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Senate panel: China targets U.S. state and local governments through investments, partnerships and delegations
Summary
Witnesses told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence that the Chinese Communist Party has shifted emphasis to influence U.S. state and local officials through investment, sister‑city ties, sponsored trips and covert data collection, and urged better federal support and transparency for subnational decision‑makers.
Sen. Mark Warner, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, opened an open hearing saying the purpose was “to better understand the PRC's malign influence strategy targeting the United States,” highlighting a focus on efforts that target state and local governments.
Dr. Glenn Tiffert, research fellow at the Hoover Institution, told the committee that “in the United States, when it comes to malign foreign influence, U.S. states and localities are America's soft underbelly,” and described a broad Chinese strategy—often routed through the party’s United Front apparatus—that seeks to shape incentives and public opinion at the subnational level.
The witnesses described specific vectors used to influence local decision‑makers: business investment and access to capital, people‑to‑people exchanges and paid trips for “key opinion leaders,” drafting or inserting language…
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