June 30, 2020, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging the Trump administration to block access by Chinese military-controlled companies to U.S. capital markets:
“The Pentagon’s announcement that there are twenty well-known Chinese companies who have embedded their businesses in the U.S. financial system while selling products to U.S. consumers who are controlled by the Chinese Communist Party and the People’s Liberation Army is not a shock. What is a shock is that our government hasn’t taken immediate action to sever the access of these foreign spy operations to the U.S. capital markets at the very least.
“Many have heard the names of Huawei, China Telecommunications Group and China Railway Construction Corporation, but even a company with a benign name like Panda Electronics which sells earbuds and other consumer electronics over Amazon has a sinister side through their electronic surveillance business. Not only are they tied to assisting the North Korean government repress its people, but as a PLA agent, it is reasonable to assume that their creations are being used to repress and put down the freedom movement in Hong Kong. And while Panda is traded on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and to date there are no restrictions on U.S. financial asset managers from investing American pension dollars into companies which are full-fledged enemies of freedom.
“As we watch the Chinese government’s ending of Hong Kong’s agreed upon quasi-independence on July 1, the very least the federal government can do is cut these cancerous 20 companies out of the U.S. financial systems, meaning ending the capitalization of repression by companies like BlackRock and other massive investment houses. One thing that could be done immediately would be for the U.S. Department of Labor to issue an emergency guidance to private pension fund managers that these companies are not suitable for inclusion into any pension portfolio mandating divestment. Why are they not suitable? If the fact that these companies are dedicated to the destruction of the United States is not enough, it is obvious that a company controlled by the Chinese Communist Party is not going to provide the transparency to allow a prudent investor to determine if it is secure enough to meet the standards for pension investing established by law. The Labor Department could end all private U.S. pension investment in these twenty Chinese agents under a corporate cover with a simple one-page guidance update to pension managers.
“President Trump took meaningful action when he ended the push for U.S. federal employee and military pensions to be invested in Chinese companies seeking to build the weapons that are aimed at America, now the rest of the federal government needs to follow suit by ending private sector investments in these risky and dangerous entities. China is not playing a game, and it is time for America to wake up to the threat. On a personal level, the next time you go to Amazon to buy electronics or other goods, dig deeper to find out where they are made. The best way to stop the Chinese regime which uses child and slave labor to make many of the products we buy, is to just say no when you see it is made in China. Perhaps if Americans lead the way, our financial leaders will follow as their blood-soaked investments in China have a hard time finding buyers.”
Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1 or at media@limitgov.org.
###