[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2752 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2752

   To establish the position of Country China Officer to monitor and 
  counter financing projects around the world that are backed by the 
                      People's Republic of China.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 11, 2023

 Mr. Lankford introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
             referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To establish the position of Country China Officer to monitor and 
  counter financing projects around the world that are backed by the 
                      People's Republic of China.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Belt and Road Oversight Act''.

SEC. 2. COUNTRY CHINA OFFICER.

    (a) Designation.--Not later than 60 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall direct all Chiefs 
of Mission to designate not fewer than 1 Foreign Service Officer in a 
United States embassy or other diplomatic post in each country with 
whom the United States has diplomatic relations as Country China 
Officer.
    (b) Duties.--Each Country China Officer shall monitor and report on 
the activity of the People's Republic of China in his or her country of 
responsibility, including capital investment in critical infrastructure 
and other projects associated with the People's Republic of China, 
including the Belt and Road Initiative.
    (c) Sunset Provision.--The requirement to designate Country China 
Officers under subsection (a) shall expire on the date that is 10 years 
after the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 3. COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE PROJECTS.

    (a) Report.--Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary of State shall direct all United States 
embassies to prepare a report that details assets within their country 
of operation that are controlled or financed by the Government of the 
People's Republic of China or a state-owned enterprise in the People's 
Republic of China. Each such report shall be prepared by a Country 
China Officer designated pursuant to section 2(a) and shall include the 
information described in subsection (b).
    (b) Contents.--Each report required under subsection (a) shall 
include--
            (1) an assessment of the respective country's debt 
        obligations to the People's Republic of China;
            (2) a list of known infrastructure projects in the 
        respective country that are financed from capital provided by--
                    (A) the banking system of the People's Republic of 
                China, including--
                            (i) policy banks, including--
                                    (I) the China Development Bank;
                                    (II) the Export-Import Bank of 
                                China; and
                                    (III) the Agricultural Development 
                                Bank of China;
                            (ii) state-owned commercial banks, 
                        including--
                                    (I) the Industrial and Commercial 
                                Bank of China;
                                    (II) the Agricultural Bank of 
                                China;
                                    (III) the China Construction Bank;
                                    (IV) the Bank of Communications 
                                Limited; and
                                    (V) the Bank of China;
                            (iii) sovereign wealth funds, including--
                                    (I) the China Investment 
                                Corporation;
                                    (II) China Life Insurance Company;
                                    (III) the China National Social 
                                Security Fund; and
                                    (IV) the Silk Road Fund;
                            (iv) urban commercial banks; and
                            (v) rural financial institutions;
                    (B) international financing institutions, 
                including--
                            (i) the Asian Infrastructure Investment 
                        Bank; and
                            (ii) the New Development Bank; and
                    (C) any other financial institution or entity 
                otherwise controlled, overseen, or managed by the 
                Government of the People's Republic of China;
            (3) the identification of the infrastructure projects 
        referred to in paragraph (2) that are projects under the Belt 
        and Road Initiative;
            (4) an assessment of projects that have caused the country 
        to incur significant debt that has the potential to harm its 
        economic prosperity and national sovereignty;
            (5) a list of the known or speculated collateral listed by 
        the respective country for the debts incurred by Belt and Road 
        Initiative projects referred to in paragraph (1);
            (6) a list of the known assets owned by the Government of 
        the People's Republic of China or state-owned enterprises in 
        the People's Republic of China, including telecommunications 
        and critical infrastructure; and
            (7) a list of known activities at research institutions or 
        institutions of higher education controlled or financed by the 
        Government of the People's Republic of China or state-owned 
        enterprises in the People's Republic of China.
    (c) Submission and Distribution of Report.--
            (1) Initial submission.--Not later than 1 year after the 
        date on which the Secretary of State issues the directive 
        described in subsection (a), the Chief of Mission in each 
        country shall submit the report required under subsection (a) 
        to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs.
            (2) Distribution.--The Under Secretary shall prepare and 
        distribute a report that includes all of the information from 
        the individual country reports received pursuant to paragraph 
        (1) to--
                    (A) the heads of other Bureaus and agencies of the 
                Department of State, as appropriate;
                    (B) the United States International Development 
                Finance Corporation;
                    (C) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
                Senate;
                    (D) the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate;
                    (E) the Select Committee on Intelligence of the 
                Senate;
                    (F) the Committee on Finance of the Senate;
                    (G) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 
                of Representatives;
                    (H) the Committee on Armed Services of the House of 
                Representatives;
                    (I) the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence 
                of the House of Representatives; and
                    (J) the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of 
                Representatives.

SEC. 4. NOTIFICATION OF FUTURE BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE PROJECTS.

    After the reports required under section 3 have been prepared and 
submitted, the Secretary of State shall require the respective Embassy 
and the China Desk at the Department of State of any project described 
in section 3(b)(2) not later than 30 days after the date on which the 
Country China Officer is informed of such project.

SEC. 5. ANNUAL COMPREHENSIVE REPORT OF BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE 
              PROJECTS.

    During the 10-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of 
this Act, the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs shall 
submit an annual report to Congress that--
            (1) contains all findings relating projects controlled or 
        financed by the Government of the People's Republic of China or 
        state-owned enterprises in the People's Republic of China 
        submitted by Country China Officers through the process 
        described in section 3(b)(2) during the 12-month reporting 
        period; and
            (2) includes updated findings and analyses related to 
        paragraphs (3), (4), and (5) of section 3(b).

SEC. 6. ANNUAL STRATEGY TO COUNTER PRC INFLUENCE.

    (a) In General.--The Country China Officer at each respective 
embassy, in consultation with the Chief of Mission for the respective 
country, shall develop a comprehensive, country-specific strategy to 
counter the influence of the People's Republic of China, including a 
plan to counter anti-American messaging by the People's Republic of 
China, within their country of responsibility.
    (b) Use of Strategy.--The strategy developed pursuant to subsection 
(a) shall be used to equip all personnel across all embassies, 
consulates, and other diplomatic posts in the respective country of 
responsibility with the tools needed to effectively counter the 
influence of the People's Republic of China in their respective context 
and country of responsibility.
    (c) Submission.--The Chief of Mission shall submit, during the 10-
year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, an 
annual report to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs 
that--
            (1) describes the implementation of the strategy developed 
        pursuant to subsection (a) during the reporting period; and
            (2) assesses specific challenges and opportunities relating 
        to the People's Republic of China in the respective country of 
        responsibility.
    (d) Distribution.--The Under Secretary shall submit an annual 
report that summarizes the information contained in the reports 
received pursuant to subsection (c) to the heads of the Bureaus of the 
Department of State, as appropriate.
    (e) Exclusions.--Countries with limited or no investments by the 
Government of the People's Republic of China shall be excluded from the 
strategy developed pursuant to subsection (a).

SEC. 7. PROCUREMENT PROJECTIONS.

    (a) Annual Report.--The Country China Officer at each respective 
embassy, in consultation with other embassy personnel, shall submit, 
during the 10-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of 
this Act, an annual report to the Under Secretary of State for 
Political Affairs that--
            (1) describes the procurement and infrastructure needs of 
        their respective country of responsibility; and
            (2) assesses specific challenges and opportunities relating 
        to potential financing by the People's Republic of China for 
        procurement and infrastructure projects to meet such needs.
    (b) Distribution.--The Under Secretary shall submit an annual 
report that summarizes the information contained in the reports 
received pursuant to subsection (a) to--
            (1) the heads of the Bureaus of the Department of State, as 
        appropriate; and
            (2) other instrumentalities of the Federal Government, 
        including the United States International Development Finance 
        Corporation.

SEC. 8. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING DEVELOPMENT FINANCE.

    It is the sense of Congress that, as the People's Republic of 
China's influence grows through infrastructure (particularly 
infrastructure that can easily be shifted from economic to military 
uses), the United States International Development Finance Corporation 
should prioritize providing alternative financing opportunities that 
increase port and air field capacity of countries that--
            (1) meet the investment criteria set forth in the BUILD Act 
        of 2018 (division F of Public Law 115-254); and
            (2) are targets of the predatory infrastructure development 
        scheme of the People's Republic of China commonly known as the 
        Belt and Road Initiative.
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