China is taking advantage of the current international turmoil. Not just through diplomacy but more insidious means such as central banking digital currency (CBDC). To this end, Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) has introduced a bill prohibiting American money services businesses from using this new Chinese currency.
Initially introduced in major Chinese cities in 2021, the digital yuan is designed to replace cash, at least partially. Additionally, the Communist Party of China (CCP) hopes to overtake the US dollar in international spending power and potentially dodge sanctions through this new system.
As a result, Sen. Scott's Chinese CBDC Prohibition Act would seek to preemptively prevent money services businesses (such as currency exchangers) from using the digital yuan.
Joining him in introducing this bill are Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TX), while Representative Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO) introduced its House companion.
In his press release, Sen. Scott called the yuan "just another tool used by the Chinese Communist Party to spy on its people and all those who use it" and "an obvious power grab and an attempt to increase communist-state-control over people’s personal finances."
Moreover, he said, "Secretary Xi and his thugs have no business playing big brother to American citizens and how they spend their money. That is why I am fighting to prevent this problem from ever becoming someone’s reality. We must stand up against the CCP’s obvious spy tactics and pass the Chinese CBDC Prohibition Act today."
This is not the first time Scott has sounded the alarm on the Chinese's attempts to subvert the United States financially, for last August, he called for an investigation into China's means of manipulating the Federal Reserve through its so-called "Thousand Talents" program and its purchase of the second-largest foreign share of US Treasury securities.
In May, Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) signed two bills banning domestic use of an American CBDC in the state of Florida, saying, "Biden’s Central Bank Digital Currency aims to increase government control over people’s finances, and we will not allow it. In Florida, we value personal freedom and won’t allow self-interested elites to chip away at our liberty." Moreover, the bill would extend to the digital yuan.
