Republicans must reject protections for tech investment in China
Tom Rogan
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Republicans in Congress must resist their GOP colleagues Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) and Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY), who are trying to obstruct the Biden administration from restricting United States investment into China’s tech sector. The Biden administration’s prospective executive order seems likely to broadly restrict U.S. capital flows into the Chinese tech sector. A broad restriction is needed in order to mitigate China’s proven ability to circumvent narrower restrictions.
These restrictions need to be introduced as soon as possible. Even the least state-controlled of private-sector entities within China’s tech sector ultimately serve the Communist Party’s interests. Xi Jinping recently reinforced this understanding with crackdowns on private entities seen as too independent. And when it comes to tech, Xi’s major interest is not just economic. In equal measure, he wants to use tech innovation to develop new weapons. Weapons that advance his already potent hypersonic vehicle and ‘carrier killer’ ballistic missile force.
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To tolerate American funding for China’s tech sector is to tolerate China’s improved means of killing U.S. military personnel and defeating the U.S. in war. It should be unconscionable. Unfortunately, via their influential positions on the House Financial Services Committee, McHenry and Barr are trying to undermine Biden’s planned restrictions.
As Morgan Chalfant reports on Friday, Barr said he “would look to ‘block’ the White House executive order if it … would set up a screening process for U.S. investments into Chinese technology sectors.” Barr told Chalfant that he has been in contact with Black Rock CEO Larry Fink and JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon. For his part, McHenry said the committee “would ‘keep all options on the table’ when asked about potential plans to disrupt the executive order.”
It’s not surprising that they’re adopting this stance. Barr and McHenry each received a total of $12,900 from BlackRock sources in the 2022 election cycle. McHenry received $28,115 from people related to JP Morgan in the 2022 cycle, the highest amount the company and its employees donated to any Republican House candidate. Nor is it surprising that Fink and Dimon want to protect U.S. investment in China’s tech sector. As I noted in December, Black Rock is pushing a China tech investment fund. On June 1, the firm updated its prospectus on that same offering. Similarly, Dimon’s interest in Chinese commerce was underlined by his recent visit to Beijing.
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Republicans must not go along with this pro-China effort. Xi has ordered his military to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2030, and President Joe Biden has four times said he would order a U.S. military intervention in those circumstances. The People’s Liberation Army may well defeat the U.S. military in such a conflict. Indeed, even a U.S. victory would very likely entail the deaths of thousands of American service personnel. A war of less than a month would likely see U.S. casualties exceeding those of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. Perhaps far exceeding.
The nation may soon be at war with China. Helping China better wage that war is not part of the job description for a member of Congress. At least, it shouldn’t be. Top line: Fink and Dimon cannot be allowed to invest in future American graveyards at the bottom of the East and South China seas.