While many U.S. subnational actors have reciprocated PRC efforts to reconnect, a growing number of governors and state legislators have been proposing and enacting an unprecedented volume of substantive measures aimed at mitigating risks from PRC behavior, predominantly citing security concerns as justification, to fill a perceived policy vacuum.

This analysis series examines these latest efforts by presenting notable trends from three new datasets – 167 China-related excerpts identified in 941 state of the state addresses delivered by U.S. governors from 2005 to 2024, as well as 334 China-related measures introduced in 50 U.S. state legislatures in 2023 and over 270 China-related measures proposed in 43 U.S. state legislatures in 2024, systematically coded across 12 variables (including month introduced; status; sponsor partisanship; originating chamber passage vote partisanship; opposite chamber passage vote partisanship; impactfulness; sentiment; China specificity; primary subject, primary issue area(s), primary topic(s) addressed; and volume per state). The data, combined with illustrative examples of China-related campaign rhetoric employed by candidates in 13 U.S. gubernatorial races from 2022 to 2024 and discussions of dynamics behind these measures, such as drivers, correlations with federal actions, bilateral events, and among states, reveals the changing state of U.S. state government perspectives toward China.

From 2005 to 2019, U.S. governors largely portrayed China favorably in their state of the state addresses, focusing primarily on economic partnerships and educational exchanges. They highlighted new trade offices, celebrated investment and export deals – for example, Illinois’ Pat Quinn (D) claimed in 2012: “Illinois farmers are feeding China’s new middle class” – and recognized the importance of Chinese language learning opportunities. Some, such as California’s Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) and Hawaii’s Linda Lingle (R), expressed optimism about China’s rise as a global power.

Unfavorable mentions of China and/or the Chinese Communist Party began appearing prominently in 2022, when Republican governors of five states – Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, and Tennessee – made such references while discussing abortion, supply chain security, cybersecurity, and intellectual property issues. For example, Tate Reeves (R) of Mississippi said: “There is no excuse for America’s abortion laws to be closer to the Chinese communists than the rest of the Western........

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