U.S. Senators from across the aisle recently introduced the “Strategic Competition Act” to counter the Chinese Communist Party, which was passed by the U.S. Senate Foreign Affairs Committee with a high vote on the 21st. The bill would counter the Chinese Communist Party in a number of areas, including science and technology, military, human rights, economy and war of influence.
According to the Central News Agency, the Strategic Competition Act was passed by Senate Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-N.Y.) and Senate Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Jim Risch (D-N.Y.) on April 8. The Senate Foreign Affairs Committee passed the bill on April 8 with a high vote.
In the Foreign Affairs Committee, Menendez said that the scale, scope, and urgency of the Chinese Communist challenge are unprecedented and require a full range of competing policies and strategies to address it. The bill brings together an unprecedented cross-party effort to use all U.S. economic and diplomatic tools to develop an Indo-Pacific strategy that will allow the United States to truly confront the national security and economic challenges posed by the Communist Party.
Menendez said strategic competition is certainly the right framework for viewing the U.S.-China relationship, not because it is what the U.S. wants or what the U.S. is trying to create, but because of Beijing’s past and present choices.
The 281-page cross-party bill comprehensively addresses the scale, scope and urgency of the Chinese Communist challenge. Menendez said on August 8 that the bill is intended to ensure that the United States is capable of competing with the Communist Party in all levels of national and international power in the coming decades.
The bill has five major sections that include plans to address Beijing’s actions, including predatory economic practices, malicious influence operations, digital authority, military expansion, ambitions for Taiwan, and oppression of Hong Kong and Xinjiang. The bill would also strengthen U.S. partnerships with the Indo-Pacific, Western Hemisphere, transatlantic and African regions to counter Chinese Communist ambitions.
The report said that the bill proposes a number of response plans, the following is a summary of the key points of the draft.
One, help U.S. companies to withdraw from China to decentralize the supply chain
The U.S. has been actively promoting supply chain restructuring in recent years to reduce its dependence on China, and the outbreak of the Chinese Communist virus (COVID-19, Wuhan pneumonia) has accelerated the pace of the outbreak.
To help achieve this goal, the bill authorizes $15 million per year during fiscal years 2022 through 2027 for U.S. embassies abroad to hire outside experts to assist U.S. companies or individuals in withdrawing from the China market, moving some of their production facilities out of China, or diversifying their supply chains outside of China.
In addition, the bill also proposes to address the Chinese Communist Party’s expansion of economic and political influence through its “Belt and Road” program.
The bill cites congressional opinion that the U.S. should initiate cooperation with other governments, the private sector and civil society to encourage countries to adopt the infrastructure development standards promoted by the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Osaka, including respect for the sovereignty of the country where the construction is taking place, anti-corruption, rule of law and human rights, and debt sustainability.
The bill authorizes the U.S. Secretary of State to establish the Infrastructure Transaction and Assistance Network (ITAN) program to allocate $75 million to promote sustainable, transparent and high-quality infrastructure development in the Indo-Pacific region. The program is designed to promote sustainable, transparent, and high-quality infrastructure development in the Indo-Pacific region.
Second, $300 million per year to counter the Chinese Communist Party
The bill cites a report submitted by the President of the United States under the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019, which states that Beijing uses official media and online organizations to conduct outreach and disseminate false information, and uses specific institutions and agents as cover to target businesses, universities and colleges, think tanks and academics, journalists, and local and federal officials in the United States and other countries to conduct malicious influence operations and attempt to influence public opinion. The bill seeks to influence public opinion through malicious influence operations.
The bill cites FBI Director Christopher Wray’s congressional testimony in February of last year as an example of Beijing’s aggressive efforts to conduct malicious influence operations in the United States. Wray noted at the time that the Chinese Communist Party was active in the U.S. in an effort to make U.S. policy and public opinion more “China-leaning” on various issues.
To counter the Chinese Communist Party’s malicious global influence campaign, the bill authorizes $300 million per year from fiscal years 2022 to 2026 for a “Counter China (Communist) Influence Fund. The bill also requires the Secretary of State to appoint an official at the Assistant Secretary level or higher to serve as the coordinating officer for policy guidance, coordination and funding.
In addition, the bill alleges that the Chinese Communist Party has spent large sums of money on influence campaigns in Western countries, such as spending $500 million on ads in Australia to attract local television viewers, and spending more than $20 million in the U.S. media to place sexual content in the official China Daily newspaper in an attempt to influence public opinion.
In the face of the Communist Party’s media war, the bill authorizes $100 million per year from fiscal years 2022 through 2026 for the U.S. Agency for International Media (USAGM) to fund programs to support foreign-based media, establish independent media, combat disinformation in China and abroad, and invest in technologies that circumvent censorship.
The bill also authorizes $170 million per year for the same period to fund programs to support media freedom, training, and protection of journalists.
Third, call for an agreement with Taiwan, Japan, and Europe to combat digital authoritarianism
In the face of the rise of the Chinese Communist Party’s “digital authority,” safeguarding the security of information and digital space has become one of the United States’ priorities in recent years.
The bill states that the U.S. should play a leading role in international standard-setting bodies to ensure that critical digital technologies can operate in a free, secure, interoperable and stable space; the U.S. should also join with its alliance partners to use all economic and diplomatic tools to confront “digital authority,” which means that the Chinese Communist Party uses information or communication technology products and services to spy on, oppress and manipulate people. The bill also calls on the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office to use all economic and diplomatic tools to combat “digital authority,” which is the use of information and communications technology products and services to spy on, oppress, and manipulate people.
In addition, the bill calls for the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office (USTR) to enter into bilateral and multilateral digital trade agreements with the European Union, Japan, Taiwan, members of the Five Eyes Coalition, and other appropriate countries.
In addition to strengthening digital trade with allies, the bill also authorizes the Secretary of State to establish the Digital Connectivity and Cybersecurity Partnership, which will allocate $100 million per year between fiscal years 2022 and 2026 to assist emerging nations. The bill also authorizes the Secretary of State to establish the Digital Connectivity and Cybersecurity Partnership and allocate $100 million annually between fiscal years 2022 and 2026 to assist emerging markets in expanding secure networks and digital construction, protecting technology assets, and promoting exports of U.S. information and communications technology (ICT) products and services.
Fourth, to counteract the Chinese Communist Party’s military expansion and ambitions for Taiwan
The bill points out that the rapid modernization and expansion of the Chinese Communist Party’s military power is increasingly detrimental to the military balance in the Indo-Pacific region. Beijing has taken the opportunity to undermine the confidence of U.S. allies in the strength of U.S. commitments, and some countries have been forced to follow (bandwagon) the Chinese Communist Party to protect their national interests.
The bill specifically refers to the Taiwan Strait situation, stating that unifying Taiwan is a key step in the CCP’s ambition to achieve regional hegemony. The bill says that the CCP has increased the frequency and scale of exercises with Taiwan as a hypothetical target, such as amphibious operations and live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait, and the dispatch of communist aircraft around Taiwan and across the median line in the Taiwan Strait.
The bill indicates that the defense of Taiwan has become more urgent and important as Beijing may accelerate its schedule of operations against Taiwan after it fully acquires Hong Kong. The bill emphasizes that defending Taiwan would help limit the CCP’s ability to project its military power beyond the first island chain and would prevent Beijing from diverting military resources and manpower to pursue its larger ambitions.
In addition, the bill states that defending Taiwan will also help the United States maintain its credibility as a defender of democratic values and free market principles, values that the people and government of Taiwan embody.
The bill calls for the U.S. to strengthen the Indo-Pacific Regional Security Partnership, including supporting Japan’s development of long-range precision firepower and encouraging and facilitating Taiwan’s accelerated acquisition of asymmetric defense capabilities. U.S. foreign policy should give priority to the Indo-Pacific region and allocate resources to achieve U.S. political and military objectives in the Indo-Pacific. The U.S. should also exercise freedom of flight and navigation in the Indo-Pacific region.
The bill plans to allocate a number of funds to help the U.S. achieve regional goals, including $605 million in foreign military assistance funds from 2022 to 2026.
Fifth, the Taiwan-U.S. partnership should be strengthened
In recent years, the Chinese Communist Party has used diplomatic, military and economic means to coerce Taiwan, and the bill devotes two sections to strengthening the U.S. partnership with Taiwan.
The bill states that China is attempting to unify Taiwan by all means. By insisting that reunification is the only option for Taiwan, the Communist Party makes the goal of reunification inherently coercive. The bill also warns that the Chinese Communist Party plans to use Taiwan’s superior strategic position in the first island chain to project power into the second island chain and beyond.
The bill calls for U.S. policy to recognize Taiwan as a vital part of the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy and to promote Taiwan’s security and democracy as elements of peace and stability in the “greater Indo-Pacific region,” as well as important U.S. national security interests.
The U.S. should also strengthen its commitment to Taiwan under the Taiwan Relations Act and the Six Assurances, in accordance with the “One-China Policy.
On the military front, the bill calls for regular U.S. arms sales to Taiwan to strengthen Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities, particularly in the development and integration of asymmetric warfare capabilities. The U.S. should also urge Taiwan to increase defense spending and provide adequate resources for its own defense strategy.
In the area of diplomacy and international engagement, the bill argues that the United States should promote and actively engage Taiwan in meaningful participation in the United Nations, the World Health Assembly (WHA), the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), and other appropriate international organizations, and should promote meaningful cooperation between the United States, Taiwan, and other like-minded partners.
Sixth, calls for equal treatment of Taiwan and other governments
The bill also makes a rare claim that the United States should treat Taiwan the same as other governments. The bill states that the State Department and other U.S. government agencies should deal with Taiwan’s elected government on the same basis as other foreign governments and use the same language and courtesy.
The bill also emphasizes that while the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) continues to play a supportive role in implementing U.S. foreign policy and protecting U.S. interests in Taiwan, the U.S. government should not impose any restrictions that limit the ability of State Department and other unit officials to interact directly and regularly with their counterparts in the ROC government.
However, the bill adds that the contents of the bill should not be interpreted as requiring the restoration of diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan) or changing the U.S. government’s position on Taiwan’s international status.
On April 21, the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee included the language of two pro-Taiwan bills by Republican Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) in the “Strategic Competition Act,” including the Taiwan Symbols of Sovereignty Act introduced in February of last year. The “Taiwan Symbols of Sovereignty Act” was introduced last February and the “Reassurance On Commitments Act” was introduced in March of this year.
“The Taiwan Symbols of Sovereignty Act calls for the U.S. to allow Taiwan diplomatic and military personnel to display the flag and wear uniforms on U.S. soil; the Reassurance On Commitments Act prohibits the U.S. Department of State from using fiscal year 2022 funds to restrict the use of ROC government representatives or The “Promise Reassurance Act” prohibits the U.S. Department of State from using FY2022 funds to restrict the display of sovereignty symbols, such as the Republic of China (Taiwan) flag or military insignia, by representatives of the Republic of China government or military personnel in the course of their official duties.
Seven, Funding to Promote Democracy and Expand Sanctions in Hong Kong
The Chinese Communist Party has recently revised Hong Kong’s electoral system to further tighten democratic space; inhumane acts such as forced labor and forced birth control in Xinjiang have also surfaced, sparking heightened international concern.
To promote and invest in American values, the bill authorizes $10 million in fiscal year 2022 for the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor to promote democracy in Hong Kong.
The bill also seeks to amend the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act, which took effect last June, to include major human rights violations involving forced labor, systematic rape, forced abortion, forced sterilization, and the installation of contraceptive devices, among others, that could be subject to U.S. sanctions. The Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act includes major human rights violations involving forced labor, systematic violence, forced abortion, forced sterilization, and the installation of contraceptive devices among those that may be named and sanctioned by the President of the United States.
Under the Uighur Human Rights Policy Act, the U.S. President may use sanctions such as freezing the assets of named individuals in the U.S., denying them entry into the U.S., and denying or revoking their visas.
The Most Significant U.S. Anti-Communist Act in Recent Years
As this is the most significant anti-communist bill in recent years, it includes stricter scrutiny of foreign donations to U.S. colleges and universities. An amendment to the bill also prohibits the U.S. government from sending a delegation to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, with athletes not being affected by participation.
A number of lawmakers offered amendments during the session to include their ideas in the historic bill. Among them was Republican Senator Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) proposal to change the title of the Director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Taipei Office to “Representative” and to require Senate consent for the appointment.
Only a few amendments were included to avoid the bill’s content touching on other committee responsibilities and to ensure the bill’s future passage in the House and Senate. Rubio’s amendment received 11 votes for and 11 votes against, not a majority, and was not included.
However, Cruz’s “Taiwan Sovereignty Symbol Act”, which allows Taiwan’s diplomatic and military personnel to display the flag and wear uniforms on U.S. soil, was adopted as an amendment package at the beginning of the session.
With the endorsement of heavyweight members of both parties, the bill was passed by the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee with a high vote of 21 in favor and 1 against; Republican Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) was the only member who voted against the bill.
The bill will then be sent to the Senate floor for consideration, and after it is passed by both chambers, it will be submitted to the President of the United States for signature and take effect.
Recent Comments