hagerty highlighted how some oil was imported to China by ships with ties to the Iranian-backed Houthi regime, stressing its implications: "This is yet another example of how Biden’s non-enforcement of sanctions funded the very problems we are spending billions to address right now." Hagerty then inquired whether Perdue would relay these stances effectively to China, which Perdue affirmed, "Of course."