WASHINGTON (AP) — The question of how to contain and counter China’s influence and power – through its biotech companies, drones and electric vehicles – will dominate the U.S. House of Representatives’ first week back after the summer recess, as lawmakers pass a series of measures against Beijing.
Washington views Beijing as its biggest geopolitical rival, and the bill is designed to ensure the United States wins that contest. Many of the bills up for vote this week appear to have support from both Republicans and Democrats, reflecting a powerful consensus that Congress must take action to confront China.
The bill “will take meaningful steps to counter the military, economic and ideological threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party,” said Rep. John Moolenaar, chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party and a Republican from Michigan. “There is a bipartisan goal to win this contest.”
Advocacy groups are concerned about the impact, warning against rhetoric that could harm Asian Americans and “foment an atmosphere of guilt by association or division,” says Christine Chen, executive director of Asian & Pacific Islander American Vote.
The Chinese embassy in Washington called the bill a “new McCarthyism” that would stoke tensions in an election year. If passed, “it will cause serious damage to Sino-US relations and mutually beneficial cooperation, and will inevitably harm the US’s own interests, image and credibility,” spokesman Liu Pengyu said in a statement.
The bills include efforts to reduce U.S. dependence on Chinese biotechnology companies, ban Chinese electric vehicles and drones, restrict Chinese purchases of farmland, tighten export restrictions and revive a program to root out spying on American intellectual property.
If the measures are passed, they will still need to be approved by the Senate. Here’s a look at the key bills:
Beijing-linked biotechnology in the crosshairs
A bill would prohibit a group of five biotechnology companies with ties to China from working with companies that receive federal funds.
The companies include those that support doctors identify genetic causes of cancer or those that carry out research and production activities for American pharmaceutical companies, which is considered a crucial step in the development of recent drugs.
American biotechnology companies have said the law will hurt their partnerships with Chinese contractors and lead to delays in clinical trials of recent drugs and higher costs.
Supporters say the law is necessary to protect U.S. health data and reduce the country’s dependence on China in its medical supply chain.
“American patients cannot be put in a situation where they have to rely on China for genomic testing or basic health care,” said Republican Rep. Brad Wenstrup of Ohio, who sponsored the bill, calling it “the first step” in protecting Americans’ genetic data.
BGI, one of the Chinese companies named in the bill, called it “a false flag aimed at other companies under the guise of national security.” The company, which provides genetic sequencing for research purposes in the United States, said it complies with the law and does not have access to Americans’ personal data.
Ban on Chinese drones
Another bill would label drones made by Chinese company DJI, which dominates the global drone market, as an “unacceptable risk to U.S. national security” and exclude its products from U.S. communications networks due to concerns about data security.
The bill will protect Americans’ data and critical infrastructure, said Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, who introduced it. “Congress must use every tool at our disposal to stop China’s monopolistic control of the drone market,” she said.
DJI argues that users must consent to sharing data such as flight logs, photos and videos with the company. If users don’t, the company has no data to provide to a government if compelled to do so. DJI has also denied allegations that it is a Chinese military contractor and that it has supported the persecution of members of ethnic Muslim minorities.
Adam Bry, co-founder and CEO of major U.S. drone maker Skydio, told a congressional committee in June about losing business to China. “The Chinese government has sought to control the drone industry by pumping resources into national champions and targeting competitors in the U.S. and the West to rig the playing field in China’s favor.”
Protection of intellectual property
A legal challenge is likely to target an attempt to revive a Trump-era program that has been described as a means of stopping Chinese efforts to steal intellectual property and spy on industry and research.
The bill would direct the Justice Department to curb Beijing’s spying on American intellectual property and academic institutions and to pursue individuals involved in trade secret theft, hacking and economic espionage.
The Trump-era program, called the China Initiative, ended in 2022 after several unsuccessful prosecutions of researchers and concerns that it had led to racial and ethnic profiling. Critics also say it has hindered U.S.-China cooperation in science and technology that is intended to serve the common good.
“Our colleagues in the Republican Party wanted to reinstate this failed program because they wanted to give the appearance that they were solving problems. But in reality, they only stoked fear and hatred,” several Democratic lawmakers said in a statement in March as they fended off another attempt to reinstate the program.
Restriction on agricultural sales
Another bill designed to protect American farmland from foreign opponents has raised concerns about possible discrimination.
The Secretary of Agriculture would be appointed to the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment, which reviews the national security implications of foreign transactions. The bill also labels land sales involving citizens of China, North Korea, Russia and Iran as “reportable.”
“Food safety is national security, and for far too long the federal government has allowed the Chinese Communist Party to endanger our security by ignoring its ever-increasing purchases of American farmland,” said Republican Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington state, who introduced the bill.
The National Agricultural Law Center estimates that 24 states prohibit or restrict undocumented foreign nationals, foreign companies or governments from owning private farmland. The interest arose after a Chinese billionaire bought more than 130,000 acres near a U.S. Air Force base in Texas and another Chinese company wanted to build a corn factory near an Air Force base in North Dakota.
