On Wednesday, March 18, bipartisan lawmakers from the United States jointly proposed the “Combating Chinese Communist Party Influence Act” aimed at strengthening U.S. national security and combating the global and domestic infiltration and expansion of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). This bill has been submitted for review to relevant committees.
The lawmakers behind the proposal stated that as the CCP continues to expand its influence, including through intimidation towards Taiwan and establishing military and trade connections in Latin America, this act will provide crucial information needed for Washington policymakers to counter the CCP effectively.
This bipartisan bill aims to comprehensively analyze the CCP’s increasing global influence threat and directs the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to assess CCP’s “overseas malign influence” activities and their impact on U.S. national security.
The bill requires coordination between the National Intelligence Director and more intelligence agencies to evaluate CCP’s “overseas malign influence” activities in key regions such as the Indo-Pacific, Africa, Latin America, and Europe from January 1, 2023, to 2026.
It also mandates a report analyzing how these CCP overseas malign activities affect or interfere with U.S. allies, the global financial system, perceptions of U.S. leadership within the international community, and impact U.S. national security.
Furthermore, the bill requires the National Intelligence Director to submit preliminary and final reports to relevant committees in Congress. The preliminary report must be submitted within 90 days after the bill’s passage, detailing CCP actions in key regions and their activities undermining U.S. and allies’ interests. The final report must be submitted within 180 days to ensure lawmakers have timely access to actionable intelligence.
Democratic Representative Derek Tran of California led the bill, with Republican Representative Don Bacon of Nebraska, Democratic Representative Marilyn Strickland of Washington, and Republican Representative Pat Harrigan of North Carolina as co-sponsors.
Representative Derek Tran, who currently serves on the House Armed Services Committee overseeing the Department of Defense and Indo-Pacific security affairs, emphasized the necessity for national security officials to have accurate intelligence to understand the threats the CCP poses to the U.S.
Representative Strickland stated that the CCP continues to interfere and weaken global democratic systems, and this bill will enable Congress to understand its influence and operations and take appropriate action. Representative Harrigan highlighted how CCP systematically disrupts alliances in the Indo-Pacific, Latin America, Europe, and Africa, manipulating financial systems to undermine global trust in the U.S.
Representative Bacon, whose personal email was hacked by CCP hackers, warned of CCP’s aggressive expansion worldwide through cyber attacks, disinformation, and political pressure. This bill calls for interdepartmental intelligence assessments to help policymakers identify and address these threats more accurately.
On March 18, Representative Bacon wrote on X platform, stating that the bipartisan “Combating Chinese Communist Party Influence Act” will ensure Congress understands CCP’s increasing global influence and threats better, drawing on his own experience of CCP’s aggressive actions after his email account was infiltrated.
Rye Barcott, co-founder and CEO of “With Honor,” an organization promoting bipartisan cooperation, expressed high support for this bill. He highlighted CCP’s organized global campaigns spreading falsehoods to undermine U.S. credibility, stating that the intelligence community has a responsibility to protect national reputation, and this bill ensures effective countermeasures against such damage.
On March 4, Chairman of the U.S. Helsinki Commission and Republican Federal Representative Joe Wilson from South Carolina cautioned that while the EU focuses on addressing the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the CCP clandestinely expands its political and economic influence in Europe. He stressed the need to examine how CCP gradually infiltrates critical areas in Europe through economic investments and political pressures.