TBILISI, June 9 – The US House of Representatives has passed a bill requiring the Trump administration to assess Russian and Chinese intelligence activity in Georgia.
The bill, H.R. 7668, is called the Countering China’s Control of the Caucasus Act, according to Interpressnews and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. It was introduced in Congress on February 24 by Republican Congressman Joe Wilson and Democratic Congressman Steve Cohen. The House passed it on Monday, June 8, with bipartisan support.
The bill now goes to the Senate. It would still need Senate approval and the president’s signature to become law.
The legislation requires the US secretary of state, the director of national intelligence and the defense secretary to prepare a report within 180 days on Russian and Chinese intelligence structures and assets in Georgia. It also calls for an assessment of possible cooperation between Russian and Chinese influence networks inside the country.
The bill also requires a five-year strategy for US relations with Georgia. That strategy would define Washington’s goals, assess what assistance and resources the US should provide, consider whether US financial support to Georgia should continue, and evaluate how ready Georgia’s government is to expand economic and political cooperation with the US and Europe.
Wilson, one of the bill’s sponsors and one of Georgian Dream’s sharpest critics in Congress, said the measure was aimed at backing the Georgian people, not the country’s current leadership.
“The anti-American Georgian Dream party does not represent the Georgian people,” Wilson told RFE/RL. “The Georgian people want to have a strong relationship with the United States. The only way to do that is free political prisoners, have free and fair elections, and root out the malign influence of China, Russia, and Iran.”
During the House debate, Republican Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Brian Mast said Russia still occupies 20 percent of Georgia’s territory after the 2008 war. He also pointed to the selection of a Chinese consortium over a US company for the Anaklia deep-water port project, saying critical infrastructure brings special risks.
“Competition is good,” Mast said, “but when it comes to critical infrastructure like this, our partners should take into consideration the risk posed by the PRC.”
Democratic Congressman Ami Bera said the bill was a response to democratic backsliding under Georgian Dream and to foreign influence from Russia and China. He said the goal was to show Georgians that the US supports their “quest for democracy, respect for their rights, and deeper integration in the Euro-Atlantic community.”
The bill also points to a wider feature of Georgia’s political crisis: opposition groups have increasingly looked abroad for leverage in their fight with Georgian Dream. DFWatch has previously reported on visits by UNM figures to Wilson’s office in the US House of Representatives, while other opposition actors, including Salome Zourabichvili and Freedom Square, have also sought support from foreign political allies.
The foreign track has now produced results in Washington, after an earlier proposal, the MEGOBARI Act, was stalled in the Senate. Joe Wilson, a sponsor of that proposal as well, has become one of Georgian Dream’s sharpest critics in Congress, while RFE/RL described him as one of the most vocal US advocates for Georgia’s opposition movement and Euro-Atlantic integration.
The House vote came as China and Georgia announced on Tuesday that they had upgraded relations to a “comprehensive strategic partnership.” Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze called the agreement “very important” and said it would deepen ties with China.
Interpressnews also reported reactions from both the Georgian government and opposition. Georgian officials pushed back at the US criticism. Kobakhidze called Wilson an “absolutely frivolous man,” while Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze said Wilson was not serious and argued that Georgia acts from its own national interests. Parliament official Levan Makhashvili said criticism of Georgia’s China ties looked like a double standard, given US and European engagement with Beijing.
Opposition figure Grigol Gegelia, from Lelo, said the House act showed that Washington sees Georgia as strategically important, but also as a security concern under Georgian Dream.
