As President Biden said in an April speech, “We’re in competition with China and other countries to win the 21st Century. We’re at a great inflection point in history.”
He’s right: The stakes are big. So why do we allow China, a hostile foreign communist government that wants to replace the US as the global superpower, to buy influence in our political system--including hiring well-connected former Members of Congress?
Chinese lobbying has increased dramatically, according to OpenSecrets. In 2016, the Chinese government and corporate interests spent about $10 million. In 2020, that figure ballooned to $65 million.
The Chinese are hiring major names in the lobbying world. Hikvision, a video surveillance company accused of helping the Chinese government commit human rights violations, has spent millions with Mercury Public Affairs. Huawei, also accused of assisting in human rights violations, is on a lobbyist hiring spree that includes Tony Podesta, one of the top lobbyists in DC.
Both companies have been added to official federal government blacklist that prohibits US companies from selling them parts or components without government approval. Yet they are free to splash the cash on lobbyists.
The above figures are only what’s required to be reported under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Chinese influence-peddling isn’t limited to lobbying.
The Chinese government has funded Confucius Institutes at over 100 universities and Confucius Classrooms at over 300 K-12 schools. The Chinese have also wooed think tanks and reporters with “soft power” junkets to China. And a recent Department of Education investigation uncovered about $2 billion in donations and contracts from China to U.S. universities that our institutions “forgot” to disclose (along with other billions from other countries), against federal regulations.
It’s time to say enough is enough.
How does it benefit our country to allow Chinese companies such as Hikvision, accused of helping the Chinese government carry out human rights abuses, or their subsidiaries hire former Members of Congress such as former U.S. Senator David Vitter (R-LA) and former U.S. Rep. Tony Moffett (D-MA)?
Quite simply: There is no benefit.
We already have a mechanism for economic blacklisting of companies. In June, 14 Chinese companies were added to a Commerce Department blacklist over their alleged support for human rights abuses inside China. Yet federally blacklisted companies are still able to aggressively lobby.
A blacklist on lobbying by these Chinese companies--as well as the abusive Chinese government--is a logical next step.
We should also consider extending a lobbying ban to all Chinese companies generally, not just those on a blacklist.
In the US, there’s a clear distinction between private business and the government. In China, no such distinction exists. Chinese companies are effectively arms of the government. They must serve the ruling Chinese Communist Party as needed. Party officials are often part of company management.
The Chinese government has declared a “Made in China 2025” agenda. It calls for China to become the dominant world power in 10 key technologies, including robotics and artificial intelligence.
As long as China is ruled by the Chinese Communist Party, the interests of Chinese companies are helping the CCP maintain and expand power internally and globally.
It’s well known that money can cloud political issues and create conflicts of interest. According to Foreign Lobby Report, former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott once held up legislation to normalize trade relations with China out of concern over the country’s arms sales. Now he is lobbying for Chinese-owned TikTok, identified as a possible threat to Americans’ data security.
Creating such “conflicts” is integral to the soft-power strategy of China.
Congress should take the opportunity to provide clarity to our policy discussion on China by prohibiting the Chinese government and its surrogates from political influence in Washington.
The Chinese government has often complained that the US government is interfering with China’s “internal affairs” by commenting on human rights abuses. We should take a page out of their book and stop them from interfering in our own affairs.
Will Coggin is the managing director of the American Security Institute, the nonprofit responsible for ChinaOwnsUs.com.