OPINION:
In an effort to destabilize our immediate neighborhood, the regime in Beijing for years has been creeping closer to nations in the Western Hemisphere.
Fortunately, the Biden administration is dimly aware of this, and — finally — hosted a meeting of leaders of Western Hemisphere nations in November to address the problem. Unfortunately, the administration couldn’t resist its natural tendencies.
You will not be shocked to learn that among the items announced to “help” our neighbors and counter the challenge posed by China is cash for yet another climate change program.
Nor will you be surprised to learn that the administration also announced a grant “to support countries in the region most impacted by migration … and help to stabilize refugee and migrant-hosting communities by funding infrastructure and social services, such as education, citizen security, and economic opportunities.”
No word on whether any of that cash will find its way to New York or Chicago.
The White House wants to run most of the cash for these and other programs through the Inter-American Development Bank, known as the IDB. The announcement reiterated the administration’s intention to push for more funds for the bank and specifically for its private sector arm, IDB Invest.
There are two problems with this. First, as a 2022 International Business Times report pointed out about these kinds of programs: “There is no systematic evidence the IDB has ever been any good at doing this.”
That didn’t stop Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen from saying that the IDB was an essential part of the administration’s efforts, nor did it prevent her from specifically praising James Scriven, the CEO of IDB Invest.
Therein lies the second problem. For nearly a decade, Mr. Scriven has been a champion for China’s rapid expansion across the region and has overseen the distribution of billions of dollars to China through projects associated with IDB Invest.
Ms. Yellen knows all about this, mostly because House Speaker Mike Johnson and Sen. Bill Hagerty wrote to her about this mess back in December 2022. Among other things, they noted:
“Since China joined the IDB as a member country in 2008, it has used the organization to gain favor and influence in the Western Hemisphere, and it has been alarmingly successful. From 2010-2020, Chinese engineering and construction companies won $1.7 billion in IDB-funded contracts, making it the organization’s fourth-largest recipient of IDB deals despite being the bank’s smallest shareholder. Over that same time period, U.S. firms won only $249 million in contracts while our country remained the bank’s largest shareholder.”
They continued: “In fact, it was recently reported that IDB Invest approved a $130 million loan for a Brazilian solar energy project with Huawei Technology Co, as its main equipment supplier. While many in the Biden administration have espoused the need to take stronger action to counter Chinese influence, the process of executing this rhetoric is clearly lacking.”
Amen.
Despite that accurate, somewhat dyspeptic assessment of the situation, however, things haven’t gotten better at the IDB. In fact, the new leader of the IDB told Bloomberg in May that he is avoiding efforts to counter Beijing’s influence in the region.
To complicate matters for the Biden administration, Mr. Johnson recently hired Josh Hodges as his national security adviser. Mr. Hodges has led strategic engagements to decouple reliance on China across the hemisphere, including efforts at the National Security Council, where he was senior director of Western Hemisphere affairs, as acting assistant administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Latin America and the Caribbean bureau, and at the IDB.
In short, the new speaker is not likely to support efforts that undermine U.S. interests or benefit China.
None of this has deterred the administration. The Treasury Department has urged congressional offices to ship cash to the IDB and these new programs. The Senate Foreign Appropriations bill includes that cash.
If the Republicans are serious about confronting China, a good first step would be to make that funding vanish.
• Michael McKenna is a contributing editor to The Washington Times and the co-host of the podcast “The Unregulated.”
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