House GOP to press spy agencies for report on China leaders' corruption (original) (raw)

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A version of this story appeared in the daily Threat Status newsletter from The Washington Times. Click here to receive Threat Status delivered directly to your inbox each weekday.

A group of House Republicans plans to give Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines an additional 90 days to submit an overdue report on corruption among Chinese communist leaders and to testify publicly on the matter.

Rep. Andy Ogles and 10 other GOP lawmakers on Thursday introduced legislation that would give the DNI more time to produce the report on the wealth and corrupt activities of Chinese Communist Party leaders.

Additionally, the bill, called the Confronting CCP Malign Influence Act, would require Ms. Haines or a senior intelligence official to appear before Congress to testify on CCP leaders’ corruption.

The report on illicit CCP leaders’ activities was supposed to be finished by Dec. 31 under a section of the fiscal 2023 defense policy that was signed into law by President Biden on Dec. 23, 2022.

A DNI spokeswoman said in April that U.S. intelligence agencies are aware of the legal requirement and are working on the report.

The report, to be produced jointly by Ms. Haines and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, is expected to reveal the hidden wealth of party leaders and extensive corrupt practices by officials, including President Xi Jinping.

The new legislation gives intelligence agencies six months after the measure becomes law to testify.

Among the Chinese communist figures being scrutinized by the spy agency are senior members of the 98-million member CCP, including the Central Committee, a senior panel with around 205 members; those within the Politburo, a 25-member unit; and officials within the seven-member Politburo Standing Committee, the collective dictatorship that is the most senior governing body headed by Mr. Xi.

Regional party secretaries in the 29 locations in China will also be assessed for hidden wealth or links to corruption.

The report is expected to upset the Biden administration’s Beijing policy, which has sought to play down criticism of the communist nation in hopes of stabilizing relations that some analysts believe are heading for conflict.

Ms. Haines stated in testimony to Congress on the intelligence community’s annual threat assessment that corruption remains a major problem for the Chinese government, party and military.

Chinese leaders are “almost certainly” dealing with “the ongoing impact of corruption on the military’s capabilities and reliability, judging from a purge of high-level officers, including the defense minister, in 2023,” she stated.

A major case of leadership corruption surfaced in 2012 regarding hidden wealth held by then-Prime Minister Wen Jiabao who amassed an estimated $2.7 billion fortune by funneling money to family members, according to a report by the New York Times.

Mr. Xi, the Chinese leader, has backed an anti-corruption campaign since coming to power in 2012, though many analysts see his efforts as little more than a thinly disguised effort to purge potential political rivals.

An investigation by Bloomberg News in 2012 found that Mr. Xi had amassed a private fortune worth well over $1 billion through enriching relatives.

Most of the assets were acquired by the family of Mr. Xi’s elder sister, Qi Qiaoqiao and were hidden through assumed names and layers of holding companies.

Ms. Qi’s daughter reportedly owns 50millioninHongKongrealestateandanieceofMr.Xialsoissaidtoowna50 million in Hong Kong real estate and a niece of Mr. Xi also is said to own a 50millioninHongKongrealestateandanieceofMr.Xialsoissaidtoowna20 million stake in a Chinese technology company.

“With Xi Jinping and his top CCP party cadres earning a salary on par with D.C. congressional interns, it might be confusing to the people of China how Xi and his minions manage to have access to multimillion-dollar mansions, luxury vehicles, and personal servants,” Mr. Ogles told The Times.

“The answer is simple: the communist leaders of the [People’s Republic of China] are not so-called ‘servants of the proletariat’ – they are proud billionaires, and it’s important to expose this hypocrisy of communism to the American people as well as the 1.4 billion people living under the CCP’s totalitarian rule.”

Mr. Ogles said undermining the legitimacy of the CCP and exposing its allies is a national security priority and the proposed legislation will inform Americans about who is strengthening U.S. enemies.

Other House Republicans signing on as co-sponsors are South Carolina’s Joe Wilson, Florida’s Byron Donalds, Pennsylvania’s Scott Perry, Alabama’s Barry Moore, Wisconsin’s Tom Tiffany, New York’s Mike Lawler, North Carolina’s Dan Bishop, Texas’ Beth Van Duyne, California’s Doug LaMalfa and Missouri’s Eric Burlisoni.