House Committee Investigates US Firms With Investments Linked To China’s Military, Human Rights Abuses
Philip Lenczycki on July 19, 2023
The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) announced investigations into four venture capital firms linked to China’s military and human rights abuses on Wednesday, according to letters shared with the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Led by Wisconsin Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher and Illinois Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, the committee sent letters to Qualcomm Ventures, GGV Capital, Walden International and GSR Ventures “because each has invested millions into PRC-based artificial intelligence and semiconductor companies,” the committee told the DCNF. The investigation represents the first in a series probing the CCP’s influence in the U.S. investing, the committee told the DCNF.
The committee alleged that China used these advanced technology companies to improve its military and commit human rights abuses.
“China’s policy of military-civil fusion (军民融合) — which ‘eliminat[es] barriers between the PRC’s civilian research and commercial sector and its military and defense industrial sectors’ — ensures that no technology company in China is truly a private company,” the committee’s letters state. “American venture capital and private equity investments in PRC AI, quantum, and semiconductor companies directly contribute to the PRC’s human rights abuses, military modernization, expansion of authoritarianism around the globe and the PRC’s overall effort to supplant U.S. technological leadership.”
The committee identified a number of “concerning examples” allegedly showing how the four venture capital firms have cooperated with “China-based companies that develop sensitive technologies.”
For example, GGV Capital has allegedly invested in Megvii, according to the committee. Megvii is a Chinese firm that “actively supports CCP’s surveillance of the Uyghurs,” the committee claims.
Likewise, the committee claims that GSR Ventures has invested in AI with iFlyTek, a Chinese company with close ties to the People’s Liberation Army, according to the committee.
Both Walden International and Qualcomm Ventures have also invested in Chinese AI companies, the committee claims.
“PRC-based AI companies such as Yitu, Megvii, SenseTime and CloudWalk have all been linked to China’s efforts to profile and track Uyghurs — ‘ushering in a new era of automated racism,’” the committee’s letters state.
GGV Capital, GSR Ventures, Walden International and Qualcomm Ventures did not respond immediately to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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