U.S. House Rep. Yvette Herrell (R-New Mexico) and 53 fellow Republican House members have cosponsored a bill intended to confront the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for "malign influence and theft."
H.R. 4792, the “Countering Communist China Act," was introduced by Rep. Jim Banks, (R-Ind.) July 29, 2021, according to the Congressional Record, "(T)o counter the malign influence and theft perpetuated by the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party."
The bill states that the PRC and CCP are "the foremost national security threat faced by the United States," citing the country's role in COVID-19, its record on human rights, intentions on Taiwan and theft of intellectual property, among other transgressions.
Herrell lists China's production and exportation of synthetic opioids smuggled into the U.S. through its southern border as another major threat.
"In addition to the military and economic threat posed by China," Herrell said to State Newswire, "Americans are dying every day from synthetic opioids produced in China and smuggled through our southern border."
An estimated 100,306 people in the U.S. died of drug overdoses between May 2020 and April 2021, a 28.5% increase over the previous one-year period, the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported in November 2021. Deaths from opioid overdoses, including from synthetic opioids and primarily fentanyl, increased from 56,064 to 75,673, the CDC reported.
China, under diplomatic pressure from the U.S., banned all types of fentanyl in 2018 and attempted to regulate the chemicals analogs and precursors in 2019, the Brookings Institute reported in March. The moves have "not been sufficient to stem the flow of fentanyl to the United States," the report states. "It has mostly led to shipments being rerouted through Mexico."
The Brookings Institute reports China is the world's largest chemical exporter by value, with as many as 400,000 chemical manufacturers and distributors. Many do not have legal approval or are obscured behind shell corporations and nearly all of them can make - and hide - fentanyl, according to the report.
In Fiscal Year 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized 10.6K of fentanyl at the southwest border. According to commentary published last December by the Center for Immigration Studies, that is a 132% increase over 2020.
Fox News investigative reporter Sara Carter reported in January on a Houston-area Texas Department of Public Safety (TXDPS) facility "holding $10 million in narcotic contraband" seized from immigrants and Mexican drug trafficking cartels.
"We are seeing counterfeit pills that are being manufactured by drug traffickers," a TXDPS agent said, according to the report. "We know the precursors are coming from China into Mexico - and then the cartels manufacture that drug and move it across into our states."
Herrell also pointed out China's growing global influence, particularly in developing African nations, where, Herrell says, China is "buying its way into governments to take natural resources and treat fledgling nations as outposts of Beijing's power."
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) reported in June that China is Africa's biggest trade partner, stating the PRC employs "a multifaceted tool kit of persuasion and coercion" to secure access to "strategic commodities." The report examined the role of the SMB-Winning Consortium, which is comprised of private Chinese corporations and state-owned enterprises, in attaining China's access to iron ore and bauxite in Guinea, which are essential to producing aluminum and steel.
China secured its position in Guinea in part by promising to expand infrastructure in the region, according to the CSIS report. The PRC built Guinea's first modern railway, the Dapilon–Santou line, which began operating last year. In 2017, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) signed a 20-year agreement with Guinea, agreeing to loan Guinea $20 billion - almost double Guinea's GDP that year - for infrastructure development, to be repaid from Guinea's mining revenue.
"Americans already know that China is attempting to supplant the US as the world's superpower," she said. "Americans also understand it is vital for our children and grandchildren that we confront China today to ensure that we remain free and prosperous for future generations."
