Partisan Divides Shape US State Responses to China, Report Says

Exterior view of the 22-story New Capitol building, which is part of the Capitol Complex in Tallahassee, Fla., on July 26, 2023. Joe Raedle/Getty ImagesRepublican and Democratic states are sharply split in their approaches to countering the Chinese communist regime’s influence at the state level in the United States, with some passing multiple tough-on-China laws while others have adopted few or none, The Heritage Foundation said in a March 20 report.Beijing has conducted “malign influence campaigns” within U.S. states for decades, targeting state and local legislators, state universities, pension funds, and other “soft targets,” the report’s authors said. Compared to Republican states, Democratic states “have passed the fewest counter-China laws.”