NATO members must do more to handle the threat posed by China, Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a press release.
Risch released a new report, "Next Steps to Defend the Transatlantic Alliance from Chinese Aggression," Tuesday ahead of the NATO summit taking place this week in Washington, D.C.
The report examines the threat China poses to NATO and how it manipulates state and local governments to undermine national government policy. In November 2020, Risch released a report laying out a number of key areas where the United States should collaborate with European allies on the challenges posed by China.
"It is imperative both sides of the Atlantic commit to work more closely together to confront China's behavior," said Risch.
"In order to be successful, all partners must be dedicated and set aside politically expedient but unconstructive spats that distract from the greater shared challenge. I am optimistic we can do it."
Recommendations from the report include developing a contingency plan for Chinese state interference and its potential support or involvement in a war in Europe and requiring member nations to set standards for research security, strategic investments, and procurement in defense-relevant sectors, including infrastructure, to ensure NATO can defend itself.
Risch also wants specific guidelines developed to make clear to Ukraine what kinds of Chinese investments would make its NATO membership impossible while improving institutional knowledge of China, the Chinese Communist Party, its strategic culture, and the operational capacity of the People's Liberation Army.
The Idaho senator would also like to see NATO work to combat Chinese influence at the subnational level including increasing collaboration between national and local governments on countering threats of malign influence and interference from China.
"National governments should also advance transparency measures to better monitor Chinese engagements conducted at the subnational level," the report reads.
Conversations should be held through multilateral institutions like the European Union on how to support and protect subnational participation in foreign relations and NATO countries should demand reciprocity and set guardrails for legitimate exchange in subnational relationships with China, according to the report.
"Use them to demonstrate the merits of U.S. and European systems that value civil liberties and human rights," it reads.
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.