Partisan Divides Shape US State Responses to China, Report Says

The report found that Arkansas and Florida have passed the most China-related laws, while 16 states have passed no laws to counter Beijing’s ‘malign influence.’
Partisan Divides Shape US State Responses to China, Report Says
Exterior view of the 22-story New Capitol building, which is part of the Capitol Complex in Tallahassee, Fla., on July 26, 2023. Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Frank Fang
Frank Fang
Reporter
|Updated:
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Republican and Democratic states are sharply split in their approaches to countering the Chinese communist regime’s influence at the state level in the United States, with some passing multiple tough-on-China laws while others have adopted few or none, The Heritage Foundation said in a March 20 report.

Beijing has conducted “malign influence campaigns” within U.S. states for decades, targeting state and local legislators, state universities, pension funds, and other “soft targets,” the report’s authors said. Compared to Republican states, Democratic states “have passed the fewest counter-China laws.”

Frank Fang
Frank Fang
Reporter
Frank Fang is a Taiwan-based journalist. He covers news in China and Taiwan. He holds a Master's degree in materials science from National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan.
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