Natural State News

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Republican Study Committee (RSC) Chairman Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) on Feb. 24 introduced a bill meant to counter Chinese Communist Party propaganda.

Named the Countering Chinese Propaganda Act, the bill is meant to create a new sanctions authority against state-backed disinformation networks. It’s aimed at CCP's United Front Work Department (UFWD), an overseas influencer of the Chinese regime working to further the CCP’s interests abroad.

Cotton said in a statement that the UFWD is used by the Chinese regime to spread lies and that it would be put an end to by the new bill.

“The Chinese Communist Party expands its disinformation campaign each day—concealing information regarding the origin of COVID-19, lying about its oppression of Uyghurs and other religious minorities, and infiltrating American universities and businesses,” Cotton said as reported by The Epoch Times. 

The legislation reads, “The United Front Work Department is involved in espionage campaigns, political warfare efforts, malign disinformation, utilizing the Chinese diaspora abroad, and infiltration of educational institutions, all with the goal of softening opposition to the Chinese Communist Party and its policies throughout the world.” According to The Epoch Times. 

The two Republican Congressmen gave reference to the March 6, 2020, investigation by ProPublica. The investigation uncovered UFWD's connection to a network of “fake and hijacked” Twitter accounts that were covertly spreading CCP propaganda about COVID-19.

Banks said the United Front directly participates in the Uyghur genocide and the oppression of Christians in China but their ultimate goal is to spread CCP persecutory tactics around the globe.

“The leadership in Washington may have changed, but China’s political warfare hasn’t,” Banks said in a statement, the Epoch Times reported, “We’ve made countering communist China a platform of the RSC for the first time, under my leadership,” Banks told The Epoch Times. “It deserves our attention, and as the largest caucus, our members understand this is the greatest threat that we face and that we have to confront it.”

Banks also said the anti-CCP policy would be their main agenda and top priority in the coming years.

The legislation is part of Republican Study Committee's efforts to confront the threat posed by the CCP and to hold President Joe Biden’s administration accountable for what they consider weak policies on China.