China

The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) campaign for global dominance presents a clear threat to the world. Recent events have shined a bright light on Beijing's efforts to dismantle democracies worldwide, the CCP’s attempts to extend its harmful global influence, and the ongoing challenges in the United States' relationship with Beijing. 

Throughout her career in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate, Senator Blackburn has consistently raised concerns about China’s outsized role in global affairs and has been a leader in the fight to hold the Chinese regime accountable. From demanding answers from Beijing for their countless human rights abuses to the dictatorship’s theft of intellectual property and spreading COVID-19, Senator Blackburn will not stop speaking out about the threats posed by the CCP. 

What Senator Blackburn Is Doing to Stop Communist China

The COVID-19 Pandemic

We know that China, for at least two weeks and likely longer, hid the deadly COVID-19 virus from the international community, allowing it to spread across the globe. Not long after COVID-19 reached the United States and the rest of the world, the CCP launched its propaganda campaign blaming American interests for the spread of the novel coronavirus. At the same time the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global health emergency in March 2020, Chinese officials and state media began peddling the lie that the virus may have been leaked from a U.S. Army lab. 

Senator Blackburn pushed back against this Chinese propaganda and in May 2020, she filed the Stop COVID Act, which would allow American victims of the pandemic to sue Chinese officials in U.S. court. Senator Blackburn also led a bipartisan, bicameral resolution calling on China to take responsibility for its abject failure to be forthright about the severity of the COVID-19 crisis it created.

Protecting Our National Security

Since President Biden’s first day in office, the CCP’s aggression towards the U.S. has escalated, and our national security has been greatly endangered. Under the Biden-Harris administration, Beijing has spied on the U.S. through a variety of means — from sending operatives to U.S. military sites to purchasing land near sensitive military locations and setting up Confucius Institutes on college campuses. 

In June 2023, Senator Blackburn introduced the bipartisan Stemming The Operation of Pernicious and Illicit (STOP Illicit) Drones Act to limit the presence of Chinese-produced drones in the United States and keep our nation safer. Senator Blackburn also fought to secure vital national security wins in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act. In 2024, her measure to prohibit the FAA from funding foreign drone companies or procuring drones from China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, and Cuba was signed into law.

Following reports indicating that the CCP has secretly operated police stations in cities across America to spy on individuals, Senator Blackburn sent a letter to the FBI and DOJ calling for an immediate inquiry. She also introduced the Countering Chinese Espionage Reporting Act to ensure that the DOJ is doing everything in its power to safeguard our national security and protect U.S. intellectual property — like academic research and technological innovation — from being stolen and used by our adversaries. 

Additionally, after a China-backed spy balloon traversed into U.S. airspace for a week, Senator Blackburn demanded answers from President Biden on this blatant act of espionage that enabled the CCP to potentially collect valuable national security information and spy on American military assets.

As Communist China works to infiltrate every major U.S. sector, the agricultural industry is no exception. Over the past few years, the United States has experienced a rapid increase in foreign investment in the agricultural sector from Communist China. To combat this, Senator Blackburn introduced the bipartisan Foreign Adversary Risk Management (FARM) Act to protect American farmland and ensure our food supply is not weaponized by Beijing.

Under the Biden-Harris administration, we have seen a surge in Chinese nationals attempting to cross the southern border. Senator Blackburn led her Republican colleagues in introducing the No Asylum for CCP Spies Act to prohibit members of communist or totalitarian parties, including the CCP, from being granted asylum in the U.S.

Senator Blackburn also strongly supported banning TikTok in the United States or divesting the company from its Chinese communist owner.

Securing American Interests

As one of the world’s leading democratic superpowers, the United States cannot afford to fall behind Communist China in its quest for global domination. Senator Blackburn understands that in order to remain competitive on the world stage, we must bolster our domestic industries and equip them with the tools for success.

Senator Blackburn has led legislation aimed at strengthening U.S. advanced defense capabilities. She introduced the bipartisan, bicameral Investing in American Defense Technologies Act to establish a federal public-private partnership to invest in American defense-centric small businesses, help fuel cutting-edge defense technology production, and make the United States more competitive with adversaries like China.

Additionally, after deep vulnerabilities in our country's national supply chains caused by our dependence on Communist China were exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, Senator Blackburn introduced the bipartisan Strengthening Support for American Manufacturing Act to streamline federal efforts to boost domestic manufacturers and support workers.

Communist China has publicly acknowledged its goal to lead the world in quantum communications by 2049. It’s critical the United States provides an environment for entrepreneurs and companies to promote competition and continued innovation, which is why Senator Blackburn introduced the bipartisan Quantum Sandbox for Near-Term Applications Act.

Furthermore, according to the Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property, the CCP has stolen enough intellectual property (IP) to cost the United States an estimated $225 billion to $600 billion every year. Amid these persistent attempts to steal intellectual property and invalidate U.S. patents, Senator Blackburn has led several measures to protect American innovators and creators from IP theft, including the No Free TRIPS Act to stop foreign companies from profiting off American medical advances.

Defending Freedom for Taiwan, the Uyghurs, and Hong Kong

Beijing is known for its use of political violence, speech suppression, and torture to silence dissent and concentrate power in the hands of the CCP. Senator Blackburn has never shied away from the fight as she continues to stand up for Taiwan, the Uyghur Muslims, and the Hong Kong Freedom Fighters against the Chinese regime’s brutality.

As Communist China continues to seek domination over Taiwan, Senator Blackburn has been a staunch defender of independence for the Indo-Pacific nation. In August 2022, Senator Blackburn visited Taiwan, met with President Tsai Ing-wen in Taipei, and called to strengthen connections between the U.S. and Taiwan. During this visit, Senator Blackburn made it clear: Taiwan is a country. Senator Blackburn firmly believes in ensuring Taiwan has the capacity to defend itself, which is why she introduced the Taiwan Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act.

In early 2024, Senator Blackburn supported a bipartisan resolution commending Taiwan for its commitment to democratic elections and institutions despite ongoing threats from the CCP.

Additionally, Senator Blackburn has encouraged U.S. colleges and universities to support the U.S.-Taiwan Education Initiative as an alternative to China’s propaganda-fueled Confucius Institutes that infiltrated around 100 college campuses.

Senator Blackburn is also keenly aware of China’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region, which is why she visited Fiji, the Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea to promote American diplomacy and push back on Beijing’s growing influence in the region.

During the 2019 Hong Kong protests when Beijing executed a takeover of the once autonomous region of Hong Kong, Senator Blackburn led bipartisan legislation prohibiting the U.S. export of crowd control equipment to the Hong Kong Police Force, which was signed into law by President Trump.

In 2020, after Beijing passed a law quashing freedom in Hong Kong and authorizing the political persecution of critics and dissenters under the guise of “national security,” Senator Blackburn sat down with democratic activist Nathan Law to discuss the implications of this crackdown on Hong Kong’s future.

Furthermore, Senator Blackburn has continually fought to end the CCP’s ongoing genocide against the Uyghur Muslims. She supported the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which was signed into law in 2021, to ensure that goods made with the slave labor of Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and elsewhere in Communist China do not enter the United States. She also led the Keep China Out of Solar Energy Act to prohibit the U.S. government from buying solar panels manufactured or assembled in Communist China and ensure no taxpayer dollars are being used to fuel the CCP’s genocide and human rights abuses. 

Additionally, in a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Senator Blackburn pressed her on the Treasury’s failure to issue new sanctions against the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, a paramilitary organization with a 50 percent or more stake in more than 2,800 companies in China.

China White Paper

Fighting for Tennesseans means unraveling our failed relationship with China. To repair the utter brokenness of Beijing’s relationship with the West, particularly the United States, Senator Blackburn released her China White Paper in 2020 — a comprehensive analysis examining the state of play and detailing the best ways to start that process. 

Key Recommendations:

• The United States should maintain its participation in international organizations and work multilaterally to reshape Beijing’s participation in those organizations as China pursues a new model for intergovernmental institutions shaped by self-interest.

• Congress should lead a whole-of-government approach to secure U.S. supply chains across sectors and bring critical manufacturing and technologies back to America.

• The United States should address Chinese academic, research, and economic espionage, and intellectual property theft, through the introduction of new, responsibly stringent regulations and consistent implementation of existing regulations.

• The United States should lead in international standards-setting for network security, emerging technologies, internet access and freedom, and other key policy areas. Key allies and partners should be encouraged to participate in the development and implementation of these standards.

• Congress should continue to provide robust support for Taiwan and Hong Kong while supporting universal human rights standards across the Indo-Pacific and within China and its territories.

• The United States should prioritize building a constellation of allies and partners across the Indo-Pacific in support of a rules-based order to deter aggression and foster stable economic growth.

• Congress should promote increasing defense investment in U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) while building human capital enterprise-wide to augment regional deterrence and bolster arenas in which the U.S. possesses an asymmetric advantage.

Read Senator Blackburn’s full China White Paper here.

Timeline of Senator Blackburn's Work

Senator Blackburn has a proven record of taking on Communist China. From creating the Congressional Songwriters Caucus in the House of Representatives in 2003, which helped to educate colleagues on the threat Chinese intellectual property theft poses to the creative community, to visiting Taiwan throughout her career in the House and in her first term as Senator nearly 20 years later, she has been steadfast in her efforts to hold the Chinese regime accountable and defend democracy around the world throughout her career in the United States Congress.

For a full and comprehensive timeline of Senator Blackburn’s work on Communist China, click here.