Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.) has reintroduced his China Technology Transfer Regulation Act in a bid to prevent the Chinese military from acquiring sensitive U.S. technology and intellectual property through export controls.
The bill, released on the eve of the 34th anniversary of the 1989 pro-democracy protests in the heart of Beijing, aims to control United States exports of certain technology and intellectual property important to national interests to keep it out of the hands of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The lawmaker underscored the potential harm that the United States and others could experience by pointing to what China’s regime has done in its own country to ignore egregious crimes against its people.
“More than three decades ago, the world witnessed the unbelievable strength and courage of the Chinese people in Tiananmen Square. We especially saw this on display when one man stood before a line of tanks,” Green told The Epoch Times. “Tank man”—who confronted soldiers executing a bloody suppression under the regime’s orders that June—has since become a symbol of freedom.
“This iconic moment in history proves just how much the human spirit longs for freedom, even at great cost,” he added, noting that despite the “historical importance of Tiananmen Square, most people in China do not even know the massacre occurred.”
“This is because the CCP scrubbed these events from its heavily censored internet and has kept it out of books and out of school,” Green said.
Green said the “CCP’s willingness to use technology against its own people” was one reason he wanted to introduce the bill.
“Using its advanced technology, the CCP has erased its own history,” he said. “We must not arm an authoritarian regime with technology it will use to oppress its own people.”
According to the press release from Green’s office, the CCP has used “espionage and extensive intellectual property theft” as well as a network of state-sponsored entities to gain an advantage in making technological advances.
“We must ensure we aren’t giving the CCP the tools to harm our nation or its own people,” the lawmaker said.
The Tennessee Republican also emphasized his concern about the CCP’s intentions toward the United States and other nations: “There’s no question about it; the Chinese Communist Party wants a weakened United States and an international order subservient to China’s interests. Turning a blind eye to this aggressive ambition on the world stage is a catastrophic mistake.”
Green believes that transferring United States technology to the CCP would negatively affect future generations of Americans. The lawmaker maintains that if no action is taken to prevent the use of American information, the CCP could undermine the United States by using sensitive technology from the United States.
“It’s time to protect our country from the CCP’s malign actions,” Green said in his press release. “We cannot ignore this threat. If we do, Chinese spy balloons won’t be the only threat we have to worry about.”
