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US Senate unveils sweeping legislation to counter China's rise
The draft bill, titled "Strategic Competition Act of 2021," is designed to ensure that the United States is "positioned to compete with China across all dimensions of national and international power for decades to come," the committee's chairman, Robert Menendez, said.
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Two US Marines take up positions on the West Front of the US Capitol as preparations are made prior to the 59th inaugural ceremony for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris in Washington, DC on January 20, 2021. (AFP/Andrew Caballero-Reynolds)
T
he US Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday unveiled a major piece of bipartisan legislation to counter China's rise through close coordination with Japan and other allies, promotion of human rights as well as military investments to beef up security.
The draft bill, titled "Strategic Competition Act of 2021," is designed to ensure that the United States is "positioned to compete with China across all dimensions of national and international power for decades to come," the committee's chairman, Robert Menendez, said.
The committee will hold a meeting on Wednesday to take up and vote on the measure, he added in a statement.
The plan reflects a bipartisan consensus in Congress about taking a tough stance against China, which, the draft bill warns, is executing a plan "to establish regional hegemony over the Indo-Pacific and displace the United States from the region."
"The United States must coordinate closely with allies and partners to compete effectively with the PRC, including to encourage allies and partners to assume, as appropriate, greater roles in balancing and checking the aggressive and assertive behavior of the PRC," the draft said, using the acronym of the People's Republic of China.
It also said the government "must prioritize" military investments necessary to achieve US political objectives in the Indo-Pacific, including promoting regional security, reassuring allies and deterring conflict with China.
Japan was mentioned in the draft as among "critical" US allies in the region, along with a reassurance that the Japanese-administered, Chinese-claimed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea fall within the scope of the Japan-US security treaty, meaning Washington would come to Tokyo's aid in the event of an armed attack against the uninhabited islets.
The draft also called on the United States to cooperate with Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Thailand and Australia to promote human rights bilaterally and through regional and multilateral fora and pacts.
Meanwhile, Taiwan, which China sees as a renegade province awaiting reunification, should be recognized as a "vital part" of US Indo-Pacific strategy and the US government should not place any restrictions on interactions with Taiwanese counterparts, the draft legislation said.
Under the Taiwan Relations Act, which was passed by Congress in 1979 after the United States switched its diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing, Washington maintains substantive though unofficial relations with Taipei and supplies the island with arms and spare parts to enable it to maintain sufficient self-defense capabilities.
