The United States Congress plans to continue picking a bone with China. Congress is charging ahead with more restrictions in a defense authorization bill that would deny Beijing investments in highly sensitive sectors and reduce U.S. reliance on Chinese biotechnology companies.
The bill named the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) includes provisions aimed at reducing U.S. military reliance on technologies and supply-chain inputs linked to China and strengthening deterrence against Chinese military activities in the Indo-Pacific region.
Included in the 3,000-page bill approved Wednesday by the House is a provision to scrutinize American investments in China that could help develop technologies to boost Chinese military power. The bill, which next heads to the Senate, also would prohibit government money to be used for equipment and services from blacklisted Chinese biotechnology companies.
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“Taken together, these measures reflect a serious, strategic approach to countering the Chinese Communist Party,” said Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, the top Democrat on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.
The China-related provisions in the traditionally bipartisan defense bill “make clear that, whatever the White House tone, Capitol Hill is locking in a hard-edged, long-term competition with Beijing,” said Craig Singleton, senior director of the China program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based thinktank.
“The bill has kept playing up the ‘China threat’ narrative, trumpeting for military support to Taiwan, abusing state power to go after Chinese economic development, limiting trade, economic and people-to-people exchanges between China and the U.S., undermining China’s sovereignty, security and development interests and disrupting efforts of the two sides in stabilizing bilateral relations,” said Liu Pengyu, the embassy spokesperson.
“China strongly deplores and firmly opposes this,” Liu said.
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The defense bill also would authorize an increase in funding, to $1 billion from $300 million this year, for Taiwan-related security cooperation and direct the Pentagon to establish a joint drone and anti-drone program.
The developments surrounding the NDAA illustrate how deeply strategic competition now shapes U.S. policy thinking and legislative action. The debate reflects a wider shift in Washington, where concerns about economic security, technological leadership, and military balance increasingly drive bipartisan consensus. Rather than focusing solely on immediate defense needs, lawmakers are signaling a long-term framework for managing perceived systemic rivalry with China across multiple domains.
The tensions embedded in this bill underscore the broader challenge of maintaining stable relations while addressing security concerns. The trajectory set by Congress points toward an era where competition is expected, managed, and institutionalized, a conclusion drawn from current trends but not officially stated in the legislation. Even so, both countries publicly emphasize the need for dialogue and guardrails to prevent further deterioration in bilateral ties.