We got the Senator on Capitol Hill Tuesday and asked him about the brewing controversy surrounding "Top Gun: Maverick." ICYMI ... hawkeyed fans noticed in the new trailer that the back of Tom's jacket no longer includes 2 flags from the original 4-flag pattern -- Taiwan and Japan.

If you look closely, the new pattern is replaced by two obscure symbols with similar color schemes. This led to speculation it was done to please China ... given that Chinese tech giant Tencent is one of its film's financiers.

The issue with Japan and Taiwan on the iconic jacket? China's got a tense relationship with Japan in recent years over their fight for islands in the East China Sea. China's also got a complicated relationship with Taiwan ... which the Chinese used to control before Taiwan separated in 1949.

The senator tells us he's still gonna watch the movie cause he's a huge fan -- who isn't?! -- but thinks it sucks China's got this much power in the modern world.