United States plans to spend billions of dollars to counter China

The Bill is a rare point of agreement between Republicans and Democrats. Pic/AFP

The US plans a massive spending plan to counter China. According to the Senate, China is America's greatest geopolitical and geo-economic challenge and passed the United States Innovation and Competition Act 2021 to spend more than $250 billion to ensure that the US stays on top in terms of technological research and production.

The Bill is a rare point of agreement between Republicans and Democrats. In a vote, 68 of the 100-member Senate supported the measure, with 32 against. The Senate is evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, and experts say the vote shows how the two political parties are united on the need to counter Beijing's economic and military ambitions. Supporters say the package is one of the largest industrial bills in US history and the biggest investment in scientific research that the country has seen in decades.

The Bill aimed at bolstering American competitiveness with China with a variety of measures. The key idea is this, from Section 3005, which reads, "The United States must ensure that all Federal departments and agencies are organized to reflect the fact that strategic competition with the PRC is the United States' greatest geopolitical and geoeconomic challenge."

To meet that challenge, the Senate authorized in the budget $190 billion aimed at massively increasing R&D at universities and other institutions, and boosting innovations in artificial intelligence, drones, and other emerging technologies. To create an American version of China's Special Economic Zones, $10 bn to be invested in "regional technology hubs". For the expansion of domestic semiconductor production, $52 bn has been provisioned. More than $23 bn for space exploration and the development of space industries has been earmarked. The Bill also commissions a new study into the origins of Covid-19, specifically on if the virus came from a lab leak or was zoonotic. China hit back at the Bill describing it "exaggerated the ‘China threat' scolded America for perceiving China "as an imaginary enemy."

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