Rubio Introduces Bill Prohibiting Chinese Access to American Ports

China seeks to expand its maritime ambitions by buying and holding key ownership shares in ports worldwide and the United States. As America's adversary, this strategy by the Chinese is dangerous. As a result, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), along with Senators Rick Scott (R-FL) and Mark Kelly (D-AZ), have introduced a bipartisan bill aiming to counter this encroachment.

At its core, the Strategic Ports Reporting Act would require the Department of Defense to devise a counterstrategy to China's tactics, including identifying Chinese companies and their proxies seeking to buy shares in ports dubbed crucial to the United States economy and national security.

Last June, China was in talks with Cuba to build a new spy base on the island, dangerously close to the United States. However, as Representative Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) noted, this was only the tip of the iceberg, as the Chinese have cooperated with the Bahamas, another geographically close Caribbean nation, in building ports and infrastructure. Similarly, the Republic of Panama has been dangerously friendly with the People's Republic, opening up the Canal to investment by Chinese companies and withdrawing their recognition of Taiwan as a country.

In November, the Council of Foreign Relations estimated that China had invested in 92 maritime projects worldwide, and 13 ports had the majority of Chinese ownership. Another ten could have naval uses.

"Florida is home to many of our nation's key ports. Our nation can't allow Communist China to invest in geographically and economically strategic ports. We must prevent, at all costs, the chance for our adversaries to use our resources against us," said Sen. Rubio in his press release.

Similarly, Sen. Scott added, "Protecting the ports, seaports, and infrastructure of the U.S., our allies, and trading partners around the globe is critical to our economic independence, U.S. national security, and the security of our allies. As our nation faces threats from adversaries around the world and Communist China continues its quest for global dominance, we must eliminate any ownership, influence, or access the Communist Chinese regime may have over our allies' infrastructure and data that can be used against us. Our bill requires the Department of Defense to identify our most critical ports worldwide to ensure continued U.S. trade and military operations and develop a plan to keep them secure from our enemies. This overdue action is essential to protecting American trade and security."