GOP Drafts 18 Anti-China Bills After Balloon Incident

What’s happening: House Republicans have proposed a total of 18 bills in an attempt to hurt China’s financial state and economy while bolstering American support for Taiwan. The massive push for anti-China legislation comes amid peaking tensions after the Chinese surveillance balloon fiasco.

Hurting China’s economy: Some bills are designed to hold China accountable to fair trade policies that it may have otherwise ignored. Other bills aim to hurt China’s economy by preventing “money services businesses” from participating in transactions that involve Chinese digital currency and opposing policies that would benefit Chinese currencies.

Hurting China’s military: The Chinese Military and Surveillance Company Sanctions Act would impose sanctions on private Chinese defense and surveillance companies used by the Chinese government for military purposes. This follows the Biden administration’s sanctions on China’s chip industry, which is crucial for the next generation of military weaponry.

Protecting Taiwan: The three bills regarding Taiwan would help Taiwan’s economy by offering it better treatment from international financial institutions, block Chinese representatives from international banking if a move on Taiwan was made, and publicize Chinese senior officials’ personal banking details to make it easier to sanction them if China escalated its aggression against Taiwan.