Washington: Asserting that Americans are 'sick and tired' of Beijing's unfair trade practices, US lawmakers have asked the Obama administration to stop foreign aid to Washington's main creditor, China.
"American people are sick and tired of China's unfair trade practices... No amount of US government assistance would change China's intentions to steal our secrets, take our manufacturing jobs and advance its own agenda," Congressman Mr Donald Manzullo said at a Congressional hearing on US developmental assistance to China.
The House of Representatives' Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Asia put under the microscope yesterday USD 4 million of proposed funding for promoting clean energy, the rule of law, and to fight wildlife trafficking.
The committee has put that aid, approved last year, on hold as it demands explanations from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) how the funds would be used.
"We need to make sure that these funds are effectively being used to the benefit of the American people. Providing training, technical assistance and capacity building for Chinese manufacturing and commercial real estate sectors is unjustifiable in a time when China continues to steal our intellectual property and drive US competitors out of business," said Mr Manzullo, who chaired the Congressional hearing.
"Given the state of the US economy and with government debt approaching a record USD 15 trillion, it is absurd to think that any US government entity would spend a single dollar trying to encourage China to do the right thing," he said. He said that China had enough resources to spend on its own and US assistance to China should not be at any cost to the taxpayer.
Congressman Mr Brad Sherman said he was worried about the mindset in US foreign policy establishment that thought US mailing checks to Beijing was a good idea. He also wrote a letter to the USAID administrator, Mr Raj Shah, urging that he do not provide foreign aid to China.
Congressman Mr Bill Johnson said the USA, in the last 10 years, had provided US$ 275 million in foreign aid to China. "The news that we are giving aid to China for certain unnecessary programmes and projects hits home especially hard particularly for Americans struggling to get back on their feet," he said.
