The U.S. Senate recently introduced a bill aimed at strengthening U.S. diplomatic efforts. The bill, which has received bipartisan support from lawmakers, works to strengthen the U.S.’s overall strategic competitiveness in dealing with the Chinese Communist threat, recommends that the U.S. government prioritize security assistance in the Indo-Pacific region, and focuses on unfairness in U.S.-China economic competition. According to Reuters, the bill reflects that both parties in the U.S. Congress are hardening their stance on relations with China.
On April 8, Democratic Senator Bob Menendez (D-NY), chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, introduced the Strategic Competition Act of 2021. He announced that the bill will be referred to his committee for consideration in the coming days.
Menendez introduced the new bill after consulting with Sen. Jim Risch (R-Okla.), the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee. The bill, the first of its kind to be introduced by a bipartisan group of Democratic and Republican senators, focuses on strengthening U.S. diplomatic efforts, enhancing U.S. capabilities to address the threats and challenges posed by the Chinese Communist Party in all regions of the world, ensuring that the United States has the strength to engage in a comprehensive strategic competition with the Chinese regime in the coming decades, and re-establishing the U.S. role in the global economy. strategic competition with the CCP regime in the coming decades, and to re-establish U.S. leadership in international organizations and other multilateral forums.
The Strategic Competition Act of 2021 explicitly proposes to make security assistance to the Indo-Pacific region a “priority.” The bill emphasizes the need to “prioritize military investments necessary to achieve U.S. political objectives in the Indo-Pacific region” and calls on Congress to appropriate budgets in this regard to ensure that the federal budget is “appropriately aligned” with the strategic need to compete with the Chinese Communist Party.
The bill even specifically proposes that the U.S. provide a total of $655 million in foreign military assistance funding to the Indo-Pacific region between fiscal years 2022 and 2026, as well as a total of $400 million for the Indo-Pacific Maritime Security Initiative (IPMSI) and related programs over the same period. The bill also provides a total of $450 million for the Indo-Pacific Maritime Security Initiative (IPMSI) and related programs.
The bill also recommends that the U.S. government provide funding to uphold universal values and authorize a wide range of human rights and civil society measures. Examples include: supporting democracy in Hong Kong, sanctioning human rights violations such as forced labor and forced sterilization committed by the Chinese Communist Party in Xinjiang, tracking Chinese intellectual property violations and improper government subsidies in international trade, preventing the Chinese Communist Party from using Hong Kong to circumvent U.S. export controls, and focusing on China’s predatory international economic practices.
The bill also calls for strengthening the U.S. partnership with Taiwan, emphasizing that Taiwan is “an important component of the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy” and that the ability of U.S. officials to interact with Taiwanese officials should not be limited.
The bill also proposes that Washington must encourage allies to do more about Beijing’s “aggressive advances,” including cooperation on arms control and reporting on activities from China’s ballistic missiles, ultra-high-sonic gliders, cruise missiles, conventional arms, nuclear facilities and space, cyber and other strategic areas.
Menendez announced Thursday that he plans to hold a legislative consultation next Wednesday to allow the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee to consider and vote on the Strategic Competition Act of 2021.
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