‘China Week’ kicks off with US restrictions on Chinese biotech
The US House of Representatives is working on a series of bills that would reduce America’s dependence on Chinese technology companies and businesses.
One of the first laws passed was the Biosecure Act, which aimed to protect the U.S. medical supply chain by prohibiting federal governments from including various Chinese biotech companies in their contracts.
A vote is also expected on whether to close Hong Kong’s diplomatic offices in the US, amid concerns about whether the special administrative region has sufficient autonomy from China.
Limiting political, economic and technological influence
The Biosecure Act passed by a vote of 306-81 and prevents the U.S. federal government from contracting with five companies, namely BGI Group, Complete Genomics, MGI, Wuxi AppTec and Wuxi Biologics. Existing contracts with the companies will not be terminated until January 2032, after concerns were raised that this could lead to drug shortages in U.S. hospitals.
The bill also faced limited opposition from Democrats, as there was no evidence that the companies on the list were harming the U.S. market. For example, Democratic Congressman Jim McGovern of Massachusetts said, “If we’re going to name companies, there has to be a clear and transparent process.”
After the bill passes the House of Representatives, it must be approved by the Senate before it can become law.
The closure of Hong Kong’s Democratic offices in the US, of which there are three, was proposed on the grounds that the region no longer operates under a “high degree of autonomy” from China. The bill’s sponsor, New Jersey Republican Chris Smith, said: “Hong Kong’s economic and trade offices in the United States once represented a city whose prosperity was based on the protection of fundamental human rights and the freedom of the people of Hong Kong.”
“But three years after the [Chinese Communist Party] the national security law imposed on Hong Kong … the Hong Kong we all knew, loved and respected is gone,” Smith continued.
A supplemental bill to protect the U.S. market from Chinese-made telecommunications and video equipment, the so-called Countering CCP Drones Act, added DJI Technologies to a Federal Communications Commission national security watch list that prohibits the new products from being used on U.S. infrastructure.
Via SCMP.
