62
in one instance, inviting a well-known Hong Kong activist denied access at one center event to participate in an event at the US headquarters later.
Chinese Outreach to US Think Tanks
Chinese outreach to American think tanks takes several forms, including via embassy and consular officials, Chinese think-tank scholars, and representatives of China’s state-run media.
Embassy and Consular Officials
Chinese embassy and consular officials meet frequently with many (but not all) of the interviewees. Sometimes their aim is to assess Americans’ views on particular issues or offer feedback on particular articles (generally those that are critical of China). In one case, for example, a Chinese official stated that a particular analyst’s understanding was “too gloomy,” and in another that a scholar “didn’t have the correct data.” One think-tank scholar noted that Chinese officials use both threats and praise to try to influence her. On the one hand, they took her to lunch and expressed “concern with her mind set” indicating that she just “just do[es] not understand the situation.” But embassy and Chinese government officials can also be effusive in their praise and offers of assistance, suggesting that she “knows too much about Chinese policy.”
Oftentimes officials ask for meetings with think tankers to transmit messages after important Communist Party or government events. After the annual meeting of China’s legislature (the National People’s Congress) in 2018, for example, one think- tank analyst was invited to lunch, only to endure an hour-and-a-half lecture on how US media and analysts misunderstood the new change in presidential term limits and Xi’s reform efforts. Another was visited by military attachés from the Chinese embassy in an effort to convey China’s opposition to the Taiwan Travel Act, US Defense Authorization Act, possible prospects for US Navy ship visits, and submarine sales to Taiwan. In concluding his stern warnings, one attaché warned: “We are no longer weak, and can inflict pain on Taiwan, if the United States is not careful and does not abide by the Three Communiques.”
On other occasions, Chinese embassy officials ask for meetings to warn think tanks against hosting speakers on topics often related to Taiwan, Hong Kong, or Tibet. Several think-tank analysts reported that they or others in their institutions had received calls from senior Chinese embassy officials regarding projects related to the Dalai Lama, in one case stating, “This is very troubling—it will have consequences.” As far as the analysts were concerned, however, there turned out to be no consequences. Another received a complaint from the Chinese embassy after the think tank hosted
Think Tanks
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_020521