The US House of Representatives passed H.R. 7668, the Countering China’s Control of the Caucasus Act, on 8 June by voice vote under suspension of the rules, with bipartisan support. The bill, introduced in February by Republican Joe Wilson and Democrat Steve Cohen, now goes to the Senate and would then need the president’s signature to become law.
It requires the State Department, working with the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Defense, to deliver a classified report within 180 days on the penetration of Russian and Chinese intelligence services in Georgia and any cooperation between them. It also calls for a five-year US strategy on Georgia and an assessment of whether Washington should keep investing in the partnership.
The vote reflects a deepening rift with the ruling Georgian Dream party, in power since 2012, which US lawmakers accuse of democratic backsliding and of passing repressive laws. During the debate, Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Brian Mast pointed to the award of Georgia’s flagship Anaklia deep-water port to a Chinese consortium over a US bidder, and to Russia’s continued occupation of a fifth of Georgian territory since the 2008 war.
Wilson accused Georgian Dream of “selling out the country to the Chinese Communist Party.”
Georgian Dream has rejected such criticism, and the Georgian prime minister recently accused Secretary of State Marco Rubio of lying. The bill stops short of sanctions, but it sets a 180-day clock that could shape whether US assistance and investment in Georgia continue.