The South China Morning Post (April 9) reported that the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee will meet next week to consider legislation called 'The Strategic Competition Act of 2021', intended to beat back Beijing’s expanding global influence and place more checks on Beijing’s military operations and territorial claims. Once passed, this will bring Chinese and American educational institutions under the purview of the  Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). The 128-page Bill will also earmark US$10 million “to promote democracy in Hong Kong” and require the State Department to produce a report on “the extent to which the government of China uses the status of Hong Kong to circumvent the laws and protections of the United States”. It calls for additional efforts to strengthen military ties with allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region. Among its highlights are: inclusion of a $500 million increase (to $2bn) of bilateral aid in the Indo-Pacific and $400 million extra for diplomatic initiatives (to 41.2bn) in diplomatic initiatives in the pacific; and a $300 million "countering China influence fund" of which 100 million for global media support and 170 million for press freedom.