A bipartisan group of House lawmakers has introduced a new bill aimed at countering China’s activities in Africa. Reps. Young Kim (R-Calif.) and Colin Allred (D-Texas), both members of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, expressed concerns about China’s actions in Africa, particularly under its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). They believe that these activities have had negative effects on the continent’s environment, ecology, and public health. The lawmakers argue that China’s BRI coerces developing nations into debt-trap diplomacy and exposes vulnerable populations to ecological risks.
Rep. Kim stated that they cannot allow Chinese leader Xi Jinping to expand his global power while violating international environmental and labor laws. The BRI was announced by the Chinese Communist Party in 2013 with the goal of building trade networks through financing infrastructure projects across Southeast Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America.
The legislation introduced by Reps. Kim and Allred is called the Stopping PRC Environmental Exploitation and Degradation (SPEED) Act (H.R. 9265). If enacted, it would establish that the United States opposes actions by China-linked entities that do not comply with host country or international environmental protection laws when exploiting natural resources in Africa.
The SPEED Act would also require the secretary of state and administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development to submit a strategy to Congress on how to mitigate negative environmental impacts caused by Chinese companies in African countries.
Furthermore, this legislation would authorize sanctions against China-linked entities responsible for adverse incidents related to environment, ecology, or public health in Africa.
The bill references a State Department report published during the Trump administration titled “China’s Environment Abuses,” which criticized BRI projects as environmentally harmful.
Incidents mentioned in the legislation include accusations against a Chinese mining company polluting a river in Congo; fishmeal processing factories owned by Chinese investors engaging in illegal fishing practices in Gambia; and a Chinese natural gas plant allegedly poisoning drinking water with hazardous waste chemicals resulting in deaths in Ethiopia.
this bipartisan effort aims to address concerns about China’s activities under its Belt and Road Initiative program while protecting African communities from ecological risks caused by these actions.