‘We must guard against the Chinese Communist Party and its web of espionage.’
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.) is introducing a bill aimed at preventing the Chinese regime from influencing the State Department.
The bill, called the No CCP Consultants Act, would prohibit the secretary of state from entering into, renewing, or extending contracts relating to “advisory and assistance services” with certain entities, including the governments of China and Russia.
“We must guard against the Chinese Communist Party and its web of espionage,” Mr. Green said in a statement to The Epoch Times on Oct. 31.
His bill will safeguard sensitive materials handled by the State Department, he said.
The entities that the bill named include China’s military, the Chinese regime’s security and intelligence agencies, Chinese companies that the Treasury Department has sanctioned for supporting the “Chinese Military-Industrial Complex,” and other ones that the Pentagon has listed as having links to the Chinese military.
The bill would bar State Department engagement with consultancy contractors that had worked with any such Chinese entities in the prior year. The legislation would also require contractors that seek to perform consulting services for the State Department to disclose information regarding work with covered entities in the five years prior.
Any Chinese entity “directly or indirectly” under the control of the CCP would also be banned, the bill states, as would any Russian state-owned entity and those facing U.S. sanctions over Ukraine.
“Anyone who has the CCP as a client better be aware of the kind of regime they’re getting into business with,” Mr. Green told The Epoch Times. “This regime regularly commits cyber attacks against the United States and does everything in its power to weaken us and our allies. The CCP has no qualms about spreading disinformation, propaganda, and outright lies. The kind of firm that wants to do business with the CCP should not be trusted to work for our State Department.”
Concerns about Chinese espionage drew international attention when a Chinese spy balloon flew over the United States in February, passing over a number of sensitive military bases.
By Eva Fu and Frank Fang
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