MADISONVILLE, La. – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) penned this op-ed in The Hill questioning the Biden-Harris administration’s decision to allow the United Kingdom to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. Kennedy argued that this deal jeopardizes the safety of a key base on the island of Diego Garcia and benefits the Chinese Communist Party. 

Key excerpts of the op-ed are below:

“The importance of the base at Diego Garcia cannot be overstated. Diego Garcia is one of the only bases in the world where our military can reload submarines. The base also houses several Navy ships and long-range bomber aircraft that we use to carry out missions around the world. These key missions have made it a top target of Chinese Communist Party spies.

“Today, we know our assets on Diego Garcia are secure because the Chagos Islands are a British territory. The United Kingdom controls the island of Diego Garcia and the surrounding water to protect our shared missions.

“Our secure arrangement, however, just imploded. The United Kingdom announced that it will turn over control of the Chagos Islands to the island nation of Mauritius.”

. . .

“This decision wasn’t about righting the wrongs that the United Kingdom supposedly committed against the people of Chagos, though. Chagossians consider themselves an indigenous people. The Chagos Islands and Mauritius—which are more than 1,200 miles apart—speak different versions of Creole and have no shared pre-colonial historic ties. They are, for all practical purposes, strangers.”

. . .

“President Biden and Vice President Harris either truly believe that the government of Mauritius has the ability and the courage to stand up to China to ensure the security of Diego Garcia, or they withheld their objections to avoid being criticized by woke United Nations activists if they stood up for the American people’s best interests.”

. . .

“The American people deserve to know why President Biden and Vice President Harris allowed this irreversible deal to move forward. Congress must hold the Biden-Harris administration accountable for this short-sighted and dangerous decision. 

“So, I repeat: Why? Why put American interests at risk? Why help the Chinese Communist Party?”

Read Kennedy’s full op-ed here.