Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) cosponsored the Countering Communist China Act, which outlines specific actions that would protect the United States from threats from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
“The United States must take action to address growing threats from the Chinese Communist Party. I support measures like the Countering Communist China Act, which put America first and make our nation more competitive,” Higgins told State Newswire. “We need to bring back critical supply chains, protect American intellectual property, and hold China accountable.”
The legislation recognizes China and the CCP as the United States' top national security threat and aims to counter China's malign influence and theft of intellectual property, according to the text of the bill. One provision of the legislation would require the declassification of information about the origin of COVID-19, determine whether China's role constitutes use of a biological weapon, and seek reimbursement from China for the funds the U.S. government used to mitigate the pandemic.
The legislation would invest in supply chain security as it relates to medical and pharmaceutical items and national security, the bill text said. It aims to protect American universities, laboratories, and research institutions from CCP influence and theft, restricting foreign funding of educational institutions and limiting partnerships with China. The Countering Communist China Act would place prohibitions on undermining the U.S.’s policy regarding Taiwan and seek to negotiate a free trade agreement with Taiwan. It addresses the genocide in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and imposes sanctions on individuals participating in human rights abuses.
Global reliance on Chinese manufacturing was facilitated by China's acceptance into the World Trade Organization in 2001. China now leads the world in manufacturing, accounting for almost 30% of all manufacturing output, The American Prospect reported. In comparison, the U.S. accounts for 16.8% of the world's manufacturing output. American supply chain reliance on China became clear at the onset of the pandemic, when China's zero-COVID strategy led to lockdowns, resulting in supply chain disruptions.
A new report from the Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP) warns that failure to confront China as a technological threat could result in the loss of trillions of dollars’ worth of economic growth, Axios reported.
“Imagine a world where China controls the global digital infrastructure, has the dominant position in tech platforms, controls the production of critical tech, and is harnessing biotech and new energy to transform its society, economy, and military,” SCSP told Axios.
The report said that semiconductor chips, 5G, and artificial intelligence are priority industries, according to Axios.
The U.S. Department of Justice launched a China Initiative under the Trump administration to counter CCP theft of U.S. intellectual property. The department ended the program this year, citing complaints from activist groups that it caused fear among Asian Americans, NPR reported. In January, FBI Director Christopher Wray said the bureau opens a new China-related case every 12 hours.
“There is just no country that presents a broader threat to our ideas, our innovation and our economic security than China,” Wray said, NPR reported.
