A Fierce Slap to Chinese tyrants

U.S. Senators Press Ahead With Hong Kong Bill

After House passage, legislation awaits action in Senate
By Daniel Flatley and Dandan Li

Hong Kong Bill Will Pass in the Senate, Says Rep. Chris Smith

Republican senators said Wednesday they want to move quickly on legislation to support pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong despite a "threat" of retaliation from China.
“Hong Kong is a high priority for me,” said GOP Senator Jim Risch, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. 

“We’re going to move on it as rapidly as we can.”

Senator Jim Risch

Senator Roy Blunt, a member of the Senate GOP leadership, said there haven’t been any discussions about the timing for a vote on Hong Kong legislation similar to a measure that passed the House Tuesday. 

That bill would subject the city’s special U.S. trading status to annual reviews and provides for sanctions against officials deemed responsible for undermining its “fundamental freedoms and autonomy.”
There is broad backing in both parties in Congress to show support for the protesters and punish China for any crackdown. 

The White House declined to comment on whether Trump would sign the Hong Kong legislation, but there are enough votes in the House to override a veto and no significant opposition in the Senate.
The next step will be up to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell who’ll set the schedule for a vote, and he’s being pressed by his Republican colleagues.

“I think we’re going to get it up on the floor here fairly soon,” Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio, a China critic, told reporters.
South Dakota Senator John Thune, another member of Republican leadership, said that while he hasn’t looked closely at the four bills the House passed Tuesday, there are a number of senators “interested in making a strong statement on Hong Kong.”
Maryland Senator Ben Cardin, a Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, said the main House bill, the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, has deep bipartisan support, but there might be some Republicans who object to the bill being passed by unanimous consent without a floor vote.
Cardin said the fact that the House passed their four bills separately, rather than bundling them together, means the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act has a better chance of getting a vote in the Senate.

Demonstrators wave U.S. flags during a rally in support of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, Oct. 14.

Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Geng Shuang warned American lawmakers to stop "meddling" in China’s internal affairs.

Both Trump and Chinese dictator Xi Jinping have so far prevented the international uproar over Hong Kong from scuttling their trade talks. 

The two sides went ahead with negotiations and reached some broad agreements last week, even though the House vote was widely expected at the time.

A spokesman for the Hong Kong government “expressed regret” over the House action, which came hours before Chief Executive Carrie Lam addressed a raucous session of the Legislative Council. 

She barely managed a few words before pro-democracy lawmakers forced her to stop talking. 

She ended up delivering her annual policy address via video instead.
While the pro-democracy bloc only comprises about a third of lawmakers, Wednesday’s display showed they have the ability to shut down debate on major economic initiatives. 

That spells even more trouble ahead for an economy sliding into recession as protests against Beijing’s grip over the city grow increasingly violent.
China’s retaliation threat against the U.S. roiled markets during Asian trading, at one point wiping out a 0.8% rally in the regional equity benchmark.
U.S. lawmakers have embraced the Hong Kong protesters’ cause as the yearlong trade war fuels American support for pushing back against China, and they have hosted Hong Kong’s pro-democracy activists on Capitol Hill in recent weeks. 

The National Basketball Association’s struggle to manage Chinese backlash against a Houston Rockets executive’s support for the movement has only focused wider attention on the debate.
On Tuesday, the House passed H.Res. 543, a resolution reaffirming the relationship between the U.S. and Hong Kong, condemning Chinese interference in the region and voicing support for protesters. 

Lawmakers also passed the Protect Hong Kong Act, H.R. 4270, which would halt the export to Hong Kong of crowd-control devices such as tear gas and rubber bullets.

Joshua Wong arrives to speak on Capitol Hill on Sept. 17.

Representative Chris Smith, a New Jersey Republican and a sponsor of the main Hong Kong bill, dismissed the threats from Beijing.
“Retaliation, that’s all they ever talk,” Smith told Bloomberg TV. 

“They try to browbeat and cower people, countries, presidents, prime ministers and the like all over in order to get them to back off. We believe that human rights are so elemental, and so in need of protection. And that’s why the students and the young people are out in the streets in Hong Kong virtually every day.”
The House also adopted a resolution by Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel of New York and the panel’s top Republican, Michael McCaul of Texas, urging Canada to start U.S. extradition proceedings against Huawei Technologies Co. executive Meng Wanzhou. 

The resolution, H.Res. 521, also calls for the release of two Canadians detained in China and due process for a third sentenced to death for drug smuggling.

Ted Cruz

South China Sea and East China Sea Sanctions Act

Rubio, Cardin Reintroduce Bill Targeting Chinese Aggression in South China Sea

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) today reintroduced the South China Sea and East China Sea Sanctions Act, a bipartisan bill to impose sanctions against Chinese individuals and entities that participate in Beijing’s illegitimate activities to aggressively assert its expansive maritime and territorial claims in these disputed regions. 

Co-sponsored by 14 Senators, this legislation is timely given ongoing efforts by the United States to conduct freedom of navigation operations (FONOPs) in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific region. 

Read more about this bipartisan legislation in the South China Morning Post.
“This bipartisan bill seeks to reinforce America’s strong and enduring commitment to securing a free and open Indo-Pacific, including in the South China Sea and East China Sea,” Rubio said. 

 “Because the Chinese Government’s ongoing and flagrant violations of international norms in the South China and East China Seas cannot go unchecked, this legislation authorizes new sanctions to put Beijing on notice that the United States means business and intends to hold violators accountable.”
“China has been bully in both the South and East China Seas, encroaching on and intimidating its neighbors. Such aggressive behavior cannot go on unchecked,” Cardin said. 

“The United States will defend the free-flow of commerce and freedom of navigation, as well as promote the peaceful diplomatic resolution of disputes consistent with international law. I am pleased to join Senator Rubio and our colleagues to send a strong bipartisan message in defense of our national interests and those of our allies and partners in the Asia-Pacific region. Our legislation underscores America’s continued commitment to promote freedom and uphold the rule of law in East Asia.”

Joining Rubio and Cardin as original cosponsors of the legislation are Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Todd Young (R-IN), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Rick Scott (R-FL), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), John Cornyn (R-TX), Doug Jones (D-AL), and Mitt Romney (R-UT).

Rival South China Sea visions in spotlight as Washington, Beijing front Shangri-La Dialogue

By Brad Lendon

Hong Kong -- With China-US relations already strained amid an escalating trade war, attention is about to turn to a familiar arena -- the South China Sea.
After years of stand-offs and brinkmanship in the hotly contested region, acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan is expected to unveil the Pentagon's new Indo-Pacific strategy at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Saturday.
Intriguingly, just one day later Chinese Defense Minister Gen. Wei Fenghe is scheduled to speak about Beijing's role in the Indo-Pacific -- the highest-ranking Chinese official to appear at Asia's premier defense conference in eight years.
Their presence is significant. 

Beijing claims almost the entire 1.3 million square mile South China Sea as its sovereign territory and aggressively asserts its stake, with Xi Jinping saying it will never give up "any inch of territory."
US military officials, meanwhile, have vowed to continue enforcing a free and open Indo-Pacific.

The Chinese Type 52D guided missile destroyer Guiyang participates in a naval parade on April 23, 2019.

William Choong, senior fellow at the Shangri-La Dialogue, said in a tweet Tuesday that the presence of both Wei and Shanahan would set up "a clash of two visions — the US/Japan-led 'free and open' Indo-Pacific and China's 'Asia for Asians.'"
Analyst Carl Schuster, a former director of operations at the US Pacific Command's Joint Intelligence Center, told CNN: "Chinese leaders now recognize the value of multilateral defense venues and want to deny the US a monopoly of great power influence."
US intentions for the region have already been telegraphed strongly.
The Pentagon has stepped up freedom-of-navigation operations to as often as weekly. 

And the commander of the US Pacific Air Forces said this month that Air Force jets were flying in and around the South China Sea almost daily.
Washington has also sent warships through the Taiwan Strait separating China from what it calls its renegade province several times this year.
One of Washington's Taiwan Strait operations included a US Coast Guard cutter, which later sailed into the South China Sea — sending the fifth arm of its military and its main maritime law enforcement agency into the Pacific fray.
More robust US armament packages also seem to be part of the plan. 

For bilateral exercises with the Philippines in April, the US loaded the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp with 10 F-35B stealth fighters — four more than it normally carries — and sailed it into the South China Sea.

The amphibious assault ship USS Wasp transits the waters of the South China Sea with a large load of F-35 fighters.

Of course, it's not just the US that's active around the region. 

Its allies and partners are also involved.
France sent a ship through the Taiwan Strait this year, and is showing off its Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier on the sidelines of the conference. 

In May alone, Japanese, Indian, Philippine and US ships took part in a multilateral South China Sea exercise — while conference host Singapore held live-fire drills with India. 

A four-ship Australian naval force also visited countries around the region in a three-month trip that ended this week.
Meanwhile, US officials have bigger plans for the coming year.
In a conference call with reporters this month, US chief of naval operations Adm. John Richardson reiterated plans for the forward deployment of two littoral combat ships — fast, maneuverable warships designed for shallow-water operations — to Singapore this year. 

The ships would be the US Navy assets stationed closest to the South China Sea.
And in March, the commander of US Army forces in the Pacific, Gen. Robert Brown, announced plans to train 10,000 US troops for combat in "a South China Sea scenario." 

The Philippines and Thailand were mentioned as possible destinations for the troops.
The US pressure on Beijing extends back to Washington, where a bipartisan group of senators last week introduced legislation that would impose sanctions on Chinese companies and individuals who help the PLA's South China Sea build-up.
"China has been bully in both the South and East China Seas, encroaching on and intimidating its neighbors. Such aggressive behavior cannot go on unchecked," Sen. Ben Cardin, a Maryland Democrat, said in a statement.
For its part, China hasn't backed down at all: launching new warships, touting new weapons, keeping its forces active in the South China Sea — around Taiwan and beyond — and blasting Washington.
Beijing says it is the US that endangers peace in the region.

What are China's naval goals? The West can't wait to find out

On May 12, it launched two Type-52D destroyers in a single day — the 19th and 20th of what are expected to be 30 ships in that class.
A US Defense Department report released in early May said China had Asia's largest navy, with more than 300 ships and submarines.
Military analyst Euan Graham, who was aboard an Australian warship during a recent South China Sea operation, said it and other Australian and US ships operating in the region were all closely monitored by the Chinese navy.
"The ubiquity of PLAN (PLA Navy) vessels shadowing other warships in the (South China Sea) suggests that China's surface force has grown big enough to be able to 'close-mark' at will," Graham wrote on The Strategist blog.
Meanwhile, the PLA Navy has held training exercises with Russia off China's east coast and with Thailand to the south.
To the north, Chinese air force jets in April conducted what Taiwan said was their most "provocative" mission in years in the Taiwan Strait, crossing the median line between the island and the mainland.
"It was an intentional, reckless and provocative action. We've informed regional partners and condemn China for such behavior," Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
But it's clear Taiwan can't expect much quarter from China.
A May report on the PLA's English-language website touted a new amphibious assault vehicle as "the world's most advanced." 

With its help, combined with other weapons in China's arsenal, "the People's Liberation Army is well positioned to deal with Taiwan secessionists and potential island disputes."
The Shangri-La Dialogue touts itself as a venue "where ministers debate the region's most pressing security challenges, engage in important bilateral talks and come up with fresh solutions together."
But against that backdrop of bluster and build-up, it's hard to expect any compromises to emerge from what Wei and Shanahan have to say.

Lawmakers seek $7.5 billion to counter China’s expansionism

By Joe Gould

Chinese troops march during a Pakistan Day military parade in Islamabad on March 23, 2017. The U.S. Congress wants to increase funding to counter Chinese influence in the Pacific. 

WASHINGTON — The U.S. should forge stronger military ties with Taiwan and add $7.5 billion in national defense spending in the Pacific region in order to counter Chinese influence in the region, according to a legislative proposal from four U.S. senators.
The bipartisan Asia Reassurance Initiative Act, or ARIA, would authorize $1.5 billion annually for five years to deter and defend against China. 

A mix of State Department and Defense Department funds would bolster the U.S. military presence and readiness in the region, improving defense infrastructure and critical munitions stockpiles.
The bill would also support regular arms sales to Taiwan, and fund the enforcement of freedom-of-navigation and overflight rights — moves to defy Beijing’s calls to keep out of the contested South China Sea.
CNBC reported this month that China had installed anti-ship cruise missiles and surface-to-air missile systems on three of its outposts in the South China Sea.

China’s deployment of long-range missiles to its artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea could further consolidate and enhance the country’s physical control over the region.

The bill’s lead sponsor, Sen. Cory Gardner, chairs the Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity. he said the idea had originally come from Senate Armed Services Committee Chair John McCain, R-Ariz., and that he would work with appropriators to see it funded.
“This is not a new concept, and this is as close as we’ve come to an Asia-Pacific security initiative,” Gardner told reporters Tuesday.
The other sponsors are the subpanel’s ranking member, Sens. Edward Markey, D-Mass.; Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; Ben Cardin, D-Md., and Todd Young, R-Ind. 

The name of the bill recalls the European Reassurance Initiative, a pot of money to bolster European capabilities against Russia—since renamed the European Deterrence Initiative.
On Tuesday, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs Randall Schriver and Deputy East Asian and Pacific Affairs Alex Wong, appeared before Gardner’s subpanel, where they endorsed the legislation’s goals.
“With the help of Congress and the funding provided, we’re trying to build a force that’s appropriate to the longer-term challenges with China’s military modernization program, and trying to work with allies and partners to make sure they are adequately equipped and prepared for those long-term challenges,” Schriver said.
The U.S. is already boosting allies’ maritime domain awareness and maritime capabilities. 

The bill would augment foreign military financing and international military education and training programs, both with the idea to help partners “to resist coercion and to deter and defend against security threats.”
The bill explicitly excludes Myanmar, whose military has been accused of human rights violations, and Philippine counternarcotics activities, which have been linked to extrajudicial killings

War with China and war with Russia would have some overlapping qualities, but the Pentagon needs to figure out how and where to invest to deal with both.

In written testimony, Schriver emphasized the fiscal 2019 budget proposal’s investment in joint, integrated fires to “reach inside an adversary’s anti-access and area-denial envelope with advanced, long-range munitions.”
The Pentagon’s implementation of the National Defense Strategy calls for dispersal equipment and “survivable, sustainable logistics” to help in a potential conflict with China.
Schriver said the competition with China was not only a military rivalry with the U.S. 

The U.S. is seeking to partner with all nations that respect national sovereignty, fair and reciprocal trade and the rule of law.
“It’s a competition of ideas and values and interests. I think many more countries, including the most significant and influential counties in Asia outside of China support these concepts,” Schriver said.

Banana Republic: The Emoluments Clause, Impeachment, And Trump

Trump Adds Another Chinese Trademark to His Portfolio
By SUI-LEE WEE

Not totally stupid

BEIJING — China has granted Trump preliminary approval for another trademark in apparel, expanding business interests that have already generated criticism over potential conflicts.
Trump, the businessman, has collected trademarks that span a broad range of countries and industries, including soap in India and vodka in Israel. 

With the latest approval in China, Trump could bring his total trademarks in the country to 116, giving his business empire greater access to the world’s second-largest economy.
But the globalist approach runs counter to a populist president who has pushed a nationalistic agenda. The portfolio of trademarks could also leave Trump vulnerable to perception problems, as well as potential conflicts.
He applied for the trademark in June 2016, the same month that, as a presidential candidate, he said he would label China a currency manipulator. 

Since then, Trump has reversed his position and has taken a less confrontational stance with China, particularly after meeting with Xi Jinping in April.

China’s Trademark Office granted Mr. Trump preliminary approval for the trademark — which can be used in clothing like trousers, underwear and suits — on May 6. 

The trademark will be formally registered three months later, if the agency receives no objections.
Trump now has 77 registered trademarks in China and 39 trademarks with preliminary approval. 

His daughter Ivanka Trump has recently secured a spate of new trademarks in China through her trademarking business, Ivanka Trump Marks L.L.C.
It is unclear how Trump plans to use his trademarks. 

Unlike in the United States, people who file for trademarks in China do not have to give a reason for their application.

Trump has softened his stand on China since meeting with Xi Jingping in April.

That lack of a disclosure requirement has given rise to a crush of people registering the names of well-known brands, a practice known as “trademark squatting.” 

Trademark lawyers in the country often advise celebrities and overseas companies to file for trademarks across many sectors in a strategy known as “defensive filing” because litigation is an expensive and time-consuming process.
Opportunists have flocked to the Trump brand. 

His name is emblazoned on toilets, cosmetics and leather goods in China — trademarks registered by people other than the president.
Trump waged a decade-long legal battle for the right to protect his name brand for construction projects, finally winning in February. 

That trademark approval was disclosed days after Mr. Trump spoke with the Chinese president and dropped his challenge to China’s policy on Taiwan.
Whether the Trump Organization will profit from the trademarks remains to be seen. 

The licensing of Trump’s name, together with real estate development, are principal sources of the company’s income.
“As a legal matter, the trademark itself is a thing of value, as proven by how hard the president has fought for some of these trademarks over the years, in China and elsewhere,” said Norman Eisen, who was an ethics lawyer for former President Barack Obama. 

Mr. Eisen is part of a group that sued Trump, alleging that his business interests violate the emoluments clause in the Constitution that bars presidents from taking gifts or payments from foreign governments.
“The Constitution simply does not allow him to collect foreign tributes of this kind while he sits in the Oval Office,” he added.
The Trump Organization has said it will not do any further international deals. 

The business is now being run by the president’s two adult sons.
Senators have expressed concern about Trump’s trademarks in China, saying Beijing could use them to sway policy decisions. 

In March, Senator Ben Cardin, Democrat of Maryland and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said “officials in Beijing have come to appreciate the potential return on investments for China in having a positive, personal business relationship with the president of the United States, who has not taken appropriate and transparent steps to completely sever his relationship from the corporation that bears his name.”

Sina Delenda Est: Vive la France

France leads Guam military exercises amid China Sea fears
By Haven Daley and Audrey McAvoy

HAGATNA, Guam — The U.S., the U.K. and Japan are joining a French-led amphibious exercise at remote U.S. islands in the Pacific over the next week. 

Participants say they are showing support for the free passage of vessels in international waters, an issue that has come to the fore amid fears China could restrict movement in the South China Sea.
The drills around Guam and Tinian may also get the attention of nearby North Korea. 

Tensions between the U.S. and North Korea spiked last month after Pyongyang launched a ballistic missile and the U.S. sent an aircraft carrier strike group to the region.
The drills will practice amphibious landings, delivering forces by helicopter and urban patrols.

Satellite images reveal Chinese expansion in South China Sea

Two ships from France are participating, both of which are in the middle of a four-month deployment to the Indian and Pacific oceans. 

Joining are U.K. helicopters and 70 U.K. troops deployed with the French amphibious assault ship FS Mistral. 

Parts of the exercise will feature British helicopters taking U.S. Marines ashore from a French ship.
"The message we want to send is that we're always ready to train and we're always ready for the next crisis and humanitarian disaster wherever that may be," said U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col Kemper Jones, the commander of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment. 

About 100 Marines from Jones' unit will be part of the drills slated for this weekend and next week.
Cars enter Naval Base Guam on Thursday, May 11, 2017, near Hagatna, Guam.

China claims virtually the entire South China Sea and has aggressively tried to fortify its foothold in recent years by transforming seven mostly submerged reefs into island outposts, some with runways and radars and — more recently — weapons systems. 

This has prompted criticism from other nations, who also claim the atolls, and from the United States, which insists on freedom of navigation in international waters.
Nations fear China's actions could restrict movement in a key waterway for world trade and rich fishing grounds.

Mira Rapp-Hooper of the Center for New American Security, a Washington think tank, said the exercises will send a strong message in support of a "rules-based order in Asia" at a time when China's actions have raised questions about this.
"A reminder in this exercise is that lots of other countries besides the United States have an interest in that international order," said Rapp-Hooper, who is a senior fellow with the center's Asia-Pacific Security Program.
The French stealth frigate Courbet is docked at Naval Base Guam on Thursday, May 11, 2017, near Hagatna, Guam. Military personnel from the United States, Japan, France and the United Kingdom are gathering in the remote U.S. Pacific islands of Guam and Tinian. The exercises come at a time of regional tensions in the South China Sea and North Korea.

Meanwhile, this week the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee wrote Donald Trump to express concern that the U.S. hasn't conducted freedom of navigation operations since October.
The letter from Republican Sen. Bob Corker, Democrat Sen. Ben Cardin and five other senators supported a recent assessment by the commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific that China is militarizing the South China Sea and is continuing a "methodical strategy" to control it.
The letter, dated Wednesday and obtained by The Associated Press, urged the administration to "routinely exercise" freedom of navigation and overflight. 

The senators described the South China Sea as critical to U.S. national security interests and to peace in the Asia-Pacific.
The Guam exercises come amid modestly growing European interest in the South China Sea, said David Santoro, a senior fellow for nuclear policy at Pacific Forum CSIS, a Honolulu think tank.
"What I'm hearing from the French and to some degree the British, is an increased interest in what's going on in Asia and how they can help," Santoro said. 

As for North Korea, Santoro said Pyongyang would likely be watching but he didn't think the exercises were intended to send any signal to the country.
Japan, which is sending 50 soldiers and 160 sailors and landing craft, has been investing in amphibious training so it can defend its own islands. 

Tokyo is particularly concerned China might attempt to take over its rocky, uninhabited outcrops in the East China Sea: the Senkaku islands.

Japan has also expressed an interest in vessels being able to freely transit the South China Sea.

Guam and Tinian are about 1,500 miles (2,414 kilometers) south of Tokyo. 

They're about the same distance to the east from Manila, Philippines.

Chinese Aggressions

The curious timing of US senator Marco Rubio’s South China Sea sanctions bill
By Steve Mollman

South China Sea watcher.

US senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, floated a bill that’s sure to stoke anger in Beijing. The measure would, among other things, sanction Chinese companies that engage in “illegitimate activities” in the South China Sea, such as dredging to expand the militarized islands China has built.
The timing is curious.
This also happens to be the week when Rex Tillerson, US president Donald Trump’s secretary of state, makes his first big trip to Asia on behalf of the government. 

Arguably his most important stop will be in Beijing, where he hopes to persuade Chinese leaders to take a tougher stance against North Korea. 

North Korea, which relies heavily on trade with the big rogue nation for cash, has been rattling the region with its testing of ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons. 

The US state department is reportedly considering deeper sanctions against Chinese companies that continue to do business with North Korea.
Tillerson also will have to deal with Beijing’s anger over the THAAD antimissile defense system the US is beginning to set up in South Korea. 

The idea behind the system is to stop sudden North Korean missile attacks, but Beijing fears THAAD’s advanced radar capabilities will also make its weaponry—or at least the threat of it—less potent, and thereby upset the balance of power in the region. (South Korean companies already are facing an economic backlash in China over the system.)
There’s also the issue of trade tensions between the US and China. 

During his campaign, Trump said he would declare China a currency manipulator on the first day of his administration. 

He has yet to do so, but Beijing is nervous enough that Li Keqiang emphasized this week that China does “not want to see any trade war breaking out between the two countries.”
Amid all this, Rubio chose now to introduce his bill, called the “South China Sea and East China Sea Sanctions Act.” 

He was joined by Democratic senator Ben Cardin, showing bipartisan support for the measure.

The timing seems especially curious given that the bill is a revision of an earlier one submitted last December. 

Why is it being resurfaced just as Tillerson prepared to visit Beijing on March 18 and 19? 

Quartz reached out to Rubio’s office about the timing but did not received an immediate reply.

Busy in the South China Sea
China claims as its own nearly the entire South China Sea, despite an international tribunal ruling last July that its sweeping claim had neither a legal nor historical basis. 

Beijing dismissed the ruling and continues to fortify its position, expanding upon artificial militarized islands it’s built atop reefs in recent years.
The bill specifically mentions (pdf, p. 21) a few dozen Chinese companies that should be watched for their involvement in such activities, and sanctioned if necessary. 

Among them are China’s biggest state-owned oil companies, including China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC).
Tillerson has bumped heads with CNOOC in the past, during his reign as the CEO and chairman of ExxonMobil. 

In 2014, CNOOC moved a giant rig into an offshore block near the coast of Vietnam. 

ExxonMobil had received exploration rights for the block from Hanoi, but part of it falls within China’s nine-dash line, which it uses to justify its vast claims to most of the sea. 

Deadly riots against ethnic Chinese and Chinese businesses ensued in Vietnam, and after a military standoff China backed down.
Despite the uneasiness over China’s claims—which has generally scared off exploration by foreign energy giants in the resource-rich South China Sea—Tillerson helped lay the groundwork for a $10 billion natural gas project called Blue Whale off Vietnam’s central coast. 

It’s possible Tillerson might have to confront China over that or similar projects involving US energy companies in the area during his term—somewhat awkward given his Big Oil background.
Tillerson barely got the chance to have his cabinet appointment confirmed by the full US Senate. 

In mid-January, the Senate’s foreign affairs committee was in a 10-10 deadlock, along party lines. 

One Republican lawmaker was still mulling things over and held the tie-breaking committee vote to decide whether the nomination would be put up for a vote in the full Senate, where a victory was assured because of Republican dominance. 

That lawmaker was Rubio, who, despite reservations on Tillerson’s commitment to human rights, eventually cleared the way for the former CEO.
Tough questions on the way.

Critics contended that Rubio’s public skepticism of Tillerson was essentially a form of grandstanding. They might decide that, with the timing of this week’s bill introduction, he is once again seeking attention. 

Perhaps. 

But if so, the move seems less about personal posturing and more about bringing attention to the issue at hand.
Rubio’s resistance to China’s growing assertiveness at sea and authoritarianism at home is genuine. 

Last month he helped reintroduce the “Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act,” which would “renew the United States’ historical commitment to freedom and democracy in Hong Kong at a time when its autonomy is increasingly under assault.” 

Once again, his criticism (expressed through legislation) was essentially directed at Beijing.

The introduction of the act this week will create an additional awkward moment or two for Tillerson on an already awkward trip. 

Rubio, who received considerable flack for clearing Tillerson for Senate confirmation to his new role after expressing strong reservations about him, probably doesn’t mind that too much.
But more important, it conveys a message that the US hasn’t lost track of Beijing’s overreaching claims in the South China Sea, and is prepared to take action. 

Each year, $5.3 trillion of global trade passes through the vital waterway, including $1.2 trillion of US commerce. 

Last year the Center for Strategic and International Studies warned the sea could become “virtually a Chinese lake” by 2030.

Rogue Nation

Rubio, Cardin Seek Sanctions Against China for South China Sea Aggression
By JOHN HAYWARD

A bill introduced by Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) on Wednesday calls for sanctions against Chinese individuals and companies that participate in island-building projects across the disputed South China Sea region.
“China’s illegitimate actions in the South China Sea threaten the region’s security and American commerce. These ongoing, flagrant violations of international norms cannot be allowed to go unchecked, and the sanctions called for in this legislation would put Beijing on notice that the United States means business and intends to hold violators accountable,” said Rubio.
“In recent years we have seen an increasingly provocative China in the maritime domains, coercing and intimidating neighbors in both the East China Sea and South China Sea, attempting to use the threat of military force to address territorial and regional disputes, and undertaking an aggressive island-building and militarization campaign which threatens regional stability,” added Cardin.
“In the face of these actions the United States must be crystal-clear with regards to our long-standing national interests in the free-flow of commerce, freedom of navigation, and in the peaceful diplomatic resolution of disputes consistent with international law, and that we will safeguard our interests and those of our allies and partners and uphold a rules-based order for the Asia-Pacific region. This legislation provides significant new tools and options for our policy in the region and I’m pleased to join Senator Rubio in this effort,” Cardin continued.
The bill would require President Trump to impose sanctions and prohibit visas for Chinese individual and entities who “threaten the peace, security, or stability of the South China Sea or East China Sea.” It would also prohibit any formal recognition of islands annexed by China in either region, the publication of documents that portray the disputed islands as Chinese territory. 

Foreign aid to any country that does recognize China’s territorial claims would be restricted.
Rubio is a senior member of the Foreign Relations Committee, while Cardin is the ranking Democrat on the committee.
The press release for the bill mentions reports that China has begun new construction work on disputed South China Sea islands – which will not be disputed in any meaningful sense for much longer if China keeps building installations on them, no matter what international courts might say to the contrary.
Quartz.com finds the timing of Rubio and Cardin’s bill “curious,” since Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is making his first major trip to Asia this week, including a visit to Beijing. 

Actually, it sounds less like a puzzling maybe-coincidence and more like a fairly straightforward effort to put congressional muscle behind Tillerson’s visit.
As Quartz notes, some of the Chinese entities specifically mentioned in the Rubio-Cardin bill are companies Tillerson clashed with when he was CEO of ExxonMobil, and the Chinese are generally wary of President Trump for criticizing their trade and monetary practices. 

This is not a bad moment for Congress to let China know they are critical of its policies as well.
Alternately, the bill could be seen as Rubio and Cardin attempting to box Trump in on China, or a cynical ploy for attention. 

Quartz seems to shoot that theory down right after mentioning it, by describing Rubio’s “resistance to China’s growing assertiveness at sea and authoritarianism at home” as “genuine.” 

It’s interesting to note that while media reports on the South China Sea tend to dance around exactly what China is doing out there, Rubio’s press release straightforwardly condemns “Chinese aggression.”
China was, of course, not pleased by the proposed legislation.

Presidential Interests

Top Democrats demand answers on Trump’s China trademark
By AUSTIN WRIGHT
Sen. Dianne Feinstein has previously argued the trademark deal could violate the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause. 

Three senior Senate Democrats are seeking answers from the State Department on China’s decision to grant a trademark to the Trump Organization — a decision the senators say could violate the Constitution.
Sens. Ben Cardin of Maryland, Dianne Feinstein of California and Jack Reed of Rhode Island wrote to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Friday asking for more details on the trademark, which Donald Trump had been seeking for more than a decade but wasn’t granted until soon after being elected president.
Feinstein has previously argued the trademark deal could violate the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause, which bars government officials from accepting gifts and payments from foreign countries.
“The possibility that the government of China is seeking to win President Trump’s favor by granting him special treatment for his businesses is disturbing,” the three senators said in their letter. 

“As you may be aware, for more than a decade the Trump Organization sought to receive this trademark registration without success.”
A trademark for Trump’s brand in China, they write, “is a highly valuable commodity.” 

The senators add that Trump’s refusal to divest himself from his businesses means that he “continues to benefit directly from the financial success of the Trump Organization.”
They're asking Tillerson to provide answers to a number of questions, including information on discussions between Trump’s presidential transition team and China.
Cardin, Feinstein and Reed are the top Democrats on the Foreign Relations, Judiciary and Armed Services Committees, respectively.