US-China Relations Updates

[May 16] The US Senate held a rare hearing on China issues, summoning three cabinet members of the Biden administration for questioning. According to Reuters, this is a rare joint testimony. Attending the hearing were Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. The hearing was convened by the Senate Appropriations Committee at 2 PM Eastern Time  (1800 Greenwich Mean Time), to hear Biden’s budget request and discuss the budget’s implications for security, competitiveness, and the future roadmap of US-China relations.

It is rare for cabinet members to testify together at a public hearing in Congress, but lawmakers of both parties and the Democratic-led Biden administration have been vying to show that they consider the Chinese Communist government to be Washington’s biggest challenge. Two weeks ago, Senate Democrats, including Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray, announced a new legislative effort to counter competition from China.

Last week, Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, met with China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, as both sides sought to move beyond the alleged spy balloon incident that led to a pause in US-China relations this year.

The US Department of Defense said that cabinet members will discuss the “whole-of-government” approach the government is taking in dealing with China. In the deeply divided US capital, taking a tough stance on China is a rare point of agreement between the two parties.

With strong support from both Democrats and Republicans, the US Congress passed a broad “chip and science” bill last year, authorizing hundreds of billions of dollars to promote competition with Beijing in semiconductors and other technology fields. Biden has signed it into law.

According to Reuters, the US Congress is now considering measures to prevent China from provoking conflict with Taiwan, improve relations with third countries to resist Chinese competition, tighten rules to prevent US capital from flowing to Chinese companies and restrict the flow of US technology to China. The US Congress is also carefully scrutinizing potential security threats from China, including concerns about the TikTok app owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance. The app has been banned for use on government-issued phones in countries such as Canada and Australia over fears that China could access user data or influence the content people see.