America’s states are pursuing their own foreign policies
Shortly before Ron DeSantis launched his bid for the Republican nomination, the governor of Florida signed three bills to “crack down on Communist China”, as he put it. The laws stop Chinese firms buying agricultural land, block certain apps owned by Chinese companies being used in state institutions, and curb ties between Florida’s higher-education institutions and those in any “country of concern”. China-bashing has been a staple of presidential campaigns for a decade. Now state legislatures have discovered a taste for it.
China is one of the only bipartisan issues at the moment, says Maggie Mick of MultiState, a consultancy focused on state politics. A deluge of legislation is coming before statehouses. Many have enacted laws similar to Florida’s on education and land ownership. Texas even tried to stop Chinese citizens buying property (along with people from Iran, North Korea and Russia). The original bill would have banned even dual nationals and green-card holders from buying land. Legislators in the biennial session, which ended this week, eventually dropped it.
Indiana has passed a law requiring its state pension system to divest from Chinese companies; other states are mulling similar legislation. More than half of all states already prohibit the use of TikTok, which is owned by a Chinese company, on government phones. (Some limit other Chinese apps, too.) In May Montana became the first state to outlaw the downloading of TikTok, from January 2024, though the bill may prove unenforceable.
2023-06-01 07:58:52
Post from www.economist.com
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