(The Center Square) – Three U.S. senators, including Arizona Democrat Mark Kelly, have introduced a bill to monitor China’s ports around the world.
The Strategic Ports Reporting Act would require the U.S. secretaries of state and defense to develop a map to track efforts by the Chinese government to build, buy or own ports.
“China’s growing influence over the oceans can have serious consequences for our national security and economy,” Kelly said. “That’s why we need the State and Defense Departments to protect our strategic ports from China’s interference. This bipartisan bill will strengthen our global maritime leadership.”
The bill is supported by a bipartisan group of senators. It does not propose what to do with the map or the information gathered.
“The Chinese Communist Party’s increasing influence over global trade routes and strategic infrastructure poses a direct threat to the United States’ national security and economic stability,” said Sen. Rick Scott, R-Florida, one of the bill’s authors. “The United States must respond decisively and accordingly to eliminate any influence or access communist China has to the critical infrastructure of the U.S. and its allies that may be used against us.”
The Strategic Ports Reporting Act would create a review of the Chinese government’s activities related to U.S. ports. It would require checks on weaknesses for ports operated by the U.S., as well as a plan to invest in more strategic ports.
“In January, the Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing on PRC (People’s Republic of China) influence on the Panama Canal and potential impacts to U.S. national security,” said bill co-author Sen. Ted Budd, R-North Carolina. “This hearing highlighted China’s increasing malign activities around the world and efforts to control global trade. The United States must face this reality head on, and the first step is comprehensive monitoring of PRC activities at domestic and foreign ports that threaten our national interest.”
The bill did not detail how the Chinese government has tried to threaten the U.S. or attempt to influence any U.S. critical infrastructure. It also did not detail how monitoring would be conducted.
