Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., sent a letter to the State Department on Thursday urging the Biden administration to "reject a renewal" of research ties with China that have been in place since 1979.
Scott's three-page letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that China has "chosen to be America's enemy." With that as the backdrop, Scott strongly encouraged Blinken and the administration against renewing the U.S.-China Science and Technology Agreement (STA).
The STA, set to expire on Aug. 27, has been renewed every five years since its inception 44 years ago.
"I write today to urge you to reject a renewal of this agreement and stand firmly in protecting U.S. policies and human rights by ensuring that the U.S. does not enter into any international agreements that hurt our economic growth, compromise American innovation, or undermine our values," Scott wrote to Blinken.
President Jimmy Carter and Deng Xiaoping, chair of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, signed the first STA into existence.
"Communist China has chosen to be America's enemy. The brutal regime of Xi Jinping has made clear, through increased military aggression, data and intellectual property theft, and the issuance of false economic data, that it has no interest in maintaining a productive working relationship with America," Scott added.
Scott enumerated the ways China has departed from the spirit of the STA, including the roadblocks thrown up in the investigations of the Wuhan Institute of Virology in the wake of the COVID pandemic. He also noted China's theft of American intellectual property and that it is "guilty of numerous human rights violations," citing the Uyghurs.
"I urge you to reject a renewal of this agreement and display an unwavering commitment to safeguarding our principles and security while steering us toward partnerships that promote not only our economic growth but also the fundamental ideals upon which the U.S. was founded," Scott concluded.