Senator Says US Needs to De-risk, Not Decouple From China

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), chair of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, speaks during a hearing on Artificial Intelligence cyber capabilities, on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 25, 2025. Al Drago/Getty Images

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said during a May 30 panel that the United States is so interconnected with China that the two economies cannot decouple. Rather, Washington should de-risk from the foreign adversary that is competing in space, AI, and other strategic sectors in a daily race to promote its form of governance.

“It’s not our job to divest or disassociate with China, but rather to de-risk our relationship with China,” he said at the Reagan National Economic Forum.