/ world today news/ For the last few months, the American state of Texas has been rocked by a scandalous draft law. It aims to ban Chinese from buying land in the state and was proposed in April by Senator Louis Kolkhorst. The bill has been subject to revision on several occasions, after protests by citizens who were outraged by its discriminatory and de facto racist orientation began in the state. Not surprisingly, however, anti-China politics began to emerge at the state level after it had already escalated at the federal level in America.
Thus, at the beginning of June, the Committee on Foreign Relations of the US Senate approved a bipartisan proposal that would require reports from US government agencies on “opposing” an “invasion” by China on the island of Taiwan. Pretty bizarre wording, to say the least, given that the entire world, including the US, recognizes that Taiwan is part of China. How can China organize an “invasion” in its sovereign territory?
This new American law only shows the Cold War mentality that has captured, alas, the minds of politicians in Washington, who clearly aim to shower Beijing with a series of provocations in order to simultaneously reinforce their “Chinese threat” narrative. The law in question was proposed by hawks Marco Rubio and Gary Peters on March 30, 2023, and was only passed in June. It still needs Senate and House revisions, as well as Biden’s signature, for final passage, but the direction has already been set.
It talks about “non-kinetic options” to “deter” China, including sanctions strategies against the country. It would also require the leadership of relevant agencies to write periodic reports to Congress on the various advantages and advantages that Washington can have and use against Beijing, and how to limit America’s commercial dependence on the People’s Republic of China.
For its part, as is well known, China is constantly trying to promote dialogue and de-escalation on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, but it seems that the separatists in Taipei and the hawks in Washington have other goals, which, as mentioned earlier, are unfortunately carried over from the federal at the state level in the US.
Returning to the infamous bill to prohibit the purchase of land in Texas by the Chinese, we cannot help but make the connection to federal law. It is obvious that the US states are simply following what is being set as the political tone at the federal level in Congress. The scandalous Texas bill called for not just a ban, but also investigations by the state’s attorney general into cases in which Chinese allowed themselves to buy land in Texas. The bill was initially, though amended, passed banning land sales to dual nationals and businesses linked to China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. Fortunately, however, Asian American citizens jumped against the racist measure.
Even Texas Senator (Democrat) John Whitmire stated that: “We must stop dividing our society.”
The racist bill passed the Texas Senate, but thank God the State Affairs Committee refused to even hold a hearing on it. As Texas Senator Whitmire noted, this bill creates grounds for suspicion against people with Asian physical features and could potentially fuel racism. But wasn’t that the goal of some hawks in Washington to begin with?
The anti-Chinese rhetoric was ignited, as we remember, also within the framework of the Covid-19 pandemic, which Washington was quick to politicize, blaming the entire Chinese people for it. Such actions are likely to only intensify in the future unless there are wise politicians in Washington who realize that now is the time to de-escalate relations with China and cooperate in these turbulent times.
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