Breitbart News hosted a policy discussion on Thursday focused on threats posed by China and the Chinese Communist Party, where Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) said China and Iran have been allies and share a goal of opposing the United States as the dominant global power.
The event, titled China: The Threats You Know About and the Ones You Don’t, included Washington Bureau Chief Matt Boyle asking Cotton to explain how China is connected to the conflict with Iran, including its role related to the Strait of Hormuz and how it factors into broader U.S. actions.
Cotton described a long-standing relationship between China and Iran and framed it as rooted in a mutual objective.
“China and Iran have been allies for some time now. One thing they have in common, despite their many differences, is that they don’t want to have the U.S. calling the shots in their international order. They don’t want the United States to be the dominant superpower. China wants to be that, and Iran is happy to help them achieve that,” Cotton said.
He pointed to energy and military cooperation between the two countries as part of that relationship.
“One way they’ve done that over the years is Iran exports a lot, the lion’s share of its black-market oil, to China through various means, like ship-to-ship transfers and small refineries that are somewhat off the grid in China, to help China on its huge energy needs,” he continued. “China, in return, has helped send arms to Iran.”
Cotton added that the cooperation extends into broader regional activity.
“Over the years, they’ve collaborated in various ways in the Middle East as well, again, to try to upset the American-led order there with Israel and with our Arab friends.”
The Arkansas senator also addressed the ongoing conflict involving Iran and U.S. and allied actions in the region, describing the rationale behind recent military decisions.
“But the President, as he has said many times, launched this war with Israel against Iran because Iran’s nuclear program, vast missile arsenal, posed unacceptable risk to the United States and existential risk to our friends in the region,” Cotton said.
He cited missile developments as an example of the threat environment.
“A good example that I’ve been talking about for some time was the intermediate-range ballistic missile that was shot at Diego Garcia, our base in the Indian Ocean. As we just had testimony this morning at the Armed Service Committee, it is a very small step, not a very big technological step, from having an intermediate-range missile that could hit a base in the Indian Ocean to having an intercontinental missile that could hit the United States. And that step is measured in months, not years.”
Cotton said actions taken by Iran in strategic waterways and recent military developments should be viewed in the context of broader security considerations.
“The main reason President Trump took the step he did, and what Iran has done in the Strait of Hormuz, and taking that shot at Diego Garcia, is not a reason to step back or to ask for a ceasefire. It’s a reason to see it through,” he said. “As President Trump has said, we can’t allow a revolutionary terrorist regime to continue to hold one of the world’s most strategic waterways, all the Middle East, and increasingly, all of the world at risk, using, in some cases, Chinese technology.”
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