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Bipartisan criticism of US investments in Chinese

military-linked firms

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Musk's influence questioned in blocking investment

restrictions

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China opposes US legislation as unfair targeting

By Michael Martina, Alexandra Alper

WASHINGTON, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Legislation to curb U.S.

investment in China will be reintroduced in Congress, the chair

of the House of Representatives' select committee on China said

on Tuesday, adding that the bill's failure to pass into law last

year was not due to opposition from billionaire Elon Musk.

Lawmakers from both parties have criticized large American

providers of investment mutual funds that track stock indexes

for directing billions of dollars from investors into stocks of

Chinese companies that the U.S. believes are facilitating the

development of China's military.

Some Democratic lawmakers in December accused certain

Republicans of protecting Musk's business interests in China by

scrapping provisions in a U.S. funding bill that would have

prohibited Americans from making such investments in strategic

sectors, such as certain AI systems and semiconductors.

Musk, a close ally of President Donald Trump and the CEO of

electric car maker Tesla, which has extensive business

operations in China, helped lead opposition online to the

government funding bill last year that would have included the

investment restrictions. The investment measures were ultimately

dropped from the bill, though it isn't clear if Musk

specifically opposed them.

The select committee's Republican chair, Representative John

Moolenaar, who has called passing restrictions on outbound

investment to China a top priority, told an event in Washington

that turning the legislation into law would require "a lot of

political will."

"We were very close to getting outbound investment

legislation through in the last few weeks of the last Congress.

It's going to be reintroduced, and we're going to work very hard

to move that forward," Moolenaar said at the Institute of World

Politics.

"I want to believe that most Americans, when they realize

the threat that is involved, will want to do the right thing for

our country," he said.

China, the United States' top geopolitical and technological

rival, has said it opposes such legislation, calling it an

unfair effort to target Chinese products and companies in the

name of national security.

Moolenaar said he was "not convinced" that Musk, whom Trump

has tasked to lead an effort to slash the size of the U.S.

federal workforce, was responsible for the omission.

"I don't believe that was what ended up not allowing that to

move forward," he said.

"We had different committees of jurisdiction that had

different viewpoints, and we were trying to do one thing, and

the Senate was trying to do another thing," he said.

A spokesperson for the White House did not respond

immediately to a request for comment.

Moolenaar said the White House would play a crucial role in

any renewed effort to advance the outbound restrictions, and he

praised key members of Trump's national security team, including

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and national security adviser

Mike Waltz, for understanding the threats he said were posed by

China.

"I have a lot of confidence in the president's team in these

areas," he said.