WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today released the following statement in regard to recent reports of Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy action using sonar against Australian divers:

“The Chinese military’s decision to injure Australian divers by using hull-mounted sonars on its destroyers is unacceptable. Only days after President Biden met with Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping, Beijing is once again harassing U.S. allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific. While the Biden Administration celebrates hollow U.S.-China “working groups” as meaningful progress and Xi Jinping receives a standing ovation from American CEOs, the United States and our allies need to continue the hard work of bolstering deterrence in the Indo-Pacific,” Wicker said. “The Chinese Communist Party respects only strength, and only through strength will they refrain from such unacceptable behavior.”