Attacking foreign corruption blunts China’s malign economic influence

Excerpt

China is building its influence throughout the Global South with infrastructure, cheap cash and bribes. With promises of easy financing, splashy new railroads and ports, and opaque deals that hide kickbacks and secret payoffs, China is sidelining American companies in the race for critical resources, partnerships, and contracts. Corruption and opacity are not incidental effects of Chinese engagement but central features. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) makes it a crime for U.S. companies to bribe foreign officials, so American firms cannot imitate their Chinese rivals without risking steep fines and even jail time.  

However, Congress can level the playing field by holding corrupt foreign officials to the same standards as U.S. companies, adding consequences to the widespread bribery demands that bedevil law-abiding Americans and benefit China’s state-owned businesses that are willing to pay up. A bipartisan bill passed by the Senate last month as part of the annual must-pass defense spending bill known as the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act (FEPA) would allow U.S. law enforcement to prosecute foreign officials for demanding or accepting bribes from American individuals and companies, from any company listed on a U.S.-based stock exchange, or from any person while present in the United States. 

This proposal would bring U.S. anti-bribery laws closer to those of other democracies like Germany, France and the United Kingdom. By joining this group of allies, the U.S. adds its significant enforcement heft to the fight against global corruption.

Elaine K. Dezenski serves as senior director and head of the Center on Economic and Financial Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). Scott Greytak is the director of Advocacy of Transparency International U.S., where he manages the office’s legislative agenda and oversees its Anticorruption Policy Lab. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focused on national security and foreign policy.