Blackburn Wants Hill to 'Refuse Meetings' With Huawei, Other Chinese Companies

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., urged colleagues to “refuse meetings with any representatives of Chinese companies,” including telecom equipment makers Huawei and ZTE and app TikTok. The Commerce Department said Friday it’s increasing restrictions on foreign-made chips exported to and made by Huawei. The department also doesn’t plan to issue another temporary general license extension for the Chinese telecom gearmaker after its latest 90-day renewal expires Aug. 13 (see 2005150027). Lawmakers should refuse meetings with Chinese companies “regardless of whether they are state owned or claim to be privately run entities, and to exercise caution when accepting meetings with Chinese officials,” Blackburn said in a letter: The ban “is a long overdue sanction” after an existing ban on sales of Huawei and ZTE equipment to federal agencies and a block on TikTok’s use on government-issues devices of military and some federal personnel. The companies’ “representatives likewise cannot be trusted to lobby members of Congress with the best of U.S. intentions in mind,” she said: “Blacklisting China in Congress mirrors punitive steps the executive branch has already taken. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States routinely blocks Chinese acquisitions of American companies to guard against national security risks,” while Commerce “blacklists Chinese companies that enable human rights abuses or act contrary to U.S. foreign policy or national security.” Blackburn is among the lawmakers who helped shape anti-Huawei/ZTE legislation (see 1907220053).