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US Congress Foreign Affairs Committee approves legislation to examine US-China scientific agreement, ties to deteriorate
Regardless of the continuous tech conflict between the US and China, there were specific aspects where the two nations cooperated, owing to their scientific and technological pacts. Nonetheless, due to escalating tensions, future collaborations could face challenges.
On Thursday, the US House Foreign Affairs Committee gave unanimous consent to a bill. The goal of this legislation is to enhance the role of Congress in monitoring upcoming engagements of the State Department related to scientific and technological agreements with China.
The bill, brought forward by Republican Representative Andy Barr from Kentucky, requires the Secretary of State to supply Congress with comprehensive details about certain agreements, encompassing their advantages and disadvantages, before they are pursued.
Should this be implemented, the government would be required to pause for a minimum of 30 days after submitting before moving forward with these deals. This gives Congress the opportunity to assess potential threats to national security and reflect on human rights implications.
The unanimous vote of 50-0 by the committee has cleared the way for additional legislative proceedings concerning the bill. The exact timing for the vote in the House and Senate, however, remains undecided.
The proposed legislation could potentially hinder the regular reestablishment of the Science and Technology Agreement (STA) between the United States and China. This agreement, which was first enacted in 1979 by US President Jimmy Carter and Chinese Premier Deng Xiaoping, marked the first two-way arrangement between both countries. Typically, the STA is extended every five years, but it has recently been given a number of half-year extensions, with the most recent ones being in August and February.
The existing pact has allowed researchers from the US and China to enjoy monetary, legal, and governmental aid for many years, promoting mutual scientific cooperation. Advocates contend that the STA safeguards US scientists working in China, and enables research in the US by granting access to essential Chinese databases, especially in areas such as health studies.
Nonetheless, detractors contend that China's management and regulation of its domestic science and technology initiatives have enabled it to take advantage of the STA, filling scientific voids and utilizing the dispersed nature of the American academic scene to secure a leading position in areas such as electric cars and renewable energy.
Advocates for the proposed legislation underscore the necessity to analyze potential dangers and gauge the influence of the STA on American ingenuity. Representative Mike Gallagher, a Republican from Wisconsin who leads the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, stressed on China's exploitation of American scientific transparency to pilfer research and further their own objectives, such as military proliferation.
The two-party legislation also aims at the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, suggesting penalties against all 205 members of its Central Committee and their grown-up family members. The bill was endorsed by Representative Lisa McClain, a Michigan Republican, and it was approved with a 28-22 vote. The bill gives the president the power to suspend penalties if Beijing shows progress in several fields, including its behavior towards Uygur Muslims and its conduct in relation to Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Those in favor of the bill see it as essential to promote accountability from the Chinese Communist Party. However, critics, including the committee's leading Democrat, New York Representative Gregory Meeks, maintain that these sweeping sanctions could harm US-China relations. This could potentially hinder American officials and enterprises from collaborating with their Chinese peers to further US objectives.
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