Rubio Introduces Bill to Deter CCP Influence in Ukraine

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) speaks at the Heritage Foundation in Washington on March 29, 2022. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) introduced legislation to deter the Chinese communist regime from gaining influence in Ukraine under the pretense of reconstruction.

“It would be malpractice to allow our greatest adversary to be involved, in any way, in the reconstruction efforts of Ukraine. Falling prey to the Chinese Communist Party’s predatory schemes has left multiple nations worldwide beholden to Beijing,” Rubio said in a July 31 statement introducing the bill. “Both the U.S. and our democratic allies in Europe must counter this threat.”

If signed into law, the secretary of state would be required to negotiate with the Ukrainian government to establish a mechanism to review investment in Ukraine, particularly from China.

The bill also sets a provision for assistance to help Ukraine perform the investment mechanism, such as providing training, equipment, and consultation from the United States.

Beijing has actively helped Moscow since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This support includes providing critical components and technology that aid Russia’s defense industry, which Western sanctions have impacted. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has also increased its purchases of Russian energy, providing an economic lifeline to Moscow amid global sanctions.​

One point of the CCP’s so-called 12-point peace plan for the Russia–Ukraine war includes “promoting post-conflict reconstruction.” Beijing claimed that it would support and participate in this effort.

Early this year, two years into the war, the World Bank, the European Commission, and the United Nations estimated that the total cost of Ukraine’s reconstruction and recovery efforts would be $486 billion over the next 10 years.

Rubio, on the same day, also introduced a package of three measures, including the Falun Gong Protection Act, a companion bill that had already passed the House, to impose sanctions on those responsible for forced organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners; the Stop CCP Act, to sanction members of the Chinese Communist Party and their relatives for “acts of aggression, oppression, and human rights abuses”; and another bill to prohibit taxpayer funding to the “Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights” position within the United Nations.

“The current role has been used to advocate for the suspension of sanctions against China, in spite of those sanctions being levied for human rights violations,” a statement from Rubio’s office reads.

Senators Raise Concerns

Last year, Rubio, along with his colleagues on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressing concern that the federal government welcomed the CCP’s involvement in diplomatic efforts to mediate Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“A role for China in Ukraine will significantly undermine U.S. interests, Ukraine’s future in Europe, and overall European security,” and “will clear the way for its substantial involvement in Ukraine’s reconstruction,” the senators said at the time.

The senators sounded the alarm that allowing the CCP’s role in the diplomatic settlement in Ukraine would set a precedent for future CCP’s participation in European security issues, potentially undermining security interests that Washington and its allies have built for decades. The move will also help Chinese leader Xi Jinping position himself as a responsible leader to European nations and countries with a neutral stance on the Russian war efforts in Ukraine.

They also warned that the CCP had seen Ukraine as a crucial source of military technology and expertise because Kyiv “inherited roughly one-third of the Soviet Union’s defense-industrial base and 15 percent of Soviet military research and development facilities” after the fall of the Soviet Union. Therefore, if it is allowed to be involved in Ukraine’s diplomatic peace settlement, China would prioritize investing in these strategic sectors.

In addition, the letter raised concerns that the CCP’s significant influence “in post-war Ukraine would also provide it with unparalleled opportunities to collect intelligence on Ukrainian and foreign-supplied military capabilities, as well as steal the intellectual property of Ukrainian companies. These risks cannot be overstated.”

The senators then called on the federal government “to abandon the notion that it can drive a wedge between Moscow and Beijing.” They urged Washington, along with European and Indo-Pacific partners, to plan Ukraine’s reconstruction ahead to prevent the CCP from pursuing its unilateral interests.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on July 30 that Kyiv doesn’t want China to act as a mediator.

“If China wants to, it can force Russia to stop this war,” Zelenskyy told reporters at a school gym in the western town of Rivne.

“I would like it to put pressure on Russia to put an end to this war,” he said.

“Just as the United States is applying pressure, just as the European Union is applying pressure. The more influence a country has, the greater should be its pressure on Russia.”

Reuters contributed to this report.