Senior employees of a firm under fire for allegedly working to facilitate the “capture of critical standards organizations to advance Beijing’s vision for authoritarian internet control” have histories of making donations to prominent Democrats.
On Tuesday, a bipartisan group of legislators sent a letter to Futurewei vice president Jason Chao demanding answers following a slew of public reports detailing how his company had worked to place pro-Chinese Communist Party individuals on the boards of important nonprofit groups responsible for setting industry standards in fields related to technology. Chao himself has donated nearly $30,000 to Democratic political committees since 2020, according to Federal Election Commission records. Futurewei, according to the House Select Committee on the CCP, has diligently “expanded its footprint in policy and industry circles” in recent years, showing that the firm is hungry for political influence.
Between 2017 and 2021, the United States levied a number of restrictions against Huawei, asserting that the telecommunications company was a national security threat owing to its close relationship with the CCP and history of industrial espionage. Futurewei, Huawei’s research arm, sought to distance itself from Huawei in mid-2019 after universities were beginning to retract research agreements with Huawei-linked entities. Futurwei has publicly stressed its independence from Huawei, though legal documents indicate that it is still a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Chinese corporation.
Huawei has also been a key player in the CCP’s Belt and Road Initiative — a global infrastructure project China uses to exert influence on developing nations — and has long been designated as an arm of the Chinese military by the Pentagon, performs state-backed research, and works with Chinese state intelligence authorities. The select committee also pointed out that the United States government charged Futurewei with “racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to steal trade secrets from six U.S. companies” in 2020 and that it has been accused of similar behavior in civil disputes.
Chao, the Futurewei vice president, addressed in the letter sent by the select committee, made large donations to former President Joe Biden, the Democratic National Committee, and former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Futurewei employees at the director, principal, chief scientist, vice president, and manager levels, as well as those in generally senior positions, have also made political contributions. Notable among them were senior director Xiao-Feng Qi and principal engineer Donald Eastlake, donating roughly $10,000 and $8,000 to Democratic political committees, respectively. Some employees made contributions to Republican committees as well, though in much smaller quantities. While job descriptions recorded in campaign finance filings were limited, LinkedIn profiles provided greater detail as to the seniority of some of Futurewei’s political donors.
Futurewei’s influence extends beyond the strictly political.
“Within standard-setting organizations, Futurewei has placed Huawei-linked personnel in leadership roles to promote proposals that would reshape global internet architecture,” the select committee’s letter reads. Committee staff go on to cite Futurewei’s influence over the Linux Foundation, the Internet Society, the International Telecommunication Union’s Telecommunication Standardization Sector, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
In one example, a Futurewei chief scientist made a proposal at the ITUTSS that would have altered the architecture of the internet in a way that would have expedited China’s censorship and surveillance operations, according to the select committee. It was roundly rejected after facing criticism for being “authoritarian” and “dystopian.”
The Washington Examiner identified additional examples of Futurewei employees attaining leadership roles at important, tech-related nonprofit groups. Among them are a principal engineer who serves on the board of The Rust Foundation, which maintains a widely used open-source programming language, and another principal engineer and a senior principal architect who work with the Internet Engineering Task Force, an influential standards development organization, and a third engineer, as well as a director who has held leadership positions in multiple standards groups.
DOZENS OF AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES MAINTAIN PARTNERSHIPS WITH CHINESE MILITARY-LINKED ENTITIES
“Futurewei’s separation from Huawei has only been superficial — and their close relationship threatens America’s national security and democratic values,” the lawmakers wrote.
Futurewei did not respond to a request for comment.