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US lawmakers urge end to decades-old science and tech agreement with Beijing to curb Chinese military advances
- STA pact was signed in 1979 under then US president Jimmy Carter to ‘strengthen friendly relations between both countries’, among other objectives
- 10 Congress members accuse Beijing of using ‘balloon technology’ similar to developments under the agreement to ‘surveil US military sites on US territory’
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US lawmakers have called on Washington not to renew a four-decade-old science and technology cooperation agreement with China that they claim has likely developed knowledge threatening United States interests, including balloon and agricultural technologies.
According to analysts, if the agreement was ended it would be proof of Washington’s attempt to decouple from Beijing and could lead to an even more fragmented, as opposed to globalised, scientific research environment.
In a letter submitted to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday, 10 Congress members, including chairman of the select committee on China Mike Gallagher, urged the administration not to extend the agreement after it expires on August 27.
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Gallagher’s 24-strong committee dedicated to China was created in January and focuses on economic and security competition with Beijing.
02:49
‘China will not challenge or replace the US’, Xi tells Blinken at crucial meeting
‘China will not challenge or replace the US’, Xi tells Blinken at crucial meeting
The pact – called the “Agreement between the United States and the People’s Republic of China on cooperation in science and technology” (STA) – was signed in 1979 under then US president Jimmy Carter to “strengthen friendly relations between both countries”, among other objectives.
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