A House chairman has asked U.S. organizers to provide a list of executives who will pay $40,000 to dine with Chinese leader Xi Jinping during his visit to the United States.
“It is unconscionable that American companies might pay thousands of dollars to join a ‘welcome dinner’ hosted by the very same CCP officials who have facilitated a genocide against millions of innocent men, women, and children in Xinjiang,” Mr. Gallagher said.
According to the panel, the U.S.-China Business Council (USCBC) and the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations (NCUSCR) will hold a banquet for Mr. Xi following his meeting with President Biden during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit (APEC) in San Francisco.
In the letter, Mr. Gallagher warned that executives “should not be fooled by celebratory toasts and promises of future cooperation” and should be aware that doing business in China today faces “risk of arbitrary detentions, exit bans, and raids.”
The Republican lawmaker noted that the CCP’s continued attempt to weaponize market access and vulnerabilities in the supply chain has resulted in a complex business environment. He recommends that business leaders “de-risk” in China’s market, especially U.S. firms in critical technologies such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and pharmaceuticals, among others.
The letter also cautioned that “U.S. financial institutions should not view engagement with CCP officials as an opportunity to sign and celebrate new deals that facilitate flows of American capital or technology to [Chinese] companies that have been blacklisted by the U.S. government or that otherwise support PRC military advancement or CCP human rights abuses.”
The panel said that “USCBC and NCUSCR’s decision to profit from selling access to the senior-most CCP official responsible for the Uyghur genocide raises serious questions about whether these organizations are playing responsible roles in the bilateral relationship.”
The committee then requested the two organizers to provide a list of entities that bought tickets to the CCP banquet and another list of those who paid $40,000 to sit at the table with Mr. Xi.
The panel also asked for the breakdown of how profits from the dinner are shared between USCBC and NCUSCR and what steps the two associations have taken “to defend human rights in China and to prevent the genocide of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang.”
Calling for Political Prisoners’ Release
On Nov. 8, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China sent a letter to President Joe Biden asking him to talk to Mr. Xi about the CCP’s political prisoners.Others on the list include Uyghurs, Tibetans, Hong Kongers, Chinese human rights defenders, Christians, and Falun Gong practitioners.
Sen. Cardin also called for the release of family members of U.S.-based journalists imprisoned in China because of their ties with the journalists.
Frank Fang contributed to this article