The U.S.-China Transpacific foundation – a Chinese Communist Party-funded group – has sponsored several trips to China for U.S. Congressional staff including Mitt Romney’s top National Security Policy Advisor and Chuck Schumer’s Senior Advisor, The National Pulse can exclusively reveal.
Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) filings reveal a 2015 letter wherein China’s Ambassador to the U.S. requests approval from the Obama administration for the U.S.-China Transpacific Foundation (UCTPF) to sponsor trips to China for congressional staff.
The letter to then-Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Richard Stengel noted the Chinese Communist Party would “fund all activities of this program”:
“The Government of the People’s Republic of China, as represented by the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the U.S., is the sponsor of this program. It will fund all activities of this program and no private funds will be used. However, no funding will be provided for expenses incurred by or for any member of the family or household of the federal employees participating in the program. The National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs will be the host organizations in China.”
Stengel ultimately approved the request, noting he was “pleased” to do so.
Shortly after, a host of American lobbying firms began to ink lucrative contracts with the foundation to implement the proposed trips. As a Capitol Counsel filing notes, it was retained to “assist with Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act (MECEA) approved travel to China.”
“The program is intended to provide the Members of Congress and/or the congressional staff the opportunity to enhance their understanding on the cultural, economic, political and social developments of the People’s Republic of China, thus helping strengthen U.S.-China relations,” FARA filings added.
In contrast, the Trump administration terminated MECEA programs including the UCTPF exchange, dubbing them “propaganda tools.”
