While many U.S. subnational actors have reciprocated PRC efforts to reconnect, a growing number of governors and state legislators have been proposing and enacting an unprecedented volume of substantive measures aimed at mitigating risks from PRC behavior, predominantly citing security concerns as justification, to fill a perceived policy vacuum. This analysis series examines these latest efforts by presenting notable trends from three original datasets – 167 China-related excerpts identified in 941 state of the state addresses delivered by U.S. governors from 2005 to 2024, as well as 334 China-related measures introduced in 50 U.S. state legislatures in 2023 and over 270 China-related measures proposed in 43 U.S. state legislatures in 2024, systematically coded across 12 variables (including month introduced; status; sponsor partisanship; originating chamber passage vote partisanship; opposite chamber passage vote partisanship; impactfulness; sentiment; China specificity; primary subject, primary issue area(s), primary topic(s) addressed; and volume per state). The research methodology is available here.
The data, combined with illustrative examples of China-related campaign rhetoric employed by candidates in 13 U.S. gubernatorial races from 2022 to 2024 and discussions of dynamics behind these measures, such as drivers, correlations with federal actions, bilateral events, and among states, sheds light on the changing state of U.S. state government perspectives toward China.
Introduction
The previous article in this series examined overall trends in U.S. state legislatures’ China-related measures in 2023. This piece will review notable dynamics of legislative activities in five active states – Texas, Michigan, Hawai‘i, Florida, and Missouri.
Texas (33), Michigan (20), Missouri (16), Mississippi (15), and New Jersey (15) were the top five states for the volume of China-related measures introduced in 2023, followed by Hawai‘i (13), Louisiana (12), New York (12), Florida (11), Oklahoma (11), and West Virginia (11).
Louisiana’s Republican-controlled legislature had the highest passage rate among all states for China-related measures introduced, approving five bills and five resolutions. Among New Jersey’s 15 measures – all of which were introduced solely by Republicans and ultimately failed – 13 related to security.
The following section provides overviews of legislative activities in five states – Texas, Michigan, Hawai‘i, Florida, and Missouri. Texas, Michigan, and Missouri were the top three states for the number of measures introduced in 2023, while Florida and Hawai‘i involved some notable dynamics that merit specific mention.
Texas
Among the 33 China-related measures introduced in Texas’ state legislature in 2023, 10 exclusively focused on China, 16 included China among other foreign adversaries, five addressed foreign adversaries without explicitly mentioning China, and two related to foreign governments or entities broadly. Security issues, followed by foreign influence and interference, topped legislative concerns.
Only three bills were enacted. The first was the unanimously passed SB 1260, which forbids local airport infrastructure contracts with PRC entities, effective May 2023. The introduced version referenced foreign adversaries but was amended to target the PRC alone.
The second was the bipartisan SB 1040, which prohibits health plans from covering organ transplant operations if the procedure was performed in China or if the organ was procured from China or another country known to have participated in forced organ harvesting, effective September 2023. The Texas law marked the first state-level legislation addressing the issue of forced organ harvesting abroad.
The third enacted bill was SB 1893, which prohibits covered social media applications, including TikTok and any successor apps owned by ByteDance, from state devices, effective September 2023.
Michigan
Michigan’s legislature is Republican-controlled and 19 out of 20 China-related measures introduced in 2023 were sponsored solely by Republicans. Foreign land purchase/property acquisition was the top issue addressed.
Ten pending bills, all introduced in September 2023, aim to restrict various dimensions of Michigan’s engagements with China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, and Syria, including prohibiting sale of agricultural land, offering of economic incentives, public bodies’ acceptance of gifts and entrance into agreements, usage of apps created in those countries on government networks, and state contracting with those countries, among others. One bill exclusively seeks to ban real estate acquisition by PRC or CCP entities and individuals that have sworn an oath of loyalty to them.
These bills were part of a plan announced by Republican State Representatives Luke Meerman and Will Bruck in September 2023 to “protect Michigan’s residents, security and economy from potentially harmful foreign entities,” in particular, the CCP. Congressman Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, then-chair of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the United States and the CCP, commended the move, noting: “States are on the front lines of our New Cold War with the Chinese Communist Party.”
Also backing the bills were Republicans Pete Hoekstra and Joseph Cella, who both served as ambassadors during the Trump presidency and co-founded the Michigan-China Economic and Security Review Group (MCESRG) in February 2023. Cella noted: “Things at the federal level move slowly, but states have the ability to move more nimbly.”
In the same month, modeled after the House Select Committee on the CCP, Meerman and Bruck also launched the Michigan Legislature Working Group for National Security, noting: “State leaders are uniquely positioned to nimbly spot and engage against subnational engagements by adversarial countries of concern.”
These moves came amid continued debates over state investment in the Gotion battery factory, whose PRC ties caused controversies. The MCESRG was among those active in mobilizing against it. In November 2023, voters in a rural township removed five GOP officials who supported the project in a recall election.
Cella told Politico in January 2024: “States need to do more to counter the China threat.” He added, “There are dozens of troubling cases in states across the country where citizen groups are popping up in opposition to ‘deals’ similar to the ones that are being pushed in Michigan.”
Hawai‘i
Hawai‘i legislators introduced five bills and eight resolutions related to China. Of those, six were sponsored solely by Democrats, who largely intended to expand economic and cultural ties; four were sponsored solely by Republicans, who attempted to address various security concerns; while two resolutions had lean-Democrat sponsorship and one received lean-Republican sponsorship.
Bills that aimed to ban TikTok on government networks and restrict real estate purchase by foreign entities failed. HB 1200, which prohibits the acquisition of unmanned aircraft systems manufactured or assembled by “covered foreign entities,” including those from the PRC and Russia, has been enacted and came into effect in July 2023.
Three resolutions were adopted, including two (HR 19 and HCR 16) supporting Ukraine that also referenced China and Taiwan: “WHEREAS, the United States of America’s and the rest of the free world’s diplomatic, ideological, and most importantly, moral response to the invasion of Ukraine sets a precedent, and countries like the People’s Republic of China are closely observing that response as they express their territorial ambitions for the Republic of Taiwan.”
Over half a dozen Democrat state legislators introduced four resolutions urging the initiation of a sister-state relationship with Fujian Province in southeastern China. HR 68, the only version adopted unanimously, notes that “on October 21, 2021, the mayors of Honolulu and Fuzhou, the capital city of Fujian province, established a sister-city relationship via video link.” According to Renmin University professor Diao Daming, this was the only sister-city partnership established between the U.S. and China in 2021.
According to local media coverage, HR 68 was introduced “at the prompting” of local Fujianese community members, including those from the Hawai‘i Fujian Business Association (HFBA). In March 2024, Fujian Vice Governor Guo Ningning praised groups like HFBA and Hawai‘i Fujian Friendship Association for their “important role” in “safeguarding the interests of overseas Chinese” at a reception event during her visit to Hawai‘i.
Florida
Among the four bills enacted in Florida, effective July 2023, are SB 264, which restricts government contracts with and property sales to foreign entities while requiring domestic storage of health records; SB 846, which restricts educational agreements with foreign institutions, prohibits foreign ownership of private schools participating in voucher programs, and limits gifts from foreign schools; as well as SB 258, which bans apps from China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea on state devices and networks. The latter two garnered bipartisan support during the passage votes in both chambers.
Since introduction, these bills have sparked widespread criticism, particularly from the Asian-American and Pacific Island community, educators, and scholars. In an example of these laws in implementation, Florida International University (FIU) has terminated educational partnerships with various Chinese universities and paused hiring researchers from Cuba, Venezuela, China, Russia, Syria, Iran and North Korea. Over 400 University of Florida (UF) faculty members have petitioned to UF leadership for clearer enforcement rules and the ability to hire based on merit “regardless of national origin.” Two FIU Chinese students and a UF professor have filed a lawsuit challenging SB 846, and the real estate industry has also begun pushing back.
Since the “Secure Florida Portal,” the first online foreign property registration platform in the U.S., was launched in November 2023, reports have emerged of increasing instances of Chinese residents facing discrimination from real estate professionals and others encountering difficulties completing property transactions due to confusion over SB 264’s provisions. Four PRC nationals and a local real estate firm filed a lawsuit – Shen v. Simpson – against SB 264, receiving a partial injunction pending appeal. The U.S. Justice Department has supported the plaintiffs, citing violations of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Protection Clause.
Missouri
Missouri exemplifies the tension between subnational engagement with the PRC and state-level security concerns. Some municipal officials (such as Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe and Kansas City Mayor Pro Tem Ryana Parks-Shaw, who visited China to improve city-level exchanges) and educators (such as the Missouri State University president, who visited China to restart programs that had ended while launching new partnerships) have been seeking to expand economic and educational exchanges with China since fall 2023. At the same time, Republican administration officials and state legislators competed to introduce measures addressing perceived security risks from Missouri’s interactions with the PRC, including 16 in 2023 and 22 in 2024, while highlighting China-related issues in campaign rhetoric.
In 2023, two bills passed the Missouri House but failed to receive a floor vote in the Senate. HB 903 aimed to ban foreign ownership of agricultural land. It received support from all Democrats and all but three out of 105 Republicans. HB 919 included a section titled the Anti-Surveillance and Foreign Intervention Act. It aimed to prohibit any social media application owned by the Chinese government or any company that shares user data with the Chinese Communist Party from state devices.
All the other measures failed to pass in their chamber of origin, including ten that sought to ban foreign ownership of real property. SJR 41 would have banned property acquisition by government entities, companies, and citizens of China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia, as well as prohibit PRC social networking services from state devices, unless a permanent Joint Committee on State Security to be established in the state legislature determined otherwise. SB 7 and SB 596 aimed to remove ByteDance apps from state IT systems. SB 459, also known as the Bring MO Jobs Home Act, would have provided tax credits for expenses incurred in relocating business from China or Russia to Missouri.
In November 2023, Republican State Treasurer Vivek Malek, who was running for election to a full term, urged the Missouri State Employees’ Retirement System (MOSERS) Board of Trustees, of which he is a member, to divest pension fund investments from China. The proposal was initially rejected, with Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo criticizing it as a clear political move and noting the decision should be made by the legislature instead. In response, Malek authored an op-ed that was republished by several local newspapers, arguing against delaying action.
On December 12, 2023, reportedly due to pressure from Governor Mike Parson, the board passed the motion on a 9-2 vote. In a statement, Malek expressed hopes that the vote will “inspire” further steps from the Missouri General Assembly. He also noted that “in the days leading up to the vote,” Parson, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley, as well as U.S. Representatives Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-3), Mark Alford (MO-4), and Eric Burlison (MO-7), all “voiced support for his effort.” Public records confirm that, a day before the vote, Alford asked the MOSERS board to reverse course to “protect… the economic security of all Americans” while Burlison posted a video on Facebook urging divestment. On the day of the vote, Hawley commended Malek’s efforts and described MOSERS divestment from China as a practice for which he has “long advocated.”
In 2024, as the gubernatorial primaries approached, foreign ownership of agricultural land became a central campaign issue. Candidates from both parties launched attacks against their primary opponents and competed to showcase their firm opposition.
On January 2, 2024, a day before the legislative session convened, Parson issued an executive order banning PRC land ownership within 10 miles of military installations. He described it as the maximum extent of his executive power under state law, adding: “Believe me, if I had the authority, we wouldn’t just be talking about banning farmland but all commercial properties by foreign adversaries regardless of rural or urban…”
While lieutenant governor and Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Kehoe applauded the move, fellow Republican candidates Jay Ashcroft and Bill Eigel criticized the executive order and attacked Kehoe. Ashcroft, who dedicated multiple pages on his campaign website targeting Kehoe’s China-related campaign rhetoric, called it “merely political theater masquerading as leadership,” adding: “While I’m happy to see my plan used as a framework, it is too little, too late.”
Eigel echoed Ashcroft and described it as “a too little too late in-kind contribution” from Parson to “Kehoe’s campaign to try to make up for the fact that they are losers on this issue. They both voted to let foreign enemies buy Missouri land during their time in the Senate.” To illustrate the executive order’s perceived inadequacy, Eigel claimed that Osama Bin Laden could have acquired “nearly a quarter million acres of Missouri farmland” under the order a day after 9/11, further arguing that if Parson were committed to protecting farmland, he would have supported existing legislative efforts instead. In a sign of the emotionally charged rhetoric being used, Eigel referred to “Kung Pao Kehoe” in an attempt to brand his primary opponent as pro-China.
Democratic candidate Crystal Quade criticized Republican inaction and positioned herself and fellow Democrats as longtime champions on the issue by referencing prior legislative efforts in a statement on the executive order.
During the 2024 regular session, Missouri’s state legislature introduced 26 China-related bills (including 24 related to security and two concerning human rights), 23 of which were solely sponsored by Republicans. HB 2688, the End Organ Harvesting Act of 2024, passed the House with lean-Republican support but stalled in the Senate. In addition to 12 proposals restricting and/or prohibiting foreign ownership of real property, legislators sought to ban PRC social media apps from state devices, mandate pension fund divestment from China, establish the Telecommunications Security Act of 2024, the Procurement Protection Act of 2024, the Unmanned Aerial Systems Security Act of 2024, and the Foreign Adversary Divestment Act (backed by state treasurer Vivek Malek), among others. All proposals failed.
More recently, China-related issues were highlighted in a state legislative campaign as well. In February 2024, while announcing her bid for state senate, Republican State Representative Cyndi Buchheit-Courtway called for stopping the influx of PRC nationals and banning public fund investments in China unless Beijing stops the flow of fentanyl into the United States.
The next article in this series will examine overall trends in China-related measures introduced in U.S. state legislatures in 2024.
Acknowledgements
This research was conducted with support from the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s Templeton Fellowship. I am grateful to Prof. Jacques deLisle, Dr. Kyle Jaros, Dr. Sara Newland, Dr. Matthew Erie, Dr. Christopher Carothers, Prof. Ryan Scoville, Connor Fiddler, and an anonymous reviewer for their feedback during the research process and/or on earlier drafts. All errors are my own.