| |
Congress Targets China in Defense Bill 12/11 06:19
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Trump administration may have softened its language
on China to maintain a fragile truce in their trade war, but Congress is
charging ahead with more restrictions in a defense authorization bill that
would deny Beijing investments in highly sensitive sectors and reduce U.S.
reliance on Chinese biotechnology companies.
Included in the 3,000-page bill approved Wednesday by the House is a
provision to scrutinize American investments in China that could help develop
technologies to boost Chinese military power. The bill, which next heads to the
Senate, also would prohibit government money to be used for equipment and
services from blacklisted Chinese biotechnology companies.
In addition, the National Defense Authorization Act would boost U.S. support
for the self-governing island of Taiwan that Beijing claims as its own and says
it will take by force if necessary.
"Taken together, these measures reflect a serious, strategic approach to
countering the Chinese Communist Party," said Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, the top
Democrat on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. He said
the approach "stands in stark contrast to the White House's recent actions."
Congress moves for harsher line toward China
The compromise bill authorizing $900 billion for military programs was
released two days after the White House unveiled its national security
strategy. The Trump administration dropped Biden-era language that cast China
as a strategic threat and said the U.S. "will rebalance America's economic
relationship with China," an indication that President Donald Trump is more
interested in a mutually advantageous economic relationship with Beijing than
in long-term competition.
The White House this week also allowed Nvidia to sell an advanced type of
computer chip to China, with those more hawkish toward Beijing concerned that
would help boost the country's artificial intelligence.
The China-related provisions in the traditionally bipartisan defense bill
"make clear that, whatever the White House tone, Capitol Hill is locking in a
hard-edged, long-term competition with Beijing," said Craig Singleton, senior
director of the China program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a
Washington-based think tank.
If passed, these provisions would "build a floor under U.S. competitiveness
policy -- on capital, biotech, and critical tech -- that will be very hard for
future presidents to unwind quietly," he said.
The Chinese embassy in Washington on Wednesday denounced the bill.
"The bill has kept playing up the 'China threat' narrative, trumpeting for
military support to Taiwan, abusing state power to go after Chinese economic
development, limiting trade, economic and people-to-people exchanges between
China and the U.S., undermining China's sovereignty, security and development
interests and disrupting efforts of the two sides in stabilizing bilateral
relations," said Liu Pengyu, the embassy spokesperson.
"China strongly deplores and firmly opposes this," Liu said.
US investments in China
U.S. policymakers and lawmakers have been working for several years toward
bipartisan legislation to curb investments in China when it comes to
cutting-edge technologies such as quantum computing, aerospace, semiconductors
and artificial intelligence. Those efforts flopped last year when Tesla CEO
Elon Musk opposed a spending bill.
Musk has extensive business interests in China, including a Tesla
gigafactory in the eastern city of Shanghai.
The provision made it into the must-pass defense policy bill, welcomed by
Rep. John Moolenaar, a Michigan Republican who chairs the House Select
Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.
"For too long, the hard-earned money of American retirees and investors has
been used to build up China's military and economy," he said. "This legislation
will help bring that to an end."
Biosecurity protections
Congress last year failed to pass the BIOSECURE Act, which cited national
security in preventing federal money from benefiting a number of Chinese
biotechnology companies. Critics said then that it was unfair to single out
specific companies, warning that the measure would delay clinical trials and
hinder development of new drugs, raise costs for medications and hurt
innovation.
The provision in the NDAA no longer names companies but leaves it to the
Office of Management and Budget to compile a list of "biotechnology companies
of concern." The bill also would expand Pentagon investments in biotechnology.
Moolenaar lauded the effort for taking "defensive action to secure American
pharmaceutical supply chains and genetic information from malign Chinese
companies."
Support for Taiwan
The defense bill also would authorize an increase in funding, to $1 billion
from $300 million this year, for Taiwan-related security cooperation and direct
the Pentagon to establish a joint drone and anti-drone program.
Another provision supports Taiwan's bid to join the International Monetary
Fund, which would provide the self-governing island with financial protection
from China.
It comes amid mixed signals from Trump, who appears careful not to upset
Beijing as he seeks to strike trade deals with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The Chinese leader has urged Trump to handle the Taiwan issue "with prudence,"
as Beijing considers its claim over Taiwan a core interest.
In the new national security strategy, the White House says the U.S. does
not support any unilateral change to the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and
stresses that the U.S. should seek to deter and prevent a large-scale military
conflict.
"But the American military cannot, and should not have to, do this alone,"
the document says, urging Japan and South Korea to increase defense spending.
|
|
