New House Bill Would Allow Sanctions on Chinese Polluters in Africa

Reps. Young Kim, R-Calif., and Colin Allred, D-Texas, introduced a bill last week that would authorize the U.S. president to impose property-blocking sanctions on People’s Republic of China (PRC) entities that harm the environment or public health in Africa.

Kim, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Indo-Pacific, said the proposed Stopping PRC Environmental Exploitation and Degradation Act (SPEED) Act would hold China “accountable for its exploitative practices, deliberate environmental degradation, and threat to African communities’ livelihoods.”

While China has significantly expanded its economic and business activity in sub-Saharan Africa over the past 20 years, it has often done so with little regard for the pollution it causes, the bill asserts. For example, hazardous chemical waste from a Chinese natural gas-drilling operation in Ethiopia “has poisoned the drinking water supply” and is reportedly suspected of causing more than 2,000 deaths, the legislation says.

The bill was referred to the House Foreign Affairs and Judiciary committees.

Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said in a statement that the lawmakers' accusations about China are "baseless" and are part of a U.S. effort to smear Beijing's cooperation with the developing world.