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    The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission is a legislative branch commission created by the United States Congress in October 2000 with the legislative mandate to monitor, investigate, and submit to Congress an annual report on the national security implications of the bilateral trade and economic relationship between the United States and the People’s Republic of China, and to provide recommendations, where appropriate, to Congress for legislative and administrative action.

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    The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission is chartered to monitor, investigate, and report to Congress on the national security implications of the bilateral trade and economic relationship between the United States and the People’s Republic of China. The Commission meets its research mission by submitting to Congress an Annual Report, as well as by conducting staff-led reports, contracted research, and more.

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China’s Foreign Missions in the United States

07/17/2024
Body

The report provides an overview of publicly available information about the United States’ policies on foreign missions, designated Chinese entities, and China’s response to these requirements. In addition to its official embassy and consulate missions, China operates a number of other foreign missions, such as state media outlets and united front-linked entities, which support its effort to influence the U.S. public and federal, state, and local leaders. The report includes policy considerations for Congress.

Key Findings Include:

  • In 2020, the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Foreign Missions designated 17 Chinese entities as foreign missions after it determined each entity qualified as a mission under the Foreign Missions Act (FMA). These new foreign missions designated under the FMA included official Chinese media outlets and entities linked to the united front. Like China’s embassy and consulates in the United States, they provide its government with platforms to influence U.S. policymakers, business leaders, academics, and the public.

  • There is a lack of reciprocity in the U.S.-China relationship regarding the treatment of diplomatic personnel. While U.S. diplomats are restricted or supervised in travel, contact, and engagement with Chinese civil society, historically, members of Chinese foreign missions have had far more freedom in the United States.

  • There have been no congressional hearings or public forums to specifically discuss the United States’ process for designating foreign missions or the enforcement of related policies. The dearth of publicly available information on designation and enforcement creates several challenges for Congress and the public to understand the full scope of Chinese foreign missions’ activities in the United States. It remains unclear whether all Chinese entities that act like foreign missions are designated as such and how consistently those that are designated comply with the FMA and other requirements.

Tags
Global Relations and Influence,
Censorship and Control
Author
Jonathan Roberts
China’s Foreign Missions in the United States881.18 KB

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