The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is preparing to vote on a 280-page bipartisan bill aimed at countering the Chinese Communist Party’s global influence.
Why it matters: The bill is a culmination of years of growing concern over the rise of an increasingly authoritarian China. It will allocate hundreds of millions of dollars to a series of new initiatives aimed at helping the US succeed in long-term ideological, military, economic and technological competition.
What is happening: Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (DN.J.) and rank-and-file senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho) announced the “Strategic Competition Act 2021” on April 8.
- The committee is scheduled to vote on the draft bill on April 21. If successful, he will go to the Senate for further debate.
Details: The bill includes $ 655 million in funding for foreign military in the Indo-Pacific region and $ 450 million for the Indo-Pacific Maritime Security Initiative, aimed at ensuring the US and its partners freely in the region. can operate and deal with threats that arise.
Other new programs and awards include:
- $ 75 million for an “Infrastructure Transaction and Assistance Network” in the Indo-Pacific Ocean as a counterweight to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
- $ 100 million for a Digital Connectivity and Cybersecurity Partnership that will promote secure telecommunications and digital infrastructure in emerging markets and promote US exports.
- $ 15 million to help US companies leave the Chinese market, diversify their supply chains and identify alternative markets.
- $ 300 million for the Countering Chinese Influence Fund to return against efforts by the Chinese Communist Party to promote its authoritarian model abroad.
What they say: Menendez calls the bill an “unprecedented bipartisan effort to mobilize all U.S. strategic, economic and diplomatic instruments for an Indo-Pacific strategy that will enable our country to meet the challenges China faces for our national and economic security.” , to really cope. “
- Lisa Curtis, director of the Center for a New US Security’s Indo-Pacific Security Program and a former director of the National Security Council for South and Central Asia, said the bill ‘shows that the US is preparing itself for an entire government’s comprehensive approach to the China challenge. ‘
- If the bill passes, it will be a strong sign to U.S. allies and partners that the United States is uniform in its approach to Beijing, Curtis added.
- Curtis also noted that the bill also calls for a thorough investigation into the origin of the coronavirus. “The bill notes that 13 countries have expressed concern about the lack of access that the WTO mission has to China to data, facilities and staff. It is critical that the Senate has identified this as an issue,” he said. she said.
Context: The Biden government has made the fight against China’s rising global authoritarianism an important focus.
- In Washington, there is a great deal of ambiguity surrounding the idea that China, under its current leadership, poses a serious threat to American values and interests.
Yes, but: Americans in general are more divided across party lines in their view of China, with 54% of Republicans viewing China as an ‘enemy’ compared to 20% of Democrats, according to a recent Pew Research Center poll. .
Go deeper: Read the draft bill