On Friday (April 9), an aide to the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee said it will consider comprehensive legislation focused on countering Chinese Communist Party influence on April 21, rather than April 14 as originally planned.
Bipartisan senators on the Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday (April 8) jointly announced the “Strategic Competition Act of 2021,” a 280-page bill that includes a range of diplomatic and strategic initiatives to counter Beijing and talks about human rights issues in areas such as Hong Kong and Xinjiang, establishing direct diplomatic ties with Taiwan officials, limiting Chinese Communist Party influence in U.S. universities’ penetration and increasing military spending in the Indo-Pacific region.
Members of the Foreign Relations Committee had said they hoped the committee would pass the bill on April 14, clearing the way for the full Senate to quickly schedule a vote, and on Friday, Reuters reported citing sources indicating that the week-long vote delay would give committee members more time to understand the bill and draft amendments.
The Foreign Relations Committee has not yet given an official explanation for the delay.
The new bill is part of legislation announced by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) in February to counter the threat of the Chinese Communist Party and is the first bill introduced by the new Congress to counter the Chinese Communist Party.
In the area of armaments, the bill proposes $655 million in foreign military financing funding for the Indo-Pacific region over five fiscal years and a total of $450 million for the Indo-Pacific Maritime Security Initiative and related programs over the same period to “prioritize military investments necessary to achieve U.S. political objectives in the Indo-Pacific region “.
The new bill would expand the purview of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which would review financial transactions for potential national security risks. The draft bill also includes requirements to crack down on disinformation propaganda by the Chinese Communist Party at U.S. universities, concerns about human rights in the Communist Party and deepening ties with Taiwan.
The bill also says Washington must encourage allies to do more about Beijing’s “aggressive and arbitrary behavior,” including working together on arms control.
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