SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
U.S. President Joe Biden meets virtually with Chinese President Xi Jinping from the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, D.C. on November 15, 2021. (Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
Groups Warn US Lawmakers Against Fueling 'New Cold War' With China
A policy of hostility toward Beijing, says a global justice advocate, has "become a convenient excuse for pushing a corporate, militarist agenda."
Jan 21, 2022
Ahead of congressional negotiations on a key technology bill, 32 global justice groups on Friday demanded revisions to the pending legislation that will encourage the United States and China to "resolve bilateral and global challenges through dialogue and cooperation, rather than conflict and one-upmanship."
"In its current form USICA is one-sidedly confrontational."
The organizations' letter to lawmakers focuses on the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA), which passed the Senate with bipartisan support last June and would pour billions of dollars into American manufacturing and technology research to boost competition with China.
The Chinese government has openly criticized and lobbied against the USICA because, as Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin put it last year, the bill "distorts the facts" and "smears China's development path and domestic and foreign policies."
The letter is addressed to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the bill's sponsor; Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Bob Menendez (D-N.J.); House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.); and House Committee on Foreign Affairs Chair Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.).
Spearheaded by Justice Is Global, the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, and Win Without War, the letter states:
We recognize the value of provisions aimed at supporting domestic manufacturing and science, and share many of the concerns around the increasingly authoritarian Chinese government that motivate the authors of USICA, particularly the deteriorating human rights situation in China.
Unfortunately, however, in its current form USICA is one-sidedly confrontational. It advocates an approach that is likely to exacerbate nationalism in China, while feeding the mutually destructive security competition underway between the U.S. and China and undermining the urgent need to enhance bilateral cooperation around shared global challenges including climate change, pandemics, and global poverty.
Noting the need for collective action on such issues, Justice Is Global director Tobita Chow said in a statement Friday that "cooperation between the U.S. and China is particularly crucial. U.S. policymakers must recognize this reality rather than unnecessarily deepening international divisions through a strategy of zero-sum competition and containment."
The groups encourage lawmakers who participate in the conference process for the legislation to amend "approaches that focus on competition and conflict at the expense of cooperation and reassurance, by embracing a framework of zero-sum rivalry and containment."
The coalition also calls for cutting from the bill policies that promote an arms race with China, pressure other nations to "make an us-or-them choice," and "unnecessarily inflame tensions in the Taiwan Strait."
Along with proposing cuts, the organizations argue the legislation should explicitly express support for human rights in China as well as U.S.-Chinese "cooperation to provide universal global public goods" and "engagement to reform the global economy."
They further advocate for including "enforceable human rights controls" for U.S. arms sales and military aid as well as support for arms control negotiations, safety protocols, and "confidence-building measures" regarding Taiwan and disputes in the South China Sea.
"There are very real challenges to work out between the United States and China," Win Without War president Stephen Miles said in a statement. "But the maximally aggressive approach that dominates the foreign policy establishment today won't get us there."
"'Combating China' has simply become a convenient excuse for pushing a corporate, militarist agenda that, in reality, actively undermines national security and human rights in the United States and China alike," he added. "We need a new approach, not a new Cold War."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Ahead of congressional negotiations on a key technology bill, 32 global justice groups on Friday demanded revisions to the pending legislation that will encourage the United States and China to "resolve bilateral and global challenges through dialogue and cooperation, rather than conflict and one-upmanship."
"In its current form USICA is one-sidedly confrontational."
The organizations' letter to lawmakers focuses on the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA), which passed the Senate with bipartisan support last June and would pour billions of dollars into American manufacturing and technology research to boost competition with China.
The Chinese government has openly criticized and lobbied against the USICA because, as Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin put it last year, the bill "distorts the facts" and "smears China's development path and domestic and foreign policies."
The letter is addressed to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the bill's sponsor; Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Bob Menendez (D-N.J.); House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.); and House Committee on Foreign Affairs Chair Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.).
Spearheaded by Justice Is Global, the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, and Win Without War, the letter states:
We recognize the value of provisions aimed at supporting domestic manufacturing and science, and share many of the concerns around the increasingly authoritarian Chinese government that motivate the authors of USICA, particularly the deteriorating human rights situation in China.
Unfortunately, however, in its current form USICA is one-sidedly confrontational. It advocates an approach that is likely to exacerbate nationalism in China, while feeding the mutually destructive security competition underway between the U.S. and China and undermining the urgent need to enhance bilateral cooperation around shared global challenges including climate change, pandemics, and global poverty.
Noting the need for collective action on such issues, Justice Is Global director Tobita Chow said in a statement Friday that "cooperation between the U.S. and China is particularly crucial. U.S. policymakers must recognize this reality rather than unnecessarily deepening international divisions through a strategy of zero-sum competition and containment."
The groups encourage lawmakers who participate in the conference process for the legislation to amend "approaches that focus on competition and conflict at the expense of cooperation and reassurance, by embracing a framework of zero-sum rivalry and containment."
The coalition also calls for cutting from the bill policies that promote an arms race with China, pressure other nations to "make an us-or-them choice," and "unnecessarily inflame tensions in the Taiwan Strait."
Along with proposing cuts, the organizations argue the legislation should explicitly express support for human rights in China as well as U.S.-Chinese "cooperation to provide universal global public goods" and "engagement to reform the global economy."
They further advocate for including "enforceable human rights controls" for U.S. arms sales and military aid as well as support for arms control negotiations, safety protocols, and "confidence-building measures" regarding Taiwan and disputes in the South China Sea.
"There are very real challenges to work out between the United States and China," Win Without War president Stephen Miles said in a statement. "But the maximally aggressive approach that dominates the foreign policy establishment today won't get us there."
"'Combating China' has simply become a convenient excuse for pushing a corporate, militarist agenda that, in reality, actively undermines national security and human rights in the United States and China alike," he added. "We need a new approach, not a new Cold War."
Ahead of congressional negotiations on a key technology bill, 32 global justice groups on Friday demanded revisions to the pending legislation that will encourage the United States and China to "resolve bilateral and global challenges through dialogue and cooperation, rather than conflict and one-upmanship."
"In its current form USICA is one-sidedly confrontational."
The organizations' letter to lawmakers focuses on the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA), which passed the Senate with bipartisan support last June and would pour billions of dollars into American manufacturing and technology research to boost competition with China.
The Chinese government has openly criticized and lobbied against the USICA because, as Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin put it last year, the bill "distorts the facts" and "smears China's development path and domestic and foreign policies."
The letter is addressed to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the bill's sponsor; Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Bob Menendez (D-N.J.); House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.); and House Committee on Foreign Affairs Chair Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.).
Spearheaded by Justice Is Global, the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, and Win Without War, the letter states:
We recognize the value of provisions aimed at supporting domestic manufacturing and science, and share many of the concerns around the increasingly authoritarian Chinese government that motivate the authors of USICA, particularly the deteriorating human rights situation in China.
Unfortunately, however, in its current form USICA is one-sidedly confrontational. It advocates an approach that is likely to exacerbate nationalism in China, while feeding the mutually destructive security competition underway between the U.S. and China and undermining the urgent need to enhance bilateral cooperation around shared global challenges including climate change, pandemics, and global poverty.
Noting the need for collective action on such issues, Justice Is Global director Tobita Chow said in a statement Friday that "cooperation between the U.S. and China is particularly crucial. U.S. policymakers must recognize this reality rather than unnecessarily deepening international divisions through a strategy of zero-sum competition and containment."
The groups encourage lawmakers who participate in the conference process for the legislation to amend "approaches that focus on competition and conflict at the expense of cooperation and reassurance, by embracing a framework of zero-sum rivalry and containment."
The coalition also calls for cutting from the bill policies that promote an arms race with China, pressure other nations to "make an us-or-them choice," and "unnecessarily inflame tensions in the Taiwan Strait."
Along with proposing cuts, the organizations argue the legislation should explicitly express support for human rights in China as well as U.S.-Chinese "cooperation to provide universal global public goods" and "engagement to reform the global economy."
They further advocate for including "enforceable human rights controls" for U.S. arms sales and military aid as well as support for arms control negotiations, safety protocols, and "confidence-building measures" regarding Taiwan and disputes in the South China Sea.
"There are very real challenges to work out between the United States and China," Win Without War president Stephen Miles said in a statement. "But the maximally aggressive approach that dominates the foreign policy establishment today won't get us there."
"'Combating China' has simply become a convenient excuse for pushing a corporate, militarist agenda that, in reality, actively undermines national security and human rights in the United States and China alike," he added. "We need a new approach, not a new Cold War."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.