SAN FRANCISCO — House lawmakers blasted two US business associations on Tuesday for “improperly” selling $40,000 tickets to sit at Chinese President Xi Jinping’s table at a dinner during the Communist leader’s visit here for the APEC summit, The Post has learned. exclusively.
The US-China Business Council and the National Committee on US-China Relations — both organizations for American companies doing business with Beijing — are set to host Xi for a $2,000-per-plate dinner with American corporate executives after the Chinese leader meets with President Biden on Wednesday.
But for just $40,000 — about the price of a new car, as House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) noted — executives can sit at Xi’s table
“It is unconscionable that American companies may pay thousands of dollars to attend a ‘welcome dinner’ organized by the same CCP officials who have facilitated the genocide of millions of men, women, and children the innocent in Xinjiang,” the select committee wrote in a letter to the organizing association.
The House panel, which is working on policies to manage tensions and rivalry between Washington and Beijing, also claimed that associations that host the leaders of the US’s arch-enemies may need to be scrutinized for their role in US-China relations.
Lawmakers on the House Select Committee for the Communist Party of China criticized two business associations for selling $40,000 tickets to sit at Chinese President Xi Jinping’s table during a dinner. AP Photo/Andy Wong, Pool, File
“USCBC and NCUSCR’s decision to profit from selling access to the most senior CCP officials responsible for the Uyghur genocide raises serious questions about whether these organizations are playing a responsible role in bilateral relations,” they wrote.
In a video posted to X, Gallagher said the business community “needs to take off its golden blinders and understand that doing business with the CCP endangers the safety of their employees, their shareholders, investors and the savings of millions of Americans.”
Forty thousand dollars “can buy you a meal with Xi, but it can’t give you a conscience,” he quipped.
Tomorrow, for the low price of $40,000, American business leaders will have the opportunity to dine with Xi Jinping, courtesy of @USChinaBusiness in San Francisco.
“$40,000 can buy you a meal with Xi, but it can’t give you a conscience.” – Chairman @RepGallagher pic.twitter.com/ZwqpRcSidl
— Select Committee of the Communist Party of China (@committeeonccp) November 14, 2023
Additionally, Gallagher warned financial institutions that “see the dinner as an opportunity to sign new agreements that facilitate the flow of American capital to companies blacklisted by the US government for their support of the CCP’s military buildup and known human rights abuses” in China. arbitrarily detaining the American people.
“It’s easier to enter the PRC than to leave – something as true for capital as it is for executives arrested on false charges,” he said.
In its letter, the select committee pressed the association to submit “a complete list of individuals, companies, financial institutions and other entities that have purchased tickets for the CCP dinner,” along with a separate list of those who paid $40,000 to break. bread with Xi at his table.
Supporters of Xi Jinping hold signs outside the St. Regis during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation event in San Francisco on November 14, 2023. Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images
They also asked for details on how profits from the shindig will be “distributed between USCBC, NCUSCR and other entities, as applicable,” as well as what the association has done to push back against Beijing’s human rights abuses in China.
“What steps, if any, have the USCBC and NCUSCR taken to defend human rights in China and to prevent the genocide of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang?” they have asked.
In his video, Gallagher satirized the dinner, which he said was “in honor of CCP officials who are currently, in the words of our own State Department, ‘carrying out the genocide of millions of men, women and children who innocent in Xinjiang.'”
“So what’s the internal conversation like? ‘Wow, this filet mignon is a little dry, how about your extrajudicial imprisonment of over a million Uyghur Muslims?'” he quipped. “‘This Sauvignon Blanc is very good, congratulations for destroying civil society in Hong Kong. completely.’”
For those attending the event, the select committee warned that US executives “should not be fooled by celebratory toasts and promises of future cooperation,” because “doing business in China today includes increased risks of arbitrary detention, exit bans and raids by the Chinese. intelligence service.”
“CCP’s continued efforts to weaponize market access and supply chain vulnerabilities further complicate the business landscape, and executives should take proactive steps to de-risk,” they wrote.
The committee called the business association’s decision “unwarranted.” Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images
The panel noted that is “especially true” for US companies working on “critical and emerging technologies, including pharmaceutical, bio and [medical technologies]batteries, AI, advanced computing and semiconductor manufacturing,” as China increasingly looks to co-opt American technology.
It also warned that US financial institutions “should not view engagement with CCP officials as an opportunity to sign and celebrate new agreements that facilitate the flow of American capital or technology to PRC companies that have been blacklisted by the US government or that otherwise support the PRC’s military advances or violations.” CCP human rights.”
Gallagher half-joked that American executives should “check their phones and wallets” when they go, because the CCP has a penchant “for intellectual property theft.”
“The gullible executives who pay the average American’s annual salary to attend CCP propaganda exercises,” he concluded, “should bear in mind the CCP’s willingness to weaponize market access and supply chain vulnerabilities.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
