Bucking the Anti-China Trend
Commentary by Zhiqun Zhu, Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Bucknell University and Steering Committee Member, Committee for a Sane U.S.-China Policy
[Note: a version of this commentary first appeared in The Hill on Feb. 17, 2022]
On Feb. 4, 2022, the U.S. House of Representatives passed “The America COMPETES Act of 2022” by a 222-210 vote, earmarking some $350 billion in government funding for semiconductors, supply chain replacement, and scientific research and innovation to compete with China. Most Republicans voted against the COMPETES (Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing Pre-Eminence in Technology and Economic Strength) Act as they contend it is too weak on China.
In June 2021, the Senate passed a similar bill, called the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA), that allocates $250 billion in funding for similar purposes. The House and Senate will now have to convene a conference committee composed of representatives of both parties to reconcile differences in the two bills.
No doubt many Americans welcome such long-overdue efforts to invest in our education, innovation and infrastructure so that the United States can stay competitive in the world. However, the nearly 3,000-page America COMPETES Act includes a long list of measures addressing alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang, the crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong, and heightened tensions over Taiwan. One is flummoxed by how and why squeezing such measures about China’s hardline policies into the Act would help advance America’s global competitiveness.
The America COMPETES Act is not just about competing with China in scientific research, technology and supply chains, it also advocates confronting China in geopolitics, security, and ideology. Washington has yet to develop a viable strategy to deal with a more powerful and assertive China. Does accelerating the downward spiral of the bilateral relationship truly serve U.S. interests?
Moderates in Congress, such as Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Wash.), co-founder of the U.S.-China Working Group, are trying to salvage the bilateral relationship, distancing themselves from those who back punishing or decoupling from China. Larsen’s China White Paper outlines a 4-point framework, which recognizes areas of competition and conflict and expands America’s toolbox to compete with China while identifying areas where the two countries can cooperate and advising America to get its own house in order.
It takes courage and wisdom to buck the anti-China trend and do something positive to promote U.S.-China cooperation in the current toxic political atmosphere.
A recent report published by the U.S. Heartland China Association, which is headed by former Missouri Governor Bob Holden, illustrates how the American heartland and China are interdependent. The report, entitled “Why China Matters to the Heartland,” demonstrates, in colorful graphs and statistics, how a dynamic relationship with China has benefited each of the 21 states situated between the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico.
When many members of Congress are beating the drums of war by proposing anti-China bills one after another, one wonders if these politicians understand what their constituents think and how a confrontational U.S.-China relationship may hurt their states and home districts. Do they know, for example, farmers in North Dakota want friendly relations with China since 70 percent of their soybeans are exported there?
Due to the pandemic, no members of Congress have visited China since 2019 and normal exchanges between the two countries have sharply declined, contributing to growing negative views of each other among Americans and Chinese. It is high time that the two countries resumed exchanges at all levels and sought ways to peacefully manage the complex relationship.