A new bill moving forward on Capitol Hill would expand regulators' ability to block Chinese acquisitions — and U.S. ventures abroad.

"In the race to manufacture self-driving vehicles, there is no more important technology than lidar, which uses laser pulses much like radar to map the nearby area in minute detail. It is what lets a car tell the difference between a human leg and a branch. That’s the main reason Chinese internet giant Baidu made a big investment in American lidar specialist Velodyne in 2016.

But the technology isn’t just for civilian cars — it also makes U.S. military applications more lethal...

A new bill moving forward on Capitol Hill would expand regulators' ability to block Chinese acquisitions — and U.S. ventures abroad.

"In the race to manufacture self-driving vehicles, there is no more important technology than lidar, which uses laser pulses much like radar to map the nearby area in minute detail. It is what lets a car tell the difference between a human leg and a branch. That’s the main reason Chinese internet giant Baidu made a big investment in American lidar specialist Velodyne in 2016.

But the technology isn’t just for civilian cars — it also makes U.S. military applications more lethal...