Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Ill., said that China has a plan to "replace" the U.S. and defeat the country technologically, militarily, economically and diplomatically. 

"China has a plan to replace the United States, and they're working at it every single day," LaHood said on the "John Solomon Reports" podcast. "I don't say that to scare people. That's the reality. They want to beat us technologically, militarily, economically and diplomatically. And the sooner we wake up to that, the better."

The U.S. and China have had a complicated relationship over the past few years, regarding trade, technology and national security.

Just the News reported this week that Chinese scientists were indicted for smuggling a potentially dangerous fungus into the U.S., admitting that on one occasion they succeeded by hiding contraband in a pair of boots.

Introducing bipartisan legislation 

West Virginia GOP Gov. Patrick Morrisey recently pressed his state's investment management board to decouple from China, delivering a blow to Beijing as Washington struggles to address Chinese aggression.

"We have to make sure that we are protecting this country appropriately, but also, it's equally important in making sure we win the strategic competition against China when it comes to AI, when it comes to quantum [and] when it comes to high-capacity chip manufacturing," LaHood said in the interview. 

LaHood, a member of the House Select Committee on China and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, introduced bipartisan legislation to stop the smuggling of American-made chips into China.

The legislation, titled the Chip Security Act, was drafted in response to evidence that U.S. chips were potentially funneled into China through shell companies to support the development of CCP AI software.

It comes down to AI

"There's evidence now that's come out that DeepSeek was successful in terms of their rollout," LaHood said. "Because of these chips, we're going to require location verification for advanced AI chips."

DeepSeek is a Chinese artificial intelligence company based in Hangzhou.

"This, again, is another wake-up call," LaHoos said. "We anticipate this bill will get a vote later this year, and I don't see any reason why it shouldn't become law."

“AI is one of the most high-stakes fronts in our strategic competition with the Chinese Communist Party,” LaHood said in a statement last month.

“The CCP has a track record of exploiting U.S. capital and intellectual property to develop its own advanced technology. I am proud to join my colleagues and introduce the Chip Security Act to protect American innovation and prevent our foremost adversary from smuggling American-made chips. Under no circumstances can the United States allow our technology to power CCP propaganda machines, like DeepSeek.”