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 the 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.
The final article in this series reviews correlations between China-related legislative measures and federal actions, bilateral events, and cross-state dynamics from 2023 to 2024, while briefly exploring trends that emerged over this two-year period.
Correlations
While state-level interagency and intergovernmental collaboration (in particular between the executive and legislative branches) were common for foreign land purchase bills (such as those proposed in South Dakota, Iowa, and Georgia), there are also signs indicating correlations among states. For example, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Utah unanimously adopted identical resolutions encouraging Congress to “enact a trade policy that holds high-polluting countries like China and Russia accountable” while promoting economic development (another identical resolution was also introduced in Alaska but failed).
Illinois and Oklahoma both introduced the Research, Education, and Government Operations Protection Act with many similar provisions. Mississippi state representative Becky Currie (R) noted in an interview with local media that she intended for HB 348, banning foreign adversaries from purchasing agricultural land, to model similar legislation in Arkansas. In a November 2023 opinion piece titled “NC must follow lead of Fla. Gov. DeSantis and ban China from buying farmland,” North Carolina House majority leader John Bell (R) noted that the NC Farmland and Military Protection Act was modeled on similar legislation in Florida. In November 2024, 18 Republican financial officers from 15 states, including Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Wyoming, co-signed a letter urging state public pension fund managers to divest from PRC-based investments, citing multiple risks including unreliable financial audits, market interference by the CCP, potential Taiwan invasion concerns, and lessons learned from similar losses following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The introduction and adoption of some measures were influenced by significant events in China-U.S. relations. For example, a Republican state senator in Tennessee introduced SR 21 condemning the PRC for invading U.S. airspace several days after the spy balloon incident. A Republican state representative in Hawai‘i introduced HR 194 in March 2023 urging Congress to convene appropriate stakeholders to fortify critical infrastructure (including the local power grid), citing information security concerns stemming from the spy balloon incident.
In Ohio, 37 Republican and two Democratic state representatives introduced HR 310, condemning Chinese President Xi Jinping’s support for Russia in the Russia-Ukraine war, a day before the Biden-Xi summit on the sidelines of APEC in San Francisco. Less than two weeks before meetings between U.S. and PRC commerce officials commenced on May 25, 2023, Louisiana legislators unanimously adopted HCR 7, memorializing Congressional actions to stop fentanyl influx from Mexico and China.
SR 49, the only bipartisan resolution and the only measure unanimously adopted among 20 China-related measures introduced in the Michigan state legislature in 2023, condemned China’s “coercive actions” toward Taiwan from April 8 to 10, 2023 and urged China to “de-escalate its rhetoric” and to “refrain from threatening an invasion by conducting military drills.” It was transmitted to the U.S. ambassador to China, director of the American Institute in Taiwan, Chinese ambassador to the U.S., Taiwan’s ambassador to the U.S., and Michigan’s congressional delegation.
While many bills addressing widely-discussed national issues – such as banning TikTok, prohibiting foreign land purchases, and restricting unmanned aircraft acquisitions from the PRC – were introduced in parallel with Congressional legislation and/or Biden administration policy moves, some aimed to solely express support for Congressional measures or federal actions. Such measures included Arizona’s adopted resolution supporting the Securing America’s Land from Foreign Interference Act; Hawai‘i’s resolution urging passage of the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act; and Florida’s bipartisan House Memorial, unanimously adopted in February 2024, urging the U.S. secretary of state to condemn the Chinese government for “establishing a spy base in Cuba” and “taking increasingly aggressive steps to collect sensitive information” about the U.S. government and citizens.
Some members of Congress directly asked states to take action. Representative Jake LaTurner (R-Kansas) urged the Kansas governor and legislative leaders to propose measures addressing security concerns posed by PRC exploitation of supply chains and investment near military bases. Then-Indiana Representative Jim Banks (R) urged Carmel to terminate its sister-city agreement with Xiangyang in northwestern China, citing CCP influence concerns. That inspired Indiana state representatives Mitch Gore (D) and Ben Smaltz (R) to introduce identical amendments banning sister-city partnerships with foreign adversaries to a House fiscal bill.
Some U.S. Congress members also introduced legislation in response to state measures that they deemed unconstitutional. For example, in May 2023, with endorsement from 28 Asian American and Pacific Islander organizations, representatives Judy Chu of California and Al Green of Texas, leaders of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, introduced the Preemption of Real Property Discrimination Act.
Domestic Advocacy Groups as Drivers
A number of advocacy groups have been involved in advancing certain unfavorable China-related measures. Among them is China Tech Threat, which has been active in identifying and mobilizing state-level actions prohibiting purchases of restricted PRC technology since 2020.
Another example is State Armor, launched in January 2024 with a stated mission to “mobilize a network of stakeholders… to aid states in developing and implementing comprehensive, common sense, and bipartisan solutions” to the CCP threat, which created the Pacific Conflict Stress Test (enacted in Nebraska but failed in Illinois and Arizona), among other measures.
Similarly, the American Legislative Exchange Council published model legislation banning Confucius Institutes, prohibiting “state contracts with Chinese government-owned or affiliated technology manufacturers,” establishing the “State Infrastructure Protection Act,” facilitating foreign gift disclosure, among others. The America First Policy Institute (AFPI) published a report and a fact sheet advocating for state responses to CCP land purchase and threats to infrastructure, submitted testimonies for and co-authored opinion pieces with sponsors of infrastructure and foreign land purchase/property acquisition related bills, tracked state legislative responses, and shared model legislation among states. The Heritage Foundation published model legislation prohibiting procurement from PRC technology manufacturers and whose grassroots affiliate Heritage Action praised the passage of Indiana’s SB 477 and SB 268 in March 2023 and Utah’s HB 404 in May 2023.
Some of these organizations jointly delivered a presentation on state responses to challenges posed by the PRC titled “transforming federalism into a national security asset” for a Arizona Senate Committee in January 2024. The Ohio First Caucus, formed with a stated mission to advance state legislative initiatives against foreign adversaries, heard from State Armor founder and then-AFPI China Policy Initiative chair during their inaugural meeting in March 2024. In August 2024, Heritage Action published a new platform aimed at helping state lawmakers counter CCP influence.
Review of 2023-2024 Trends
Since 2023, security has emerged as the dominant primary subject addressed in China-related state legislative measures. Approximately 75-80 percent of all measures introduced focused on security concerns, particularly in three areas: physical security (especially foreign land purchases), information security (including restrictions on TikTok and Chinese-made drones), and economic security (such as state investment restrictions and procurement bans). Breaking down the total number of measures introduced by state shows concentrated activity among Missouri, Texas, New Jersey, Mississippi, Florida, Oklahoma, and West Virginia, which considered a high volume of measures in both 2023 and 2024.
While Republicans led most of these legislative efforts (sponsoring about 75 percent of all measures), many of the successfully enacted bills received bipartisan support, suggesting that concerns about China have transcended traditional partisan divisions at the state level. This is particularly true for security-related measures, where approximately 60-70 percent of bills that received floor votes garnered bipartisan support.
The charts below visualize these and other trends.
Preview of 2025
In 2025, as of January 15, 62 China-related measures have been introduced in 19 U.S. state legislatures. Among them, 49 relate to security and 52 were sponsored by Republicans alone.
GOP governors have also continued referencing the PRC in this year’s state of the state addresses. For example, Idaho governor Brad Little stressed on January 6:
When it comes to the safety of Americans, China and Russia are working around the clock to inflict harm through cyber threats. We routinely beat back foreign hackers to protect Idahoans’ data, and the leading experts at the Idaho National Laboratory continue the fight against bad actors. But we will do even more to protect citizens online. My KEEPING PROMISES plan reinforces our state’s defenses against China and Russia by adding more resources in cybersecurity.
Arkansas governor Sarah Huckbee Sanders said in her remarks delivered on January 14:
President Trump was the first President in my lifetime to stand up to China, and Arkansas was the first state in the nation to kick Communist China off our farmland and out of our state. We will expand that law with the Communist China Defense Act, divesting state resources from Communist China and banning our adversaries from buying land around things like military bases and electric substations.
Conclusion
From 2023 to 2024, as Beijing and the Biden administration emphasized the importance of subnational exchanges and as some U.S. local officials sought to maintain economic and cultural ties, U.S. state lawmakers demonstrated an unprecedented level of activity focused on China-related issues, with over 600 measures introduced across 50 states. While Republican legislators led most of these initiatives, many measures garnered bipartisan support, particularly those addressing security concerns.
Under a second Trump administration, subnational actors like Republican governors and state legislators, who increasingly view China-related security issues as falling within their purview as they conceptualize their role in mitigating risks from PRC behavior, will likely continue to propose substantive measures to fill a perceived policy vacuum. The emergence of a fragmented landscape of varying restrictions on engagement with PRC entities may complicate the operating environment for local communities, educational institutions, businesses, and other organizations. As the long-term impact of restrictive measures on both domestic and PRC actors and the effectiveness/durability of implemented policies remain to be explored, the tension between engagement and risk management may become a defining feature of China-U.S. subnational relations in the years ahead.
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.