Chinese officials are promising to stop forcing U.S. companies to surrender sensitive technology as a condition of operating in the country, but top lawmakers are skeptical.
“For decades, China fooled the world into thinking they would be a responsible international partner,” Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., told the Washington Examiner. “We must not let them fool us into thinking this new law is anything other than a shiny object that will do nothing to stop Chinese state-directed actors’ continued assault on U.S. companies’ intellectual property and trade secrets.”
Rubio’s contempt for Chinese promises reflects a growing U.S. intelligence community consensus that the rising Pacific power has deceived American strategists about their goals for decades. U.S. diplomats have sent mixed signals about whether they are close to a deal to end the trade war between the world’s two largest economies, while Beijing’s Communist economic planners are racing to convince foreign investors that they can operate independently and without fear of losing their trade secrets if they come to China.
“China will roll out more opening-up measures in the agriculture, mining, manufacturing and service sectors, allowing wholly foreign-owned enterprises in more fields,” Ning Jizhe, a senior economic official, told the South China Morning Post on Thursday. “After passing the law, the government will take serious measures to obey and implement it.”
That’s doubtful, say lawmakers and private sector executives. “This is always going to be a cat-and-mouse game,” Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., told the Washington Examiner. Johnson sits alongside Rubio on the Foreign Relations Committee, which has jurisdiction over the State Department. A second-term senator who co-founded a manufacturing company, Johnson recalled avoiding multiple opportunities to invest in China due to the understanding that he would lose his company’s intellectual property if he did so.
That risk will continue even if China stops forcing American companies to form partnerships with local businesses, due to the threat of hackers. “It’s going to be an ongoing problem,” he said. “We know they steal your technology.”
Still, he suggested that the overture has some value, if Chinese officials show flouting such a pledge would damage their reputation. “Hopefully, China can become a little more enlightened and actually abide by these rules,” he said.
China maintained Friday that the apparent reform proposal has nothing to do with the trade talks. The senators suggested otherwise, with Rubio taking an especially hard line.
“The administration should continue to hold their leverage and increase pressure on China to secure a strong, enforceable deal,” the Florida Republican said. “We cannot afford to waste this opportunity and risk losing this century’s most important, strategic, economic, and geopolitical competition. China must not be allowed to pursue policies that run directly counter to America’s national interest and their international commitments without facing due consequences.”
