Senators Are Talking about Another Big China Bill

Among a long list of measures, it would have sent more military assistance to allies in the Pacific, bolstered development bank lending to replace Chinese investment in Latin America and the Caribbean, encouraged a greater U.S. presence in Africa, and provided more money to promote democracy in Hong Kong. It also would have created a new $1.5 billion fund to “counter the malign influence of the Chinese Communist Party globally.”

Fans have praised the bill’s goal of strengthening the U.S.’s diplomatic hand. “Global engagement through trade and diplomacy is critically important and unfortunately it’s the area where the United States is much weaker than it should be,” said Martijn Rasser, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security. “There’s large swaths of the planet where we only have a token presence, and that is something China recognizes and is taking advantage of.”

Read the full story and more from Semafor.