On Wednesday (April 21), the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed the Strategic Competition Act of 2021 by a large vote and will send it to the full Senate for consideration. The bill, which seeks to put pressure on the Chinese Communist government in the areas of human rights and the economy, has not only gained cross-party support, but the White House has also expressed its desire to work with Congress in related areas.
The Strategic Competition Act of 2021 was promoted by the bipartisan leaders of the U.S. Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, Bob Menendez (D-N.Y.) and Jim Risch (D-N.Y.). The bill passed by an overwhelming vote of 21 to 1. The bill would provide human, financial, and policy support for the U.S. government to fully compete with the Chinese Communist authorities. Of particular interest are the provisions to assist U.S. technology industries to exit China and measures to address the expansion of the Chinese Communist Party’s “One Belt, One Road” efforts around the world.
According to Radio Free Asia, the Strategic Competition Act is divided into five major chapters that provide funding support for strengthening U.S. competitiveness, enhancing cooperation with allies and strategic partners, preserving U.S. values, protecting U.S. economic development, and ensuring strategic security, as well as setting out detailed steps and arrangements for implementation.
In the section on investing in U.S. competitiveness, the bill specifies four major projects: 1. restructuring the supply chain; 2. strengthening foreign infrastructure assistance; 3. enhancing U.S. digital capabilities; and 4. countering Chinese Communist influence.
The bill authorizes the executive branch to use a budget of $15 million per year over a six-year period from 2022 to 2027 for U.S. embassies abroad to hire outside experts to assist U.S. companies or individuals in withdrawing from the Chinese market, including moving some production facilities out of China or diversifying and decentralizing supply chains to other regions outside of China.
In addition, there is particular interest in how the United States will respond to the expansion of the Chinese Communist Party’s “Belt and Road” initiative.
The bill emphasizes that the U.S. should increase its investment in manpower and resources in the Indo-Pacific region in response to the expansion of the economic and political influence of the Communist Party’s “One Belt, One Road. To this end, $75 million is proposed to authorize the U.S. Secretary of State to establish the Infrastructure Transaction and Assistance Network (ITAN) to strengthen the promotion of the “Sustainable, Transparent, and Sustainable Development” in the Indo-Pacific region. “The bill also provides $2 billion in funding for the construction of a new infrastructure.
The bill also intends to allocate $2 billion for assistance to countries and regions in the Indo-Pacific region, $125 billion for Indo-Pacific diplomatic engagement, and $10 million to the U.S. Department of State to promote democracy in Hong Kong.
In addition, the bill plans to provide $655 million for foreign military assistance funding for the Indo-Pacific region; and $450 million for the Indo-Pacific Maritime Security Initiative (IPMSI).
The Radio Free Asia report concludes with a commentary by Jake Werner, a scholar of Chinese history at Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center, who says that while there are differences of opinion about the bill in U.S. academic circles, in policy-making circles in Washington, D.C., the Chinese Communist Party is seen as “overthrowing freedom. The view that the CCP is “an actor to overthrow the free world order” is the dominant consensus in Washington policy-making circles.
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