US House finalises bill to confront China, including provisions on semiconductors and Taiwan ties

The America Competes Act of 2022, which runs to nearly 3,000 pages, was made public on Tuesday evening

The bill calls for moves that would infuriate Beijing, such as changing the name of Taiwan’s de facto embassy in Washington

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The Senate passed a comprehensive China bill in June, but it is unclear if both parties will support the new bill in the House. Photo: TNS

Jacob Fromerin WashingtonandOwen Churchillin Oakland

Published: 8:01am, 26 Jan 2022Updated: 9:16am, 26 Jan 2022

The US House of Representatives on Tuesday finalised sweeping legislation meant to boost US competition with China.

The 2,912-page bill, called the America Competes Act of 2022, includes billions of dollars for the US semiconductor industry; new provisions to strengthen US relations with Taiwan and the “Quad”, an alliance comprising the US, Japan, India and Australia; and US$100 million to counter Chinese government censorship and disinformation.

It would create a new US special envoy position at the US State Department to coordinate a response to “the gross violations of universally recognised human rights occurring in” China’s far-west Xinjiang region. The Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act would be amended to sanction officials for “systematic rape, coercive abortion, forced sterilization, or involuntary contraceptive implantation policies and practices”.

And the bill would give those fleeing Xinjiang “Priority 2” refugee status, designating them as refugees of special humanitarian concern and allowing them to apply for asylum from either within China or a third country.

That provision also directs the US secretary of state to prioritise bilateral relations with other countries that host former Xinjiang residents are subject to “significant diplomatic pressures” from Beijing

The bill also directs America’s secretary of state to move toward changing the name of Taiwan’s de facto embassy in Washington, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office, to the “Taiwan Representative Office in the United States” – a move certain to infuriate Beijing, which views the self-governed island as its own territory.

The name change would be “reflective of the substantively deepening ties between Taiwan and the United States,” the bill says.

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US House finalises bill to confront China, including provisions on semiconductors and Taiwan ties

The America Competes Act of 2022, which runs to nearly 3,000 pages, was made public on Tuesday evening The bill calls for moves that would infuriate Beijing, such as changing the name of Taiwan’s de facto embassy in Washington

The America Competes Act of 2022, which runs to nearly 3,000 pages, was made public on Tuesday evening

The bill calls for moves that would infuriate Beijing, such as changing the name of Taiwan’s de facto embassy in Washington