Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) has sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken demanding that the State Department get out of the U.S.-China Science and Technology Agreement (STA). With the accord being more than 40 years old, Sen. Scott believes the dynamic between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has changed enough to justify leaving the deal.
“In the more than 40 years since this agreement was established, Communist China has chosen to become America’s enemy, displaying increased military aggression while publishing misleading economic data, lying about the COVID pandemic, and stealing American intellectual property and data,” stated Sen. Scott’s press release.
It would go on to mention that “by rejecting the renewal of the STA and ensuring the U.S. does not enter into any international agreements that hurt our economic growth, compromise American innovation, or undermine American values.”
In the letter to Sec. Blinken, Scott referenced the CCP’s record of stealing intellectual property as a reason for leaving the agreement.
“Communist China also has a history of actively stealing American intellectual property. The Chinese Communist government often pressures U.S. companies to partner with a Chinese company if they wish to sell to China, and then uses the Chinese company to steal American intellectual property. In 2018, the U.S. estimated that Communist China inflicts $50 billion yearly in damages to U.S. companies,” wrote the Florida Senator.
Additionally, Scott mentioned the CCP’s horrible human rights record, especially their treatment of the Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang region.
“Furthermore, Communist China is guilty of numerous human rights violations and it is unthinkable for the U.S. to cooperate with a country actively undermining our promotion of human rights and human liberty,” Scott said. “In January 2019, the U.S. State Department made a determination that the Chinese Communist government was committing genocide against the Uyghurs, a predominantly Muslim ethnic group, and other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang. The U.S. government cannot reward this flagrant violation of human rights and religious liberty by rewarding Communist China with a renewal of the STA.”
Scott ended the letter by stating that rejecting this deal would “promote not only our economic growth but also the fundamental ideals upon which the U.S. was founded.”
