Senate Republicans’ China Policy Is Better Than Trump’s

Since World War II, the White House has dominated U.S. foreign policy. Yet Congress is showing the real leadership in policy toward China today. The Trump administration has set a pattern of breathing fire toward Beijing but failing to assemble a strategy as encompassing as the threat China poses. So it has fallen to the legislative branch to build a more competitive policy. With new legislation dubbed the Strategic Act, four Senate Republicans are taking the right approach.

This follows a series of piecemeal actions by Congress. In 2018, a bipartisan coalition saw through the Build Act, meant to counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and combat the Trump administration’s denigration of soft power. In 2019, Congress passed the Uighur Human Rights Policy Act, in response to an issue — China’s escalating campaign of brutalization toward its Muslim minority — on which the president had been shamefully silent. This year came the Taipei Act, aimed at shoring up Taiwan’s diplomatic position, and the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, which requires the punishment of Chinese officials and banks that help destroy that city’s autonomy. Now, Senators Jim Risch, Cory Gardner, Mitt Romney and Todd Young have offered the Strategic Act, which envisions a comprehensive response to a comprehensive challenge.