As the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approaches, a leading conservative Republican voice in Congress said it was time to let European allies take the lead in the fight to allow the U.S. military to focus its attention on China.

Sen. Josh Hawley, Missouri Republican, made the case for a China-focused foreign policy in a talk at the Heritage Foundation think tank in Washington, saying the debate was not partisan but pits the D.C. foreign policy establishment against skeptics in both parties.

A nationalist US foreign policy would concentrate on the Pacific, which means countering Beijing’s economic prowess and increasingly aggressive foreign policy. Mr. Hawley said China is on the march and at this point, posing a major challenge to U.S. allies and interests in the region.

“We are at an inflection point. If China invades Taiwan, they would prevail,” Mr. Hawley warned. 

The lawmaker warned that the economic impact on the U.S. and the world would be catastrophic if Beijing manages to conquer Taiwan. It would be a position to restrict trade in the region and threaten U.S. interests, including the American military base in Guam, he said.

Mr. Hawley said the Biden administration should stop writing what he called “blank checks” to Ukraine in the face of the need to build up forces in Asia. The U.S. military also should scale back in Europe and open up the weapons pipeline to Taiwan, similar to what it has done in Ukraine.

“Ukraine or China. We can’t do both at the same time,” he said. The European Union “must take the responsibility for Europe.”

A protester apparently with the Code Pink anti-war organization ran up on the stage during Mr. Hawley’s talk and shouted, “China isn’t our enemy. Climate change is.” She was quickly hustled out of the think tank’s auditorium.

• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.