After the COVID-19 outbreak, and China’s likely role in causing it, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) this week asked her U.S. Senate colleagues not to meet with people who represent Chinese companies.
Blackburn said this in a letter dated Thursday.
“Denying China an opportunity to spread Communist propaganda in congressional offices sends a warning shot to Beijing that Congress will not tolerate Beijing’s misinformation war over the origins of the COVID-19 outbreak,” Blackburn wrote.
“I therefore urge you and your staff to refuse meetings with any representatives of Chinese companies, regardless of whether they are state owned or claim to be privately run entities, and to exercise caution when accepting meetings with Chinese officials. Banning meetings with Chinese technology companies like Huawei, ZTE, DJI and TikTok is a long overdue sanction.”
Officials have already banned Huawei and ZTE from selling telecommunications equipment to U.S. government agencies, Blackburn said.
“Chinese dronemaker DJI is banned from supplying U.S. airports and critical infrastructure, and it’s time to rethink letting state and local governments use DJI’s drones as well. TikTok, owned by Beijing parent ByteDance, is blocked from the government-issued devices of U.S. military personnel and federal employees at several agencies,” Blackburn said.
“Their company representatives likewise cannot be trusted to lobby members of Congress with the best of U.S. intentions in mind. Blacklisting China in Congress mirrors punitive steps the executive branch has already taken. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States routinely blocks Chinese acquisitions of American companies to guard against national security risks.”
Blackburn went on to say the Federal Bureau of Investigation has opened 1,000 espionage investigations nationwide linked to China alone.
“The undisputed heavyweight IP theft champion of the world does not deserve any additional credentialing,” Blackburn said.
“Chinese Communist Party officials and Chinese entities should be shunned in the halls of Congress.”
– – –
Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
You and your China hobby-horse, Blackburn! Your anti-China obsession is just like the Democrats’ anti-Russia obsession. Both parties are using foreign governments as scapegoats as a diversionary tactic to cover up domestic wrong-doings by both parties. Our problems come from within our borders and not by foreign nationals.