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e Communicate regularly with federal agencies like the FBI whenever doubts arise about a cooperative proposal or the Chinese institutions promoting it. Pay attention to who is on Chinese delegations. Get name lists beforehand and do due diligence
on them.
Promote Reciprocity
Sub-national governments should:
e Follow the money, and the power. In any cooperative venture, US local governments should determine exactly where Chinese investments originate and know which Beijing ministry has final decision-making authority related to the project. They should also check lists of funders and organizations against lists of
known United Front agencies and registered foreign agents.
e Not treat other stakeholders—other countries, Taiwan, or companies—in a
prejudiced manner to win favor in Beijing.
NOTES
1 As promised in the referenced sister cities agreement.
2 Washington State China Relations Council. https://www.wscrc.org. 3 Michigan-China Innovation Center. https://www.michiganchina.org. 4 Maryland-China Business Council. http://www.mcbc.net.
5 Burnett, Jennifer. “State Overseas Trade Offices, 2015.” Council of State Governments. November 4, 2015. https://knowledgecenter.csg.org/kc/content/state-overseas-trade-offices-2015.
6 Asia Institute - Crane House. http://www.cranehouse.org. 7 China Institute in America. https://www.chinainstitute.org.
8 Washington also views “exchanges” with China as a form of public diplomacy that serves American interests, but it does not direct the activities of American local governments and NGOs that do most of the work of engagement.
9 US-China People’s Friendship Association. http://www.uscpfa.org/about.htm.
10 “List of Chinese Students and Scholars Associations.” ImmigrationRoad.com. https://immigrationroad .com/resource/cssa-list-chinese-students-scholars-association-us.php.
11 Lloyd-Damnjanovic, Anastasya. “A Preliminary Study of PRC Political Influence and Interference Activities in American Higher Education.” https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/preliminary-study-pre -political-influence-and-interference-activities-american-higher.
12 China General Chamber of Commerce - USA. https://www.cgccusa.org/en.
State and Local Governments
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