China

Counter the Threat of Communist China

The Chinese Communist Party is the most persistent and consequential threat facing the American people today. Vladimir Putin deserves the world’s condemnation for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but China’s ongoing military expansion and theft of American jobs and technology are direct threats to our security and prosperity.

The Heritage enterprise will expose China’s aggressive military buildup, growing cyber capabilities, gross violations of human rights, and rising use of global economic coercion. We will push for concrete actions—like resurrecting the Department of Justice China Initiative and barring members of the Chinese Communist Party from national security–related research funded by federal contracts and grants. To preserve our freedom, the Heritage enterprise will advance policy to confront China’s attack on American interests and values, develop a robust U.S. economy that is resistant to nefarious Chinese influence, and ensure that we have the necessary capabilities to defend the United States and its interests and allies abroad in an era of great-power competition.

We must confront the CCP by developing a robust and comprehensive legislative agenda and introducing it in the House of Representatives in 2023.

A comprehensive education campaign for Members of Congress, stakeholders, and the American people is required to ensure that the threat of the CCP can be matched by American strength. The CCP’s pernicious influence is often hidden in plain sight, and Heritage’s efforts in the next few years will focus on exposing it to prepare for decisive action by the next Administration. These goals represent all facets of the threat, and their accomplishment will prepare Washington to take effective action.

We will confront the threat of Communist China on the economic front.

To do this, we will highlight the importance of our secure access to strategic products and materials that would be critical in the event of a prolonged war with China and will help House leadership to develop and pass supply-chain legislation. Our experts will develop recommendations outlining how to develop a China-resistant economy.

We will work to reverse the Biden Administration’s current course and promote the expansion of American fossil fuel exploration and development. We will develop resources to educate the American people about the Left’s climate extremism; how their desired “climate action” results in dependence on “green” energy supplies from China; and the implications for national security of eliminating gas, oil, and coal from America’s energy mix. Part of this plan is developing a comprehensive list of Chinese hypocrisies related to energy use and environmental policies, emphasizing that China uses the Left’s preoccupation with climate to strengthen its own strategic position as the Left undermines American sovereignty, increases American dependence on China, and weakens the American economy.

We will conduct a campaign with allies to expose the entertainment industry’s collusion with China, especially on the part of Hollywood studios and sports leagues. The campaign will sustain national attention and will be intended to drive changes in corporate behavior and investment.

We will push back on leftist Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) policies and work to pass legislation to dismantle those policies, which unfairly favor China’s business interests and cultural influence over America’s.

We will expose more Chinese human rights abuses by encouraging hearings in the 118th Congress on the Uyghur genocide and developing a conservative coalition to advocate for accountability.

We will establish a network of partners across the United States and the world to document Chinese information warfare, intellectual property theft, and cyber-criminal activity and publish the findings as a foundational reference database.

We will confront the threat of Communist China on the military front.

We will document and expose the scope of Chinese malicious activities worldwide through Heritage’s China Transparency Project and building a global network of organizations dedicated to countering Chinese influence.

We will continue to make recommendations for a national defense that is capable of deterring and defeating the growing Chinese military threat. That means working to secure robust funding in Department of Defense appropriations bills to ensure our military readiness. We will use The Heritage Foundation’s Index of U.S. Military Strength to provide a comprehensive blueprint, including legislative recommendations for Congress, for a national defense that can effectively deter Chinese aggression while protecting U.S. interests.

We will use our research on nuclear deterrence to create legislative language to promote the development of U.S. nuclear capabilities to address China’s massive nuclear expansion.

We will also ensure that Congress and the American people are thoroughly informed about the nature and scope of China’s rapidly evolving military capabilities and their implications both for America’s ability to counter China and for China’s ability to cow other countries into submitting to its geopolitical and economic objectives.

We will confront the threat of Communist China’s influence on American government.

Additionally, we will raise awareness of the CCP’s influence here at home. We will encourage hearings in the 118th Congress on Chinese influence within the federal government, including the Biden Administration, and within the country at large. We will also collect and publish information on how BlackRock and other companies are aiding Chinese oppression.

We will raise awareness of our own government policies that weaken American institutions. That includes exposing and publicizing Biden Administration efforts to impose woke policies within the U.S. military, such as critical race theory; diversity, equity, and inclusion ideology; and unfunded climate change mandates that sap resources and popular support for the armed forces and frustrate their efforts to deter China.

We will work to draft legislation to limit the ability of Chinese Communist Party members and their surrogates to lobby Congress.

Finally, we will develop legislation that forbids any federal arrangements with federal agency contractors, grantees, and others with financial links to entities or commercial companies that are controlled by the Chinese military or CCP and tied to human rights abuses.

We will confront the threat of Communist China at the state level.

We will brief governors on policies that states can implement to contain Chinese Communist Party influence and develop legislative recommendations that prescribe the role states can play in combating malicious Chinese activity, including lobbying by the CCP, operations of Chinese state-owned entities, China’s involvement in the media and higher education, and industrial espionage.

We will develop and implement model recommendations for states to counter Chinese economic theft through bilateral trade, investment, and regulatory cooperation.

We will also work with states to pass legislation to protect sensitive infrastructure and land from the CCP.

Heritage provides the knowledge resources to equip lawmakers and others with the information they need to confront the threat of Communist China. Select studies from our experts can be found below:

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