WASHINGTON -- While the White House and US congressional leaders are eager to act tough against China, some left-leaning Democrats and activists are worried that anti-China policies will inflame racism against Asian Americans and get the US bogged down in a quasi-Cold War, Politico reported Wednesday.

More than 60 activist groups and at least four prominent lawmakers are stepping up their criticism as the Senate pushes through this week a package of bills endorsed by the White House and members of both parties that would spend hundreds of billions of dollars to confront China, said the piece.

Progressive lawmakers and activists are dismayed by "what they see as bipartisan unity to repeat American foreign policy mistakes," it said.

Critics said rushing to position China as an existential threat would commit the United States to decades of wasteful spending and military engagements, while fueling hatred at home similar to the Islamophobia seen after the 9/11 attacks, the article said.

A coalition of over 60 anti-war and progressive groups released a joint statement this week, saying that Washington's Cold War mentality regarding China "does not serve the millions of people demanding change across this country nor the billions of people affected by US foreign policy abroad."

"Anti-China framing for such initiatives is not only politically unnecessary; it is harmful, as it inevitably feeds racism, violence, xenophobia, and white nationalism," the groups wrote.

The United States needs to distinguish "justified criticisms" from "a Cold War mentality that uses China as a scapegoat for our own domestic problems and demonizes Chinese Americans," Minnesota Democrat Representative Ilhan Omar was quoted by Politico as saying.

Speaking of a bill aiming to boost US tech research and sponsored by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, New York Democrat Representative Jamaal Bowman said he strongly rejects "any anti-China rhetoric associated with this bill."

"We won't be able to solve the challenges of the 21st century like the climate crisis and global health unless we have relationships that harness partnerships across the globe, including China," the report quotes Bowman as saying.