House Chairman Condemns Businesses for Paying $40,000 to Dine With Xi Jinping

Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) speaks during a House Armed Services Subcommittee on Cyber, Information Technologies, and Innovation hearing in Washington on July 18, 2023. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

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.

In letters dated Nov. 13 to the leaders of two American business associations, Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), who chairs the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), criticized American business executives for paying thousands of dollars to have dinner with CCP officials involved in human rights abuses.

“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.

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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.”

In a video posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, Mr. Gallagher said the “business community needs to remove its golden blindfolds and understand that doing business with the CCP risks the safety of their employees, their shareholders, investors and the savings of millions of Americans.”

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.”

The Epoch Time has reached out to USCBC and NCUSCR for comment.

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.

The list of political prisoners has 40 names, but it “represents a small selection of individuals” arbitrarily detained in China, the lawmakers noted. On the top of the list are three Americans—Kai Li, Mark Swidan, and David Lin.

Others on the list include Uyghurs, Tibetans, Hong Kongers, Chinese human rights defenders, Christians, and Falun Gong practitioners.

Earlier this month, 59 organizations—including Campaign for Uyghurs, China Aid Association, Friends of Falun Gong, Hong Kong Democracy Council, and Students for a Free Tibet International—sent a letter to President Biden, asking him to prioritize human rights when meeting Mr. Xi during the summit.

The chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Ben Cardin (D- Md.), also sent a letter to President Biden urging him to push Mr. Xi to release the three Americans, according to Reuters.

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