[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 145 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 145
Opposing the Republic of South Africa's hosting of military exercises
with the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation, and
calling on the Biden administration to conduct a thorough review of the
United States-South Africa relationship.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 21, 2023
Mr. James (for himself, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. Kean of New
Jersey, Mr. Mills, Mr. Baird, and Mrs. Kim of California) submitted the
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign
Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Opposing the Republic of South Africa's hosting of military exercises
with the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation, and
calling on the Biden administration to conduct a thorough review of the
United States-South Africa relationship.
Whereas the United States and the Republic of South Africa have enjoyed strong
bilateral relations since 1994;
Whereas the holding of elections with universal suffrage in 1994 marked the
effective ending of apartheid in South Africa, the codified, State-
enforced system of racial segregation and socioeconomic discrimination;
Whereas South Africa is the United States largest trade partner in Africa, with
$21,000,000,000 of 2-way goods trade in 2021, and in 2012, the countries
signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement facilitating 2-way
trade;
Whereas the United States is the largest source of foreign direct investment in
South Africa, valued at over $7,500,000,000 in 2021, and approximately
600 American businesses operate in South Africa;
Whereas South Africa's media landscape has proven resilient to the influence of
media entities controlled by the People's Republic of China (PRC);
Whereas South Africa has benefitted from the U.S. Africa Contingency Operations
Training and Assistance program since 2006;
Whereas the United States and South African militaries have historically
undertaken joint military exercises and enjoyed good relations,
including South Africa hosting American troops for Exercise ``Shared
Accord'' in 2022, the fourth time they have hosted this exercise since
2011, through historic Department of Defense participation in South
Africa's biennial African Aerospace Defense Exhibition, and through the
periodic convening of the bilateral U.S.-South Africa Defense Committee;
Whereas South Africa declined to participate in the planned ``Cutlass Express''
military exercises with the United States in 2023;
Whereas South Africa often voted in alignment with the PRC within the United
Nations General Assembly in 2022, especially in relation to votes
condemning Russia's unjustified and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine;
Whereas South Africa reneged on its initial call for the Russian Federation to
immediately withdraw its forces from Ukraine and has actively sought
improved relations with Moscow in the last year;
Whereas South Africa's ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC) and the
Chinese Communist Party (CCP) engage in consistent interparty
cooperation in spite of South Africa's Constitution being opposed to the
CCP's routine suppression of free expression and individual rights;
Whereas the ``United Front'' work of the CCP has established at least 3
``overseas police stations'' in South Africa, and these police stations,
both in South Africa and in many other countries, are reportedly being
used to track and harass PRC dissidents;
Whereas South Africa hosts 6 Confucius Institutes, the most of any country in
Africa, and cooperates with the PRC under the CCP's Belt and Road
Initiative;
Whereas, in 2020, South Africa and the PRC established a joint bilateral
``Comprehensive Strategic Partnership'', and maintain numerous prior and
subsequent agreements, memorandums of understanding, and similar
accords;
Whereas South Africa is the PRC's largest trading partner in Africa, with total
trade valued at $54,000,000,000 in 2021, and has accepted $5,000,000,000
in PRC-provided power and transportation sector loans since 2015;
Whereas South Africa is scheduled to hold the 15th leaders' meeting of the
informal Brazil, Russia, India, China grouping (BRICS) in August 2023;
Whereas the increased Chinese presence in South Africa's technology sector has
raised concerns that the ANC may be trying to copy the PRC's model of
digitally aided authoritarian governance underpinned by cyber controls,
social monitoring, and surveillance;
Whereas Vumacam, a South African company building a nationwide CCTV network, has
partnered with Chinese company Hikvision for the cameras' hardware, and
Telkom, South Africa's partially State-owned telecoms operator, launched
its 5G network throughout the country in October 2022 using technology
from Huawei Technologies;
Whereas the ANC has proved incapable of providing electricity to the South
African people, through its chronic mismanagement of the State-owned
power company Eskom, and on February 9, 2023, President of South Africa
Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national state of disaster over the
worsening, multiyear power crisis;
Whereas South Africa will host joint maritime exercises, entitled ``Operation
Mosi II'', jointly with the PRC and Russia, between February 17 and 24,
2023, and the latter date corresponds to the 1-year anniversary of
Russia's unjustified and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine;
Whereas South Africa has used its stated stance of nonalignment in international
affairs to justify increasingly close relations with the PRC and Russia;
Whereas United States policy towards South Africa appears to have failed in
building a strong, reliable bilateral partner; and
Whereas it is in the national security interest of the United States to deter
acceptance, cooperation, and strategic information sharing with the PRC
and Russia: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) opposes South Africa's decision to host military
exercises with the People's Republic of China and the Russian
Federation from February 17 to February 24, 2023;
(2) calls on the Government of South Africa to--
(A) cancel all future military exercises with the
People's Republic of China and Russia and rejoin United
States-led exercises, such as the ``Cutlass Express'';
(B) respect the United Nations charter and publicly
oppose Russia's unjustified and unprovoked invasion of
Ukraine;
(C) strengthen its political resilience to reject
the Chinese Communist Party's authoritarian vision for
South Africa; and
(D) maintain its national sovereignty by reducing
its reliance on Chinese companies in key sectors such
as information and communication technology;
(3) calls on the Biden administration to conduct a thorough
review of the current and future status of the United States-
South Africa bilateral relationship in light of the
aforementioned actions of the Government of South Africa; and
(4) calls on the United States Government to keep Congress
apprised by providing regular and comprehensive briefings on
subjects relating to South Africa including--
(A) a complete account of all known United States-
sanctioned entities and transnational criminal
organizations' connections to illicit proceeds linked
to wildlife trafficking;
(B) a detailed account of positive economic results
stemming from South Africa's inclusion in the African
Growth and Opportunity Act and the United States-South
Africa Trade and Investment Framework signed in 2012;
and
(C) a timeline to end the Biden administration's
climate colonialism by including gas-to-power
initiatives to counter the widespread and nationwide
blackouts costing the South African economy an
estimated $200,000,000 per day.
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