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Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi's Opening Statement On "How the CCP Uses the Law to Silence Critics and Enforce its Rule"

September 19, 2024

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) held a hearing to understand "How the CCP Uses the Law to Silence Critics and Enforce its Rule.” The following witnesses provided testimony:

  • Mr. Jamil Jaffer, Founder and Executive Director, National Security Institute
  • Ms. Anna Puglisi, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Puglisi Ventures
  • Dr. Jill Goldenziel, Professor, National Defense University, College of Information and Cyberspace

A transcript of the opening statement from Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) follows below. Footage of the Ranking Member’s opening statement can be found here, and his questions to the witnesses can be found here.

Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi’s Opening Statement

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

This picture is a group of judges in China. In China, the law is a tool of the Party, not the people. In contrast, America sees the law as a tool to resolve differences between parties – where openness and fairness prevail. The CCP is taking advantage of the fairness of our system to undermine our security and bolster theirs.

I’d like to focus on three ways this is happening.

First, the CCP and its affiliated entities are using American courts – and courts in like-minded democracies – to silence critics and fight opponents.

Scott Paul – the head of the Alliance for American Manufacturing – has testified before this Committee twice. But when he made truthful statements about BYD - a Chinese carmaker - being controlled by the CCP, BYD sued him. He was forced to spend years fighting in court.

 

Believe it or not, because of this litigation, his insurance policy was even cancelled because, quote-unquote, “criticizing . . . the Chinese government . . . may lead to allegations of defamation, [which is] not an acceptable exposure” – as you can see in this email behind me.

This is the long arm of the CCP reaching into our jurisdiction. By having BYD sue Mr. Paul, they not only attempt to scare him from speaking out, but they are trying to scare American companies from even doing business with him.

The real cost of these lawsuits isn’t just measured in dollars and cents, but in stories untold. The Committee has spoken with multiple people who want to tell their stories, but cannot because they signed NDAs to settle frivolous CCP-backed threats. Because when you’re in a lawsuit, it opens up discovery – allowing the CCP to get all sorts of sensitive documents from you. But when we try to get documents from CCP-affiliated entities, we can’t – because PRC law often prohibits it. This is very unfair.

Second, CCP-backed litigants are also suing Americans in China – and then trying to enforce those judgments in very problematic ways.

This is Li Rui’s diary. Mr. Li was Chairman Mao’s personal secretary, and he wrote harshly about the Party. His daughter gifted these particular diaries to Stanford, but now the CCP wants to get these diaries back so it can rewrite history.

So the CCP’s proxy sued Stanford in Beijing – where, of course, it won. Now it’s trying to enforce that judgment in California. Stanford should be concerned because, after all, they have assets in China which the CCP could seize.

But it’s even worse for companies that have employees in China.

When an American company gets sued in China and loses, until the judgment is paid, the CCP can and does put exit bans on its executives – blocking them from leaving the country.

One American businessman has been stuck in China for over six years, after a startup he invested in defaulted on its loans and its creditor sued him for millions of dollars he simply can’t pay.

This brings me to my third and final point: CCP-affiliated entities can sue our companies, but we can’t easily sue their companies – let alone their government. More specifically, it’s nearly impossible to sue them in China, and very hard to sue their companies in the U.S.

In fact, as you can see in this headline, when Chinese citizens learn that CCP-backed companies the U.S. government has sanctioned can sue our government in American courts, Chinese citizens respond with amazement. That’s because suing the government in China is unthinkable.

And it’s not much easier to go after Chinese companies either. Even in U.S. courts, some claim to be protected by sovereign immunity, and others use “shell games” to shield their assets and make our judgments unenforceable.

Simply put, the decks have been stacked against us. And I don’t think this is a coincidence. Xi Jinping has said the CCP must, quote, “use the law to carry out international struggles.” The CCP views the law as a sword to use against its opponents, and a shield to protect its own interests.

We respect the rule of law in America. We respect the right of all parties to have their day in court. But there needs to be reciprocity. Thank you.