The United States needs to monitor Chinese activities at domestic and foreign ports, according to Sen. Ted Budd.
A bipartisan piece of legislation targeting communist China’s malign influence has been introduced in both the House and the Senate to protect U.S. interests at ports around the world.
Sens. Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) introduced the Strategic Ports Reporting Act (
S.777) on Feb. 27. In a
statement, Budd said China’s efforts to control global trade, as evidenced by its influence on the Panama Canal, necessitated the legislation.
“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,” Budd said, using the acronym for the People’s Republic of China.
The bill requires the secretary of state and the secretary of defense to develop a map of domestic and foreign ports of importance to the United States for diplomatic, economic, and resource exploration. The
bill says the map should also identify efforts by China or Chinese entities to “build, buy, or otherwise control, directly or indirectly, such ports.”
The two secretaries are also required to conduct a study of China’s activities and plans in connection to strategic ports. The bill lists several topics the study should cover, such as an analysis of China’s activities to gain control or ownership over such ports, an assessment of vulnerabilities of ports operated or controlled by the United States, and a strategy to secure trusted investment and ownership of strategic ports and maritime infrastructure.
According to the New York-based think tank Council on Foreign Relations, China
was involved in 129 port projects outside its country as of August 2024, with 115 active. Countries that had received the most Chinese port investment included Tanzania, Sri Lanka, Angola, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and Cambodia.
“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,” Scott said in a statement.
“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.”
Kelly said the legislation will “strengthen our global maritime leadership,” according to a statement.
The House companion bill (
H.R.1701) was introduced on Feb. 27 by Reps. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.), Rob Wittman (R-Va.), Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), and Johnny Olszewski (D-Md).
In a
statement, Wittman said the legislation was needed in response to Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), also known as One Belt, One Road. This initiative aims to increase China’s geopolitical clout by financing infrastructure projects across Southeast Asia, Africa, and Europe.
“China’s Belt and Road Initiative is spreading Chinese money and influence around the world, while degrading our ability to operate in strategic ports necessary for commercial and military purposes,” Wittman said.
President Donald Trump has suggested the United States could
retake control of the Panama Canal if Panama doesn’t deal with the Chinese regime’s
influence over the waterway.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio
visited Panama in early February. After his visit, Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino
announced that his country would not renew its BRI agreement with China, which was set to expire in two to three years but could be
terminated sooner.
Washington and others have criticized the Chinese regime for luring countries into the initiative in an effort to expand its global
influence through “debt trap diplomacy.”
Rubio, Scott, and Kelly
introduced a similar bill in July 2024. In a
statement at the time, Rubio said that many key ports are located in Florida and that the United States “must prevent, at all costs, the chance for our adversaries to use our resources against us.”
During a congressional hearing in February, experts
warned about China’s port investment in Peru, Brazil, and Mexico and how Chinese companies hold minority stakes in terminals at several U.S. ports, including Los Angeles, Seattle, Houston, and Miami.
