On Jan. 18, business executives and politicians gathered at the China General Chamber of Commerce's annual gala in New York City. A thinly veiled outcropping of the Chinese Communist Party, the CGCC exists to leverage investment opportunities in return for corporate America’s advancing of a pro-Beijing outlook.
This gala underlined the challenge facing Rep. Mike Gallagher as his select committee on China begins its work. Gallagher has pledged to scrutinize corporate deference to Beijing in the context of the Chinese Communist Party’s broader challenge to U.S. security.Gov. Kathy Hochul didn't get that memo. Saying she was"so glad to be back here," Hochul said she will be"encouraging" more Chinese investment in her state. The CGCC, she said, is an"incredible organization.
This was not a compromise-minded speech. Unlike U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns, who used a recent speech to American businesses in China to address U.S. concerns over Chinese President Xi Jinping's policies, this New York audience didn’t seem interested in standing up for U.S. interests. Yet Max Baucus, the former Democratic senator from Montana and ambassador to China, praised Xu’s"wonderful statement." Baucus added that the Chinese diplomat’s speech was"excellent, and I urge us all to reflect on what she said." He then advanced Beijing’s favorite claim that the U.S. is to blame for bilateral tensions.
So Gallagher has his work cut out for him. The gala brought video salutes to the CGCC from executives of top U.S. corporations such as Boeing and FedEx, as well as retired English soccer star David Beckham. Without giving any indication that he knows what the CGCC actually is, Beckham declared,"The CGCC gala is an important event."
Sounds treasonous