House lawmakers to make official visit to China for the first time since 2019

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of House lawmakers will take an official trip to China later this month, lawmakers told NBC News on Tuesday, the first such official visit by members of the House since 2019.

The trip comes at a moment of fraught political and economic tensions between Washington and Beijing and weeks after the leaders of China, Russia and North Korea met in Tiananmen Square and observed a massive military parade.

The U.S. congressional delegation or CODEL to China, which has not previously been reported, is being organized by Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state, the former chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and current top Democrat on the panel. Smith confirmed the trip to NBC News on Tuesday afternoon.

A second lawmaker confirmed they were attending the CODEL as well. Smith said that both Democratic and Republican members of HASC would participate, but that Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., would not be part of the delegation.

“I think it’s fairly significant. It’s part of wanting to try to open up a dialogue between the US and China. And I personally think it’s important that you do that,” Smith said in an interview just off the House floor.

“Merely talking with China is not endorsing everything that they do. It’s like China is a big, powerful country. We are a big, powerful country. I think we need to talk about that,” he continued. “So there’s no significance at the timing. I think it should happen more often, on a frequent basis.”

Asked if the lawmakers would meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Smith replied: “We’re asking. We don’t know yet.”

Details of the visit are being tightly held, and even senior members of the committee were unaware it was happening.

Smith declined to provide the names of lawmakers who will be attending or the exact dates of the travel. However, the House will be on a recess the week of Sept. 22 for the Rosh Hashanah holiday.

The CODEL will also include a stop in Cambodia, Smith said, but Taiwan will not be on the itinerary.

The visit comes as the Trump administration and Beijing continue negotiating a trade deal. Trump has imposed significant tariffs on China and other trading partners, but he extended the deadline to Nov. 10 for those tariffs kick in, to give the two sides more time to strike a deal.

“My important message is, you know, we have to have dialogue and communication,” said Smith. “I am deeply worried that, yes, China is a major rising power that we seem to be talking less and less to. We need to figure out a way to resolve our differences, and can’t do it by not talking to each other.”