US increases pressure on China through new strategic competition policy
U.S. and Chinese flags are seen before a meeting between senior defence officials from both countries at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., November 9, 2018
Fuelling the worsening relationship between the US and China, the US Senate’s new policy will have a “profound effect” on the Chinese entities.
The Strategic Competition Act of 2021, a 283-page bill, will be introduced next week and aims to provide help for American companies to diversify their global supply chain.
“This includes in terms of developing new technologies, global investment strategies, selling into US-allied countries, receiving support from the Chinese government, and how the country's technology market interacts and influences global governance and standards-setting,” said Cameron Johnson, an adjunct faculty instructor at New York University and a partner at Shanghai-based Tidal Wave Solutions told South China Morning Post.
The bill’s science and technology section will lay out pointers to provide help for US-based companies in diversifying global supply chain; total or partial acquisition of infrastructure like 5G mobile networks and undersea cables; negotiations for bilateral and plurilateral digital trade agreements; and building up cybersecurity capabilities.
More importantly, the bill is set to call sanctions against Chinese officials who are accused of “forced labour, forced sterilisation and other abuses in Xinjiang”. The region has had numerous reports of human rights violations as the United Nations has also reported that more than one million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities are being subjected to torture.
The bill will also set aside nearly $10 million “to promote democracy in Hong Kong”. The US State Department will also be asked to make a report on “the extent to which the Government of China uses the status of Hong Kong to circumvent the laws and protections of the United States”.
It "focuses on countering and confronting China's predatory international economic behaviour, and includes measures to track intellectual property violators, Chinese government subsidies, monitor Chinese use of Hong Kong to circumvent US export controls, and track the presence of Chinese companies in US capital markets. Directs the United States to provide technical assistance to countries working to counter foreign corrupt practices, and debt relief to the poorest countries who have requested forbearance due to the Covid-19 pandemic," a statement by the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations read.
The bill also calls for strengthening military ties with the country’s allies in the Indo-Pacific region.
It "calls for enhanced coordination and cooperation with allies on arms control in the face of China's military modernization and expansion, and requires reporting on Chinese ballistic, hypersonic glide, and cruise missiles, conventional forces, nuclear, space, cyberspace and other strategic domains."
(With inputs from agencies)