Challenge the Challenger

By An Gang

On April 21， after hours of debate and several amendments， the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations voted 21-1 in approval of the Bill to Address Issues Involving the Peoples Republic of China， also known as the Strategic Competition Act of 2021.

The over 280-page bill was based on the Strengthening Trade， Regional Alliances， Technology， and Economic and Geopolitical Initiatives Concerning China Act proposed by Jim Risch， then Chairman of the committee， and three other Republican senators in July 2020. As the Republicans lost control of the Senate after the 2020 elections， Democrat Robert Menendez took over the panels chairmanship and proposed the new bill.

At an earlier hearing， Menendez had already stressed that the right basic framework for thinking about the U.S.-China relationship would be that of “strategic competition，”entailing a new set of organizing principles to address “the challenges of this new era.”

Focal points

The U.S. legislation accuses China of leveraging its political， diplomatic， economic， military， technological and ideological powers to challenge the interests and values shared by the U.S. and its partners. In doing so， the U.S. claims that China is jeopardizing the rulesbased international order characterized by freedom. According to this act， Chinas objectives are to “first establish regional hegemony over the Indo-Pacific” and subsequently use that dominant position to propel it to become the worlds“leading power.” Based on this， China would redefine international laws and regulations and encourage other countries to follow its governance model， the bill states.

Going by this assessment， the bill sets several objectives for the U.S.， one of which is to sustain its global leadership role by leveraging its tools for long-term political， economic， technological， and military competition with China. The bill clearly states that the Congress will strengthen U.S. domestic infrastructure by investing in market-based economy， education， and innovation， as well as ensure the U.S. leading role throughout this process.

It also lays out the key areas of U.S. strategic competition with China. First， to deepen alliances by prioritizing the Indo-Pacific region and Europe in pursuit of greater multilateral cooperative initiatives that advance “shared interests and values.” Second， to promote “universal values，” “human rights and labor rights” and adopt sanctions against China regarding its policies on Hong Kong and Xinjiang. Third， to control Chinas so-called “predatory economic practices，” including those of “intellectual property theft，” “using Hong Kong to circumvent U.S. export control” and “reviewing the presence of Chinese companies in U.S. capital markets.” Fourth， to enhance U.S. competitiveness by investing in technology， infrastructure， digital connectivity and “cybersecurity partnerships.” Fifth， to advance military cooperation with allies in the face of the modernization of Chinas army.