COUNTER Act of 2025

This bill aims to address the People's Republic of China's (PRC) expanding global military presence by mandating a comprehensive U.S. strategy. It requires the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, to develop and submit this strategy within 180 days to counter the PRC's global basing intentions. Concurrently, the Director of National Intelligence must provide an intelligence assessment detailing the risks posed by PRC global basing to the United States and its allies' ability to project power and maintain freedom of movement. The required strategy must identify at least five locations posing the greatest risk where the PRC maintains or seeks a physical presence that could ultimately transition into a global base. It also needs to detail all executive branch efforts and resources dedicated to mitigating these impacts and preventing new PRC bases. For each identified high-risk location, the strategy must outline the most effective actions the U.S. or its allies could take to persuade foreign governments to terminate plans for hosting a PRC base. Following the strategy's submission, an interagency task force must be established within 90 days, led by the Secretary of State in coordination with the Secretary of Defense. This task force will be responsible for implementing the strategy to counter PRC efforts in identified locations and for developing mitigation measures to prevent the establishment of new PRC bases elsewhere. The bill further mandates quadrennial reviews and reports to Congress on the Executive Branch's ongoing strategy and overall approach to PRC global basing intentions.