WASHINGTON -"This is not a polite tennis match. This is an existential struggle over what life will look like in the 21st century - and the most fundamental freedoms are at stake,"  said Representative Mike Gallagher on Tuesday.

"There will be no courteous tennis here. The most fundamental freedoms are at stake in this existential struggle over how life will be in the 21st century." The hearing was opened by Republican Representative Mike Gallagher, chairman of the House of Representatives Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The hearing, the first of many that are anticipated over the next two years with Republicans controlling the House, was viewed by the committee's leaders as a part of an effort to persuade Americans why they should care about competing with China and to "selectively decouple" the U.S. and Chinese economies.

"Democrats and Republicans alike undervalued the CCP over the past three decades and believed that trade and investment would inevitably result in democracy and increased security in the Indo-Pacific... Instead, the reverse occurred: "In his opening remarks, Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, the top Democrat on the select committee, said.

The hearing was attended by Chinese dissidents. Gallagher and other committee members held a number of events over the past few days to raise awareness of human rights issues, including a rally on Saturday in front of what American officials call an unauthorized Chinese Communist Party "police station" in New York.

Last week, Gallagher wrote to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, requesting information about these purported police outposts.

China denies running "police stations" on American territory.

Four witnesses testified during the hearing on Tuesday, including Matt Pottinger, a longtime China hawk and former deputy national security adviser to Republican President Donald Trump, and retired Army lieutenant general H.R. McMaster.

The hearing on Tuesday featured four witnesses, including H.R. McMaster, a retired Army lieutenant general who served as former Republican President Donald Trump's national security adviser, and Matt Pottinger, a long-time China hawk who served as Trump's deputy national security adviser.

McMaster stated that the United States must prioritize the delivery of billions of dollars' worth of weapons and munitions that Taiwan has already purchased. "As we may have learned from Ukraine's experience, it is much cheaper to deter a war than to fight one," he wrote in his testimony.

In a nod to growing U.S. concerns about China's influence on technology, Pottinger said the U.S. government should partner with American technology firms that are banned in China and find a way for people in China to circumvent the country's strict Internet censorship.

"I believe you could breach the great Chinese firewall," Pottinger said.

Pottinger stated in his written testimony that the committee must protect the rights of Chinese Americans by "standing up to bigotry and discrimination here at home."

"Protect Chinese nationals studying and working in the United States as well, so they can enjoy the freedoms that so starkly distinguish the American way of life from China's increasingly oppressive atmosphere today," Pottinger said.

Despite the fact that the committee is bipartisan, some Democratic lawmakers are concerned that it will fuel anti-Asian sentiment in the United States. In his remarks, Krishnamoorthi alluded to such concerns as well as the importance of bipartisanship.

Despite the fact that the committee is bipartisan, some Democratic lawmakers are concerned that it will fuel anti-Asian sentiment in the United States. In his remarks, Krishnamoorthi alluded to such concerns as well as the importance of bipartisanship.

Tong Yi, a dissident imprisoned in China for more than two years, and Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, both testified.

Tong, a naturalized American citizen, described her time in a Chinese labor camp after being convicted of disturbing social order in the 1990s for her ties to democracy activists.

Paul advocated for an end to the United States' reliance on Chinese manufacturing.

One of the few truly bipartisan sentiments in the deeply divided United States Congress is a desire for tougher stances toward Beijing, with both Republicans and President Joe Biden's Democrats calling for increased efforts to counter China's global influence.

Tensions between the United States and China have been especially high recently, due to China's increasingly aggressive military posture toward Taiwan, speculation that China may be supporting Russia's war against Ukraine, and the United States shooting down a Chinese balloon suspected of spying over US territory on February 4.

The Chinese government has denied that the balloon was a government spy vessel. There are 13 Republicans and 11 Democrats on the select committee. It won't draft legislation, but it will highlight how China and the US compete with one another on many different fronts and offer policy suggestions.