US lawmakers warn of new anti-Asian hate if ‘China bashing’ continues in Congress
- Concerns have grown since the COMPETES ACT, the ‘China competitiveness bill’ or simply ‘China bill,’ was passed in the House in early February
- ‘The last two years have been about coronavirus, but this issue is about economic rivalry,’ California Democrat Judy Chu said
Some Asian-American lawmakers warn that disparaging language framing China as a top economic competitor may spur a new wave of anti-Asian violence in the US.
Their concerns have grown in recent weeks as Congress has turned its attention to a bill known as the COMPETES ACT, which is aimed at strengthening America’s supply chain amid a shortage of goods.
Republicans who opposed the legislation attacked Democrats for not being hard enough on China.
If the bill is “how America competes with China, then America is going to lose,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, said on the House floor days before the bill passed. According to McCarthy, the legislation would fund Chinese Communist Party propaganda and make the US more vulnerable to Chinese espionage.
Such language concerns members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), which bills itself as non-partisan but all of whose members are Democrats.
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The group often responds to issues related to Americans in their ethnic community. For example, members were outspoken following the Atlanta spas shooting in March where six Asian women were killed, and they pushed the Biden administration for Asian representation in the Cabinet.