A divided Congress, seeing red on China’s gains, finds a reason for unity

They may fight each other bitterly about the direction of the US – but on some things, Democrats and Republicans still agree.

Former US president and current Republican candidate Donald Trump has long established himself as a sceptic of free trade with China. During his term he imposed stiff tariffs on Chinese goods, and continued to talk tough on Beijing.

Kamala Harris, following in President Joe Biden’s steps, has embraced technological competition with China, pledging “that America – not China – wins the competition for the 21st century”.

But here’s the thing: on China, Biden largely followed Trump’s get-tough approach – keeping tariffs in place.

And despite domestic division over issues as fraught as abortion, borders, immigration, race, and Supreme Court justices, Republicans and Democrats in Congress continue to agree on countering China. Democrats and Republicans have crossed – and continue to cross the aisle – on the issue.

Given the polarisation and division within the US, it would be easy to miss the trend. A sample of votes from 2017 to 2024 shows the pattern.

Polarisation at home, bipartisanship when it comes to pushing back on China.

Supreme court nominations

First, take for an example of polarisation, the Republican-Democratic division around Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nomination, Neil Gorsuch in 2017.

Senators split almost evenly on his vote.

It was similar with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in 2018. The conservative majority on the Supreme Court, which included Kavanaugh and Gorsuch, would later vote to overturn federal protections on access to abortion in 2022.

Infrastructure funding abroad

On a matter as broad as competing for investment and influence globally, the senate sang a different tune.

As an indication of support, the BUILD act of 2018 attracted 44 co-sponsors – drawn almost equally from Democrats and Republicans.

The act created the International Development Finance Corporation, which invests in development projects in lower and middle income countries – allowing the US to compete more effectively with China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Tech infrastructure at home

Agreement between Democrats and Republicans was evident in a resolution against China’s communications infrastructure provider Huawei. All but four Republican senators voted to endorse it.

This resolution inserted the language of the Defending America’s 5G Future Act into the annual National Defence Authorisation Act funding bill. The result – signed into law – blocked Huawei infrastructure from being used in the US.

“Huawei isn’t a normal business partner for American companies, it’s a front for the Chinese Communist Party,” said Republican Senator Tom Cotton.

Only three months later, Trump’s impeachment vote took place, exposing again the division between Democrats and Republicans. The first article of impeachment charged Trump with “abuse of power” and “obstruction of Congress” after a House inquiry found he had asked a foreign government to open an investigation of his rivals in order to help his own re-election bid.

Impeachments

Two years later, and the second impeachment of Donald Trump – this time the president was accused of “incitement of insurrection” in the aftermath of his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden. The familiar American political divisions were on display in the House vote.

George Floyd’s death

The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021 was designed to address police misconduct, excessive force and bias against Africa-Americans. The act came in the aftermath of African-American George Floyd’s death in May 2020, a moment of reckoning on race in the US.

With sometimes violent protests as part of the backdrop: Democrats and Republicans retreated to their corners on the issue. Left-leaning Democrats felt the mistreatment by police forces was systematic and required the reforms of the bill, which passed on a narrow vote. Republicans saw federal overreach and reform that would require police to shoulder more risk, without additional funding.

The one Republican who did vote for the act accidentally pushed the wrong button in voting, he said. “I accidentally pressed the wrong voting button and realised it too late,” Representative Lance Gooden wrote in a tweet. “Of course I wouldn’t support the radical left’s, Anti-Police [sic] Act. I have changed the official record to reflect my opposition!”

Chinese tennis player

But some things are no-brainers for Congress, like say, taking a unified stance against China in a bill in support of a Chinese tennis player. “Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Beijing should immediately guarantee the safety and freedom of tennis star Peng Shuai” who, after accusing a retired Chinese vice-premier of forcing her to have sex, suddenly dropped out of public view entirely.

It was essentially Congress collectively pointing to an example of China’s opaqueness in dealing with a #MeToo-style accusation against one of the nation’s leaders. The suspension of the rules motion in support of the Chinese tennis star had zero “no” votes.

Microchips

The CHIPS Act of 2022 - authorised $US280 billion ($411 billion) to boost research, development and manufacturing of semiconductors – with the aim of building US manufacturing and countering China. And while the vote was not bipartisan, a full 57 per cent of representatives backed the legislation favoured by Biden, including 24 Republicans, underscoring the broad support for such a move.

Why bipartisanship on China?

So why can Congress find a bipartisan resolve on China when, on so many domestic issues, it remains divided? US-based political scientists Taiyi Sun and Christopher Carothers hypothesise that American bipartisanship doesn’t come about simply because of an external threat. For example: look at US political division around Russia. Sun and Carothers say the threat must be one that could dent the US’s national standing.

The kind created by a rising economic and technological superpower such as China.

Bipartisanship, Carothers and Sun write, “is more likely in response to a foreign adversary when it not only threatens US security interests but also challenges America’s position as the dominant global power, be it in geopolitical, economic, or ideological terms”.

The prospect of a decline in the US’s standing probably generates bills that produce “substantive action”.

TikTok

A bill requiring Beijing-based ByteDance to divest its holdings of TikTok in the US holdings over national security concerns, has also been met with bipartisan support.

Border division

But where there are domestic political points to score, the parties revert to their polarised position.

Take for example the issue of undocumented immigrants at the border. In a highly partisan moment, Republicans voted to condemn the situation, linking it with Joe Biden.

The border has provided a polarising issue in the 2024 US election, one the Republicans are keen to capitalise on. Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance has said: “It’s hard to believe until you see with your own eyes, just how bad the policies of the Kamala Harris administration have been when it comes to the southern border.”

While there is typically consensus around action on China, the procedural vote on the border, partisan in nature, was starkly divided.In fact, the use of such votes for partisan messaging is itself a sign of American political polarisation.

Whoever wins the US presidency in November, Trump or Harris, will find themselves contending with more areas of rivalry between the US and China – whether technological, economic, military or trade – but it may continue to be the one area that will bring a warring Congress together.

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