McCarthyism still alive in Speaker McCarthy: Editorial Flash

In his first speech delivered upon winning the House speaker election, US Congress minority leader Kevin McCarthy promised to establish a select committee to tackle the "China threat".

Now he has honored that promise. On Tuesday, the US House of Representatives voted with 365 in favor vs 65 opposed on establishing the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the US and the Chinese Communist Party. All Republicans and 146 Democrats supported the move, a miracle considering the deep split between the two parties that disagree with each other on almost everything.

The founding of the committee is the second move after the 118th US Congress House of Representatives had taken after it was formally established. Which is solid evidence that McCarthy knows what the only thing that the donkey and the elephant agree on. He, always an eagle when it comes to relations with China, has taken that opportunity to impose his ideas upon his colleagues.

But that only proves his cunningness rather than wisdom because it hurts the US' relationship with its third largest trade partner. Some China-bashing politicians are attempting to push it into an enemy and the founding of a committee carrying a name nakedly against China will only accelerate that process.

McCarthy's move reminds people of the famous ism under his surname in the 1950s, which caused heavy loss to the US rather than to any country it took as an imaginary enemy. Time for US politicians to stop their cunningness and get wisdom instead to avoid repeating that folly.