A potential pick for Kamala Harris’ vice president has ties to a Chinese spy balloon company, putting him in the spotlight for possible ties to the Communist Party.
Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) co-founded a company that manufactures spy balloons, much like the one that was floating across the United States last year.
Kelly's Tucson-based company, World View, was funded by Tencent, a venture capitalist closely linked to the CCP. World View specializes in space tourism using spy balloons, which received funding from Tencent in 2013 and again in 2016.
In 2020, World View president and CEO Ryan Hartman told The Arizona Republic that the venture capitalist has “zero access, zero input, and zero control" over the company.
Tencent and World View reportedly have an agreement with the U.S. government to provide aerial surveillance using their balloons.
According to Vision Times, Tencent established its first CCP branch five years after the company was founded. It holds “Party Member Day every year when CCP members working at the company’s offices “celebrate the achievements of the communist party.”
Taiwan News claims that Tencent follows a “party members first” rule when hiring new employees.
The CCP-based company collects data from its mobile app, WeChat, a well-known social media platform in China. WeChat is used as a surveillance tool for the Chinese government, which regulates Tencent and reportedly suppresses opposing views.
However, the current leadership of Tencent said it was a mistake for the company to accept a Chinese investment.
“When new leadership arrived in 2019 and learned of that investment, they swiftly moved to ensure World View was protected from any and all involvement from representatives of Chinese investors,” a spokesperson said.
In 2019, Kelly left the company to focus on his political career. The spokesperson said that any leftover financial interest the senator has in the company is securely stored away in a blind trust. They also confirmed that Kelly surrendered his assets and control of the company before leaving.
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