BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, has invested in Chinese companies working on the communist nation's nuclear weapons buildup, according to a report by the Coalition for A Prosperous America .
"The reality is that BlackRock holds stock in Chinese companies pursuing an aggressive buildup of nuclear warheads meant to hold United States territory at risk," the report said. According to the report, BlackRock has invested nearly $50 million in Chinese companies sanctioned under the 2022 Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, despite adopting a corporate policy that pledged to support responsible "environmental, social and governance" ESG policies. The legislation came in response to what the State Department has called Beijing's policy of genocide against the Uyghur minority.
"As MSCI's most important customer and second largest shareholder, BlackRock could demand the exclusion of Chinese military companies and human rights violators from its indexes," the report said. "Instead, BlackRock fails to acknowledge that its exposure to U.S.-sanctioned entities is a problem, claiming that it 'complies with all applicable U.S. government laws.'"