{"id":4767,"date":"2024-02-19T16:42:24","date_gmt":"2024-02-19T08:42:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=4767"},"modified":"2024-02-19T16:42:28","modified_gmt":"2024-02-19T08:42:28","slug":"us-rivalry-with-china-expands-to-biotech-lawmakers-see-a-failure-to-compete-and-want-to-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=4767","title":{"rendered":"US rivalry with China expands to biotech. Lawmakers see a failure to compete and want to act"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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U.S. lawmakers are raising alarms about what they see as America\u2019s failure to compete with China in biotechnology, warning of the risks to U.S. national security and commercial interests. But as the two countries\u2019 rivalry expands into the biotech industry, some say that shutting out Chinese companies would only hurt the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biotechnology promises to revolutionize everyday life, with scientists and researchers using it to make rapid advances in medical treatment, genetic engineering in agriculture and novel biomaterials. Because of its potential, it has caught the attention of both the Chinese and U.S. governments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bills have been introduced in the House and Senate to bar \u201cforeign adversary biotech companies of concern\u201d from doing business with federally funded medical providers. The bills name four Chinese-owned companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

he Chinese Embassy said those behind the bills have an \u201cideological bias\u201d and seek to suppress Chinese companies \u201cunder false pretexts.\u201d It demanded that Chinese companies be given \u201copen, just, and non-discriminatory treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The debate over biotechnology is taking place as the Biden administration tries to stabilize the volatile U.S.-China relationship, which has been battered by a range of issues, including a trade war, the COVID-19 pandemic, cybersecurity and militarization in the South China Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Critics of the legislation warn that restrictions on Chinese companies would impede advances that could bring a greater good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn biotech, one cannot maintain competitiveness by walling off others,\u201d said Abigail Coplin, an assistant professor at Vassar College who specializes in China\u2019s biotech industry. She said she was worried that U.S. policymakers would get too obsessed with the technology\u2019s military applications at the cost of hindering efforts to cure disease and feed the world\u2019s population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a letter to senators sponsoring the bill, Rachel King, chief executive officer of the trade association Biotechnology Innovation Organization, said the legislation would \u201cdo untold damage to the drug development supply chain both for treatments currently approved and on market as well as for development pipelines decades in the making.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But supporters say the legislation is crucial to protecting U.S. interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology, a group created by the U.S. Senate to review the industry, said the bill would help secure the data of the federal government and of American citizens and it would discourage unfair competition from Chinese companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commission warned that advancement in biotechnology can result not only in economic benefits but also rapid changes in military capabilities and tactics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much is at stake, said Rep. Mike Gallagher, chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. Gallagher, a Wisconsin Republican, introduced the House version of the bill and last week led a congressional delegation to Boston to meet with biotech executives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just a supply chain battle or a national security battle or an economic security battle; I would submit it\u2019s a moral and ethical battle,\u201d Gallagher said. \u201dJust as the sector advances at a really astronomic pace, the country who wins the race will set the ethical standards around how these technologies are used.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He argues that the U.S. must \u201cset the rules of the road\u201d and if not, \u201cwe\u2019re going to live in a less free, less moral world as a result.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both the United States and China, the world\u2019s two largest economies, have identified biotech as a critical national interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Biden administration has put forward a \u201cwhole-of-government approach\u201d to advance biotechnology and biomanufacturing that is important for health, climate change, energy, food security, agriculture and supply chain resilience. A stated goal is to maintain U.S. technological leadership and economic competitiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Chinese government has plans to develop a \u201cnational strategic technology force\u201d in biotech, which would be tasked with making breakthroughs and helping China achieve \u201ctechnological independence,\u201d primarily from the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBoth the Chinese government and the Americans have identified biotech as an area important for investment, a sector that presents an opportunity to grow their economy,\u201d said Tom Bollyky, the Bloomberg chair in global health at the Council on Foreign Relations. He said any restrictive U.S. measures should be tailored to address military concerns and concerns about genomic data security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNaturally there\u2019s going to be competition, but what\u2019s challenging in biotech is that we are talking about human health,\u201d Bollyky said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ray Yip, who founded the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention office in China, also worries that the rivalry will slow medical advancements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The benefit of coming up with better diagnostics and therapy is beyond any individual country, Yip said, \u201cand will not overshadow the capacity or prestige of the other country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What concerns Anna Puglisi, a senior fellow at Georgetown University\u2019s Center for Security and Emerging Technology, is Beijing\u2019s lack of transparency and its unfair market practices. \u201cCompetition is one thing. Unfair competition is another thing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Puglisi described BGI, a major Chinese biotech company identified in both the House and Senate bills, as \u201ca national champion\u201d that is subsidized and given favored treatment by the state in a system that \u201cblurs private and public as well as civilian and military.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis system creates market distortions and undermines the global norms of science by using researchers and academic and commercial entities to further the goals of the state,\u201d Puglisi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BGI, which has stressed its private ownership, offers genetic testing kits and a popular prenatal screening test to detect Down syndrome and other conditions. U.S. lawmakers say they are concerned such data could end up in the hands of the Chinese government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Defense Department has listed BGI as a Chinese military company, and the Commerce Department has blacklisted it on human rights grounds, citing a risk that BGI technology might have contributed to surveillance. BGI has rejected the allegations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In raising its concerns about BGI, the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology says the company is required to share data with the Chinese government, has partnered with the Chinese military, and has received considerable Chinese state funding and support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

State subsidies have allowed BGI to offer genomic sequencing services at a highly competitive price that is attractive to U.S. researchers, according to the commission. The genomic data, once in the hands of the Chinese government, \u201crepresents a strategic asset that has privacy, security, economic, and ethical implications,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BGI could not immediately be reached for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also named in the bills is WuXi AppTec, a Chinese pharmaceutical and medical device company. The legislation states that the company presents a national security threat because of its ties to the Chinese military and its involvement in a Chinese plan to develop technologies for both civilian and military use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WuXi AppTec said in a statement that it abides by the laws in the countries where it operates and does not pose a security risk to any country. \u201cIn fact, we serve as a valued contributor to the global pharmaceutical and life sciences industries,\u201d the company said in a statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

U.S. lawmakers are raising alarms about what they see as America\u2019s failure to compete with China in biotechnology, warning of the risks to U.S. national security and commercial interests. But as the two countries\u2019 rivalry expands into the biotech industry, some say that shutting out Chinese companies would only hurt the U.S. Biotechnology promises to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":4768,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[61],"class_list":["post-4767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-usa","tag-usa"],"yoast_head":"\nUS rivalry with China expands to biotech. 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