US Senate advances bill to enhance technological research to counter China

The United States Senate, on May 17, advanced a bill that would provide billions of dollars in government funding for technology research as a part of the country’s legislative measures to counter the Chinese force. Soon after assuming office, President Joe Biden had warned that China was robustly outpacing the US in infrastructure and other fields, indicating a need to up investment in counter-China acts. Additionally, Beijing has also been accused of being the “greatest long-time threat to US’ national intellectual property and economic vitality", therefore, creating a direct need for the US to enhance its technological research.

"Members on both sides of the aisle know that decades of federal underinvestment in science and technology have imperilled America's global economic leadership," Schumer said ahead of the vote. Holding the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) accountable for its years of rapacious economic policies and theft of American ingenuity will help create a level playing field that American workers have lacked for decades," he added.

Endless Frontiers Act

On Monday, Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer introduced the Endless Frontiers Act which seeks a sum of up to USD 100 billion over five years for basic and Advanced Tech Research. It also seeks an additional amount of USD 10 billion to create new technology hub across the American land. On Monday, the Senate voted 84-11 allowing the bill to move ahead. The bill, if passed, would start a new high-level office to oversee the development of technologies including artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum computing and biotechnology.

In addition to the aforementioned, the Strategic Competition Act of 2021, sponsored by Democratic Senator Bob Menendez and Republican Representative Jim Risch, is also under consideration. The proposed legislation seeks to increase sanctions on Chinese officials over human right violation in Hong Kobng ad Xinjiang. The bill would also strengthen US ties with Taiwan, and try to limit Beijing's military operations and territorial claims in the South China Sea and beyond, South China Morning Post reported. It is imperative to note that a recent report titled, ‘Family De-planning: The Coercive Campaign to Drive Down Indigenous Birth-rates in Xinjiang’ indicates that the drop in Uyghur birth rates could be due to the mass sterilisation, coerced birth control and punitive family policies forced by the government. 

Image: AP