Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., joined ‘Fox News Sunday’ to weigh in on rising tensions between the U.S. and China, and the White House’s review of the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan. #foxnews

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The chairman of the house select Committee on China Republican Mike Gallagher warned this weekend that the U.S must take seriously the threat posed To Taiwan by China and is encouraging Congress to speed up military aid to the Island joining me now Maryland Democratic senator Ben Cardin he sits on The Senate Foreign Relations Committee Among others Senator Cardin welcome back To Fox News Sunday Shannon's good to be with you okay so Let's start with China there's this Conversation about not making the Mistakes of Ukraine of pre-equipping People before an invasion that we need To do better with getting military Equipment to Taiwan but here's what House Foreign Affairs chairman Mike McCall told our Aisha hasni just days Ago Do you think we are prepared Were this to happen in the next five Years you know I sign off on all four Military weapon sales I can tell you we Have a problem with our defense Industrial base these weapons I've Signed off onto Taiwan 22 weapon sales I Signed off three years ago and they've Yet to go into country Senator three years ago and now it looks Like another round of provocation from China this morning what more can Lawmakers do if anything to speed up

These deliveries Well I think we need to do that uh we Got to give Taiwan the ability to defend Defend themselves So I hope that we will find a way To get to Taiwan exactly what they need Look we believe in a one China policy But we also believe that mainland China Cannot try to take Taiwan over by force We have a lot of tools in our toolkit That we can use to make that a reality But bottom line is that we have to make Sure Taiwan has what it needs to defend Itself I agree we have to we have to Train we have to make equipment Available The experiences from Ukraine show us That if we give them the capacity they Have the will that China will I think Rejudge or reconsider their strategies On trying to take over the island by Force uh and Senator I'm sorry if there Are technical difficulties there Hopefully you can hear me okay Um my next question is a follow-up on That because there are concerns about Our ability to supply equipment to Taiwan based on the fact that we've had To send so much to Ukraine a report to Congress late last year that came to you Says this the diversion of existing Stocks of weapons and Munitions to Ukraine has exacerbated a sizable Backlog in the delivery of weapons

Already approved for sale to Taiwan Undermining the Island's Readiness so There are also warnings that other key Military inventories here in the U.S Could take years to backfill how do we Manage these competing obligations Knowing that China probably senses that Deficit there and there could be other Conflicts to arise around the world I think the first thing we need to do Is to pass a budget for the next fiscal Year and do a bipartisan budget that's Strong on our National Defense that Replenishes our supply chain so that we Have the military equipment we need to Take care of our own internal security Issues as well as help the ukrainians And the Taiwanese deal with their Security commitments that means let's Put this aside the politics of this debt Ceiling let's increase it to where it Needs to be let's get together and Negotiate a budget that's stronger on National Defense because we do have Commitments around the world for our National security the best thing we can Do is get a budget approved in an Orderly process and not threaten the the Full faith and credit of the United States Yeah and to that point since you sit on The finance committee and you mentioned The debt ceiling are you concerned that There are zero negotiations going on I

Mean Senator Joe manchin one of your Democratic colleagues was here last week He's called out the president and says He's got to step up to the plate and get Everybody to the table this no Negotiating tack is going to take us to The cliff again Well I do think we need to negotiate There's no question but negotiate the Budget for the next fiscal year that Starts October one we shouldn't Negotiate whether we're going to pay our Bills for what we've already committed And spent that's what the debt ceiling Is about we've increased it in the past Without any of this debate and drama Let's get the debt ceiling extended and Then sit down before October 1 negotiate A budget which will not be the President's budget it won't be the Republicans budget won't be the Senate Budget it'll be a budget that's Negotiated between the House and Senate The Congress and administration that's What we need to do that's how Congress Works best but don't do it on the debt Ceiling the debt ceiling is the Full Faith and Credit of the United States uh That should be Beyond any uh question Yeah I'm not sure that it is for House Republicans especially for the deal that Was made to get Kevin McCarthy to the Speakership it's going to be a complex Situation I want to make sure I touch on

The Afghanistan issue with you as well As we did with Senator Graham the here Is what NSC spokesman John Kirby said When this was rolled out it sounded like A lot of this report was laying the Blame at the previous administration and Here's his characterization of how it Played out And so for all this talk of chaos I just Didn't see it not from my Purge Okay he didn't see chaos but this is What Americans saw people hanging onto Planes as they were taking off people Swarming the airport people handing over Children and babies to our Marines there A bombing that killed 13 service members Left many more with severe injuries There are thousands of people still in That country we had promised to get out And I know of personally the case of at Least one American still trying to get Out how do you characterize this Withdrawal Yeah Chad and I also work to get Americans out during that period of time It was a real challenge but make no Mistake about it the Biden Administration had very bad options the Decision to withdraw from Afghanistan Was made by the Trump Administration the Reduction of troops to 2500s where President Biden started his term in Office the president had little options Left

Admittedly the intelligence information About the strength of the Afghan Government to stand up against the Taliban was not accurate the the Taliban Took over much quicker than anyone had Anticipated but President Biden had Basically one of two choices was he Going to Get out of Afghanistan or put more Troops into Afghanistan with no end in Sight and they were not good options and I think he based upon the intelligence He had made what he thought was the best Judgment did it present Real challenges For Americans and others getting out of Afghanistan you bet it did Well how about this issue of you know Abandoning Bagram Air Base our allies Who were so Furious that they actually I Mean the UK call that emergency session And blasted Us in Parliament allies who Said they weren't coordinated with or Informed about what was going to happen I think most Americans agree that it was Time to go but the way in which it Happened Leaves a lot to be desired especially For these families who lost people and It still deserve answers about what Happened Well when you have a limited number of Troops there 2500 it's what we were down To and then we're withdrawing from there And and you had circumstances that were

Not anticipated by the intelligence Reports that were given uh it doesn't Give you a lot of good options uh I hope We can learn from this experience I I Hope we can figure out that if these Circumstances in the future present Itself how we can protect U.S interest Better than we did in Afghanistan Withdrawal but quite frankly I think the Major mistake was made in negotiating Directly with the Taliban not involving The Afghan government Unilodally withdrawing our troops to to To a level that did not give us the Ability to be able to protect U.S Interests moving forward Middle East tensions there this week it Has been a lot of back and forth rocket Attacks a couple of suspected Terror Attacks the guardian writes this that For now Hezbollah and Israel have pulled Back from the brink they say but as two Mortal foes continue to stalk each other Across the battlefields of the middle East fighting Shadow Wars in Lebanon Syria and Iraq and as far away as Yemen The risk of even seemingly measured Provocation spiraling out of control is Perhaps greater than ever how worried Are you about the current tensions in That region I am very worried during the holiday Season it's always a high tension moment In the Middle East in Israel we

Recognize that Israel still has mortal Enemies that are there uh the Circumstances with Iran's activities uh In uh in the surrounding countries the Attacks coming from both Syria and Lebanon into Israel these are all major Concerns and Israel is defending itself The United States stands with Israel and Its ability to defend its sovereignty we Know that there are controversial issues Within Israel we urge them to resolve Those issues but make no mistake about It the United States is firmly with Israel and its right to defend itself And we will do everything we can to help In that regard And thank you for being a trooper Through some technical Technically appreciate your time and Wish you a blessed Passover thank you Senator Well thank you and a happy Easter to you It's always good to be on your show Shannon thank you we'll come back soon I'm Steve Ducey I'm Brian Kilmeade and I'm Ainsley Earhart and click here to Subscribe to the Fox News YouTube page To catch our hottest interviews and most Compelling analysis