China rejects US academic report calling for retaliatory action

China’s state-run Global Times said the report’s threat assessment was unfounded.

“We believe the Chinese infiltration into the United States the report describes does not match up with China’s objective aspirations,” the newspaper said in an editorial.

The report, however, found that there was now a “surprising” level of bi-partisan skepticism about China’s intentions and a willingness to push back against its “predatory” policies.

“China is exploiting America’s openness in order to advance its aims on a competitive playing field,” it said. “Once largely a form of economic competition, China’s recent turn to military and political rivalry with the United States has changed the whole equation of the bilateral relationship.”

In order to counter China’s activities, the report makes a series of suggestions for United States lawmakers, institutions and businesses that it said could help ensure “transparency, integrity and reciprocity”.

It recommends denying U.S. visas to Chinese journalists and having scholars affiliated with the Chinese government-run “Thousand Talents Programme” registered as a foreign agent.

The report also lauded recent legislation that strengthened the review process by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), an interagency panel that assesses the national security implications of investment.

Legislation passed in June by U.S. President Donald Trump was a “substantial improvement” that closed loopholes that China had been exploiting, it said.

The authors also included a note of caution that China’s efforts should not be exaggerated.

“China has not sought to interfere in a national election in the United States or to sow confusion or inflame polarization in our democratic discourse the way Russia has done,” it said.