Plans to confront China hit hurdles

Republicans and Democrats are pressing for major legislation to counter rising threats from China, but mere weeks into the new Congress, a bipartisan consensus is at risk of dissipating amid disputes about what steps to take and a desire among many Republicans to wield the issue as a weapon against President Joe Biden.

In the House and Senate, leading lawmakers in both parties have managed in an otherwise bitterly divided Congress to stay unified about the need to confront the dangers posed by China’s militarization, its deepening ties with Russia and its ever-expanding economic footprint.

But a rising chorus of Republican vitriol directed at Biden after a Chinese spy balloon flew over the United States this month upended that spirit — giving way to GOP accusations that the president was “weak on China” — and suggested that the path ahead for any bipartisan action is exceedingly narrow.

“When the balloon story popped, so to speak, it felt like certain people used that as an opportunity to bash President Biden,” said Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois, the top Democrat on the select panel the House created to focus on competition with China.

“And it felt like no matter what he did, they wanted to basically call him soft on the CCP, and unable to protect America,” he said, referring to the Chinese Communist Party. “That’s where I think we can go wayward politically,”

For now, only a few, mostly narrow ventures have drawn enough bipartisan interest to have a chance at advancing amid the political tide.

They include legislation to ban Tiktok, the Beijingbased social media platform lawmakers have warned for years is an intelligence-gathering gold mine for the Chinese government; bills that would ban Chinese purchases of farmland and other agricultural real estate, especially in areas near sensitive military sites; and also measures to limit U.S. exports and outbound investments to China.

WASHINGTON >>