Lawmakers in 33 states have introduced 81 bills this year to prohibit the Chinese government or businesses from buying agricultural land or property near military bases.

There was little indication that either is prepared to bend from positions on issues including trade, Taiwan, human rights conditions in China and Hong Kong, and Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Two cases are part of a series of Justice Department prosecutions aimed at disrupting Chinese government efforts to suppress the speech of America pro-democracy activists and others who are openly critical of Beijing’s policies.

An American fighter jet shot down the balloon near the South Carolina coast on Feb. 4.

While Taiwan is carefully calibrating Tsai’s stops in the United States and forgoing official meetings with senior U.S. leaders in Washington in an effort to limit the scale of China’s response,