Chinese Chutzpah
IN a rare pressure campaign, the Chinese government is demanding Congress back off new laws that would strengthen the US relationship with Taiwan. Beijing’s efforts are the latest sign that it is stepping up its campaign to exert political influence inside countries around the world, including the United States.
In response to proposed legislation, the Chinese Embassy in Washington lodged a formal complaint with leading lawmakers, threatening “severe consequences” for the US-China relationship if Congress follows through. China’s tactics have angered lawmakers and staffers in both parties, who call them inappropriate and counterproductive.
In an August letter from Chinese Ambassador Cui Tiankai that I obtained, the Chinese government expressed “grave concern” about the Taiwan Travel Act, the Taiwan Security Act and Taiwan-related provisions in both the House and Senate versions of this year’s National Defense Authorization Act.
The measures represent “provocations against China’s sovereignty, national unity and security interests” and “have crossed the ‘red line’ on the stability of the China-US relationship,” the letter stated.
The letter was sent to leaders of the Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees and called on them to block Taiwan-related provisions in the bills. Lawmakers and aides told me the Chinese threat of “severe consequences” was unusual and out of line.
“The United States should continue to strengthen our relationship with Taiwan and not allow Chinese influence or pressure to interfere with the national-security interests of the US,” said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the sponsor of the Taiwan Travel Act, which calls for more visits by US officials to Taiwan and by Taiwanese officials to the United States.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee’s ranking Democrat, Eliot Engel of New York, told me Cui’s letter stood out because of its threatening tone. “China carries out this kind of heavy-handed behavior with other countries,” he said. “It’s interesting to me that they now feel that they can get away with these kind of threats and vague pressure tactics with the US Congress.”
The issue is coming to a head as the House and Senate Armed Services committees negotiate over the defense-policy bill. The Senate version has several strong Taiwan-related provisions. It would authorize Taiwanese ships to make port calls to US naval bases and vice versa, invite Taiwan to the “Red Flag” international military exercises and provide for increased supply of US defense articles to Taiwan. The House version of the bill contains softer versions of those provisions.
By stating that the “red line” had been crossed by the mere introduction of legislation, the Chinese government seems to be saying it believes Chinese interference in US domestic political processes is appropriate, a Senate Democratic aide said. Other congressional aides said that no other embassy uses threats as a tactic to influence Congress, especially not via an official communication.
Beijing’s worldwide strategy to exert political influence inside other countries’ decision-making processes has been expanding for years. “It’s a concentrated, longterm, political-warfare influence operations campaign that has been going on for a long time but has definitely become more brazen,” said Dan Blumenthal, a former Pentagon Asia official.
Chinese pressure on domestic institutions in other countries takes many forms, he said. In Australia, there’s a huge debate about Chinese pressure on universities to alter curriculum to match Chinese propaganda. In Spain, the government controversially changed the law to curb prosecutions of foreign leaders for human-rights violations, under Chinese government pressure.
“We don’t really recognize the Chinese efforts to coerce political influence in other countries. That’s not even on our radar,” said Blumenthal. “It’s part of Chinese grand strategy. It’s a big, big deal.”
Congressional action over the next weeks and months will be a test of the legislative branch’s willingness to stand up to Chinese bullying and continue a long tradition of seeking improved engagement with Taiwan. Even if the House and Senate compromise, they should send a clear message that China’s tactics won’t work.