TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Mike Gallagher, chair of the House China Task Force said the U.S. Republican Party’s second presidential candidate primary debate must address the "New Cold War" with China and the defense of Taiwan.

Republicans hold their second presidential candidate primary debate on Thursday (Sept. 28). Gallagher told The New York Post that he hopes to see potential candidates “make a pitch to the American people about how and why we must win the ‘New Cold War’ with China,” CNA reported.

He said, “I think the candidates, to pass the commander-in-chief test, — given that it’s at the Reagan Library — just need to communicate in clear and candid terms the nature of the threat we face from the Chinese Communist Party — and why Americans should care.”

Candidates should “add in a sense of Reagan optimism of why we deserve to win because we’re the good guys,” said Gallagher. He said “The conventional wisdom is that foreign policy doesn’t matter in an election, at least politically,” adding “I disagree with that when it comes to China.”

Former U.S. President Reagan famously called the Soviet Union “an evil empire” during the Cold War era.

Leaving aside other issues, Gallagher expects the debate on China to become more intense. He continued, with Chinese President Xi Jinping's (習近平) intent to overturn America's global superpower status, the United States needs a president with a plan to counter China.

He said he hopes to see the candidates address issues related to American national security, the economy, and the growing influence of the Chinese Communist Party. He added, “The most obvious is questions about whether we should defend Taiwan and how we can rebuild our military in order to make that defense practical and solve the recruiting crisis.”