The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is preparing to vote on a 280-page bipartisan bill that seeks to counter the global influence of the Chinese Communist Party.
Why it’s important: The bill marks the culmination of years of growing concerns about the rise of an increasingly authoritarian China. It would allocate hundreds of millions of dollars to a series of new initiatives designed to help the United States succeed in long-term ideological, military, economic, and technological competition.
What is happening: Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (DN.J.) and ranking senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho) announced the “2021 Strategic Competition Act” on April 8 .
- The committee is scheduled to vote on the bill on April 21. If approved, it will go to the Senate chamber for a new debate.
Details: The bill includes $ 655 million in funding for foreign troops in the Indo-Pacific region and $ 450 million in funding for the Indo-Pacific Maritime Security Initiative, which aims to ensure that the U.S. and its partners can operate freely in the region and deal with threats that arise.
Other new programs and assignments include:
- $ 75 million for an “Infrastructure Assistance and Transaction Network” in the Indo-Pacific as a counterweight to the China and Belt initiative.
- $ 100 million for a digital connectivity and cybersecurity alliance, which will promote secure digital and telecommunications infrastructure in developing markets and boost U.S. exports.
- $ 15 million to help US companies exit the Chinese market, diversify their supply chains and identify alternative markets.
- $ 300 million for the “Fund Against Chinese Influence,” to back up against the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts to promote its authoritarian model abroad.
What they say: Menendez described the bill as an “unprecedented bipartisan effort to mobilize all of America’s strategic, economic, and diplomatic tools for an Indo-peaceful strategy that will allow our nation to truly meet the challenges that China faces.” raises for our national economic security “.
- Lisa Curtis, director of the Indo-Pacific Security Program at the Center for New American Security and former director of the National Security Council for South and Central Asia, said the bill “shows that states United States is preparing for a comprehensive government approach to meeting China’s challenge. “
- If the bill is passed, it would be a strong signal to U.S. allies and partners that the U.S. is unified in its approach to Beijing, Curtis added.
- Curtis also noted that the bill also requires a thorough investigation into the origins of the coronavirus. “The bill notes that 13 countries have expressed concern about the lack of access that the WHO mission in China had to the data, facilities and personnel. It is crucial that the Senate has marked it as a problem. “, he said.
Context: The Biden administration has made the fight against the rise of China’s global authoritarianism a key focus.
- In Washington, there is a high degree of bipartisanship around the idea that China under its current leadership poses a serious threat to U.S. values and interests.
Yes, but: According to a recent Pew Research Center poll, Americans in general are more divided in their view of China, with 54% of Republicans viewing China as an “enemy” compared to 20% of Democrats.
In depth: Read the draft bill