On Wednesday, a bipartisan group of US senators, including Tammy Duckworth from Illinois and Marsha Blackburn from Tennessee, introduced a bill aimed at countering China’s grey-zone tactics in the Indo-Pacific region. The legislation seeks to enhance cooperation between the US State Department and Indo-Pacific partners to monitor, deter, and respond to China’s coercive activities. According to the senators, these grey-zone tactics include cyberattacks, economic coercion, and information warfare, which threaten regional stability, US national security, and key allies in the region.
Duckworth emphasized that the increasing aggression by the People’s Republic of China in the Indo-Pacific region not only impacts partners in the region but also threatens America’s economic and national security. She added that the US depends on a free and open Indo-Pacific and that the bipartisan bill would help ensure the US better coordinates with its partners to deter China’s grey-zone tactics.
The bill requires the Secretary of State to submit a strategy to improve monitoring of Chinese behavior in the Indo-Pacific and identify government branches, programs, and actors that can strengthen oversight. It also calls for a task force to track, formulate, and strengthen tools to counter and mitigate Chinese grey-zone operations. The task force would evaluate progress through performance indicators and report its findings to Congress.
The legislation is part of Duckworth’s broader legislative efforts on Indo-Pacific security, which include the Strategy for Crisis Management Act and the South China Sea Strategy Act. The US senators believe that the effort is intended to advance US national interests, protect the global economy, and improve regional security. With India emerging as an increasingly important partner in the region, the US is seeking to strengthen its cooperation with Indo-Pacific allies to counter China’s growing influence.
Image for illustration purposes only
📰 Source: Mangalorean News