{"id":2251868,"date":"2024-05-24T05:13:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-24T09:13:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/this-gop-candidate-says-china-is-our-enemy-he-represented-a-ccp-owned-company\/"},"modified":"2024-05-24T05:17:14","modified_gmt":"2024-05-24T09:17:14","slug":"this-gop-candidate-says-china-is-our-enemy-he-represented-a-ccp-owned-company","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/this-gop-candidate-says-china-is-our-enemy-he-represented-a-ccp-owned-company\/","title":{"rendered":"This Republican candidate labels China as &#8216;our adversary&#8217; while previously representing a CCP-owned firm"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthis-gop-candidate-says-china-is-our-enemy-he-represented-a-ccp-owned-company%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2251868&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Denny Rehberg, a former Congressman running for the Montana Republican primary, views China as an adversary, emphasizing national\u2064 security\u2063 in dealing with the\u2063 country. However, Rehberg&#8217;s past involvement with a CCP-owned \u200csurveillance \u2063firm, Hikvision, raises concerns \u200babout his lobbying activities \u200dand associations. The upcoming primary will determine his political fate. Denny Rehberg, a former Congressman vying for \u2064Montana&#8217;s Republican primary, \u2063regards\u2064 China as a foe, stressing national\u200d security \u2062in engagements. His prior links to Hikvision, a CCP-affiliated surveillance company, spark \u2063unease over lobbying ties. The\u2064 impending primary holds the key to Rehberg&#8217;s political destiny.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>To Denny Rehberg, a former member of Congress seeking the Republican <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/2843853\/denny-rehberg-weighing-montana-house-campaign-rosendale-seat\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>primary nomination<\/a> in Montana\u2019s deep-red 2nd Congressional District, China isn\u2019t just a competitor of the United States. \u201cIt is our enemy,\u201d he <a href=\"https:\/\/billingsgazette.com\/news\/local\/government-politics\/elections\/now-is-the-time-for-experience-in-congress-says-house-veteran-denny-rehberg\/article_b581f182-edf8-11ee-93c5-838cce114c23.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>said<\/a> earlier this month.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am sure Montanans agree that national security should be at the forefront of our negotiations with China,\u201d Rehberg, who upon leaving the U.S. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/house\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>House<\/a> in 2013 scored a co-chairman role at the high-powered Washington, D.C., <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/lobbying\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>lobbying<\/a> firm Mercury Public Affairs, told the Treasure State\u2019s <em>Billings Gazette<\/em> newspaper in May.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s just one problem: Rehberg lobbied while at Mercury as a <a href=\"https:\/\/efile.fara.gov\/docs\/6170-Short-Form-20180816-278.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>registered<\/a> foreign agent for a Chinese state-owned video surveillance company, which was then sanctioned by the U.S. government.<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. placed that same manufacturer, Hikvision, on a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2020\/11\/12\/investing\/trump-bans-us-investments-china-military\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>blacklist<\/a> in 2020 banning U.S. citizens from investing in Chinese firms controlled or owned by China\u2019s military. The Federal Communications Commission declared Hikvision to <a href=\"https:\/\/sg.style.yahoo.com\/finance\/news\/five-chinese-companies-pose-threat-021404090.html#:~:text=In%202019%2C%20the%20United%20States,firms%20on%20its%20economic%20blacklist.&#038;text=Last%20year%2C%20the%20FCC%20designated,purchase%20equipment%20from%20the%20companies.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>pose<\/a> \u201can unacceptable risk to U.S. national security\u201d and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2022\/nov\/26\/us-bans-new-huawei-equipment-sales-over-unacceptable-risk-to-national-security\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>prohibited<\/a> the sale or import in 2022 of Hikvision equipment in the U.S. And just last year, in 2023, the Biden administration <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/us-slaps-trade-curbs-5-chinese-firms-over-alleged-role-uyghur-repression-2023-03-28\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>added<\/a> numerous Hikvision subsidiaries to a Commerce Department blacklist, which Hikvision itself was placed on in 2019, for entities said to be assisting China\u2019s government in the persecution of Uyghur Muslims in China\u2019s Xinjiang region.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t work for the Chinese government,\u201d Rehberg, who reported on his 2024 candidate financial disclosure report that he and his spouse held up to $7.9 million in assets, told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. He is no longer with Mercury, said a source close to the firm, which did not respond to questions about Hikvision. <\/p>\n<p>Rehberg is running in the 2024 House primary against Montana state auditor Troy Downing, who notched 38% support to Rehberg\u2019s 26% in an April <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2024\/04\/24\/exclusive-poll-montana-state-auditor-troy-downing-leads-in-second-district-republican-primary\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>poll<\/a> among likely voters, as well as Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen. The winner of the June 4 primary will almost certainly win the general election in the district, which in 2020 swung for former President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Donald Trump<\/a> by nearly 27 percentage points.<\/p>\n<p>Rehberg, in an interview with the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>, said at Mercury he \u201cwas asked to look into a relationship\u201d between Hikvision and <a href=\"https:\/\/nationalfranchiseassociation.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>the<\/a> National Franchise Association for issues related to surveillance cameras in U.S. restaurants and grocery stores.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was nothing nefarious,\u201d Rehberg said. Asked about the U.S. sanctions and if he stands by registering as a foreign agent for Hikvision, Rehberg claimed he \u201chas no knowledge or idea of what happened\u201d in China.<\/p>\n<p>Still, <a href=\"https:\/\/ipvm-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/8646\/15ad\/Hik.lobbying.XJ%20(1).pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>records<\/a> on file with the Department of Justice show Rehberg in 2019 contacted then-top Commerce Department official Peter Krug in connection to possible agency \u201cactions against Hikvision.\u201d His Mercury lobbyist colleagues, DOJ filings show, also reached out to both the State Department about \u201cthe \u201cHikvision Xinjiang issue\u201d and Congress about the status of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/115th-congress\/house-bill\/7123?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%22first+use%22%7D&#038;s=1&#038;r=6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>legislation<\/a> aiming to address surveillance technology in Xinjiang.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy aren\u2019t you covering Guatemala, Ecuador, Ethiopia, all the other countries that are coming across the border? See, you\u2019re narrowing in on China. I don\u2019t have the luxury that you have of separating issues because I represented the entire state of Montana,\u201d Rehberg, an ex-GOP Montana congressman from 2001 to 2013, said. \u201cI didn\u2019t have the luxury you have of dividing your mind into China. I just didn\u2019t. I couldn\u2019t do it. Couldn\u2019t get to.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>Rep. Denny Rehberg campaigns Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012, in Big Sandy, Montana, the small and rural hometown of Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT). (AP Photo\/Matt Gouras)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>On his 2024 candidate financial disclosure, Rehberg said in the preceding year, he was paid on retainer by Mercury, which over the years has represented foreign governments such as Qatar, Kazakhstan, and Turkey. Mercury just recently <a href=\"https:\/\/lda.senate.gov\/filings\/public\/filing\/e64e900a-880c-441a-adef-f7fb9b016c03\/print\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>registered<\/a> to lobby for International Crisis Group, a global think tank connected to an Iranian government-controlled <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/foreign-policy\/2965899\/iranian-influence-network-biden-white-house-visits\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>influence network<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In August 2018, Rehberg submitted a signed <a href=\"https:\/\/efile.fara.gov\/docs\/6170-Short-Form-20180816-278.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>filing<\/a> to the DOJ reporting himself as a foreign agent for Hikvision USA. Rehberg, he told the U.S. government, would focus on consulting, lobbying, government relations, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/newt-gingrich-says-he-will-not-accept-joe-biden-as-president\/\" title=\"Newt Gingrich Says He \u2018Will Not Accept Joe Biden As President\u2019\">public affairs<\/a>, and outreach to U.S. officials.<\/p>\n<p>Hikvision, which is based in Hangzhou, China, has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2023\/04\/17\/hikvision-internal-review-xinjiang-contracts-uyghurs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>reportedly<\/a> partnered <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2023\/04\/21\/hikvision-leaked-tape-uyghur-surveillance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>with<\/a> the Chinese Communist Party in surveilling Uyghurs and mosques. A <a href=\"https:\/\/ipvm.com\/reports\/xinjiang-police-files\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>report<\/a> in June 2022, based on internal documents, found that Hikvision\u2019s cameras were used by Chinese police to track and detain Uyghurs for \u201cimmediate arrest.\u201d The State Department determined in 2021 that China <a href=\"https:\/\/2017-2021.state.gov\/determination-of-the-secretary-of-state-on-atrocities-in-xinjiang\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>has<\/a> committed genocide against Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region.<\/p>\n<p>Separate documents <a href=\"https:\/\/efile.fara.gov\/docs\/6170-Amendment-20210728-108.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>filed<\/a> in 2021 with the DOJ say Rehberg set up meetings with congressional offices in 2018 on behalf of Hikvision USA President Jeffrey He. The meetings, Rehberg told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>, \u201cwere about working with the Trump administration to help various small businesses in America through the issue of Hikvision having various cameras in restaurants.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Still, in those same DOJ filings for 2018, Mercury said its work for Hikvision was \u201cspecifically concerning provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act.\u201d That year, the annual defense bill signed by Congress <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/08\/07\/business\/huawei-us-ban.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>included<\/a> a ban on U.S. agencies from doing business with Hikvision, as well as other Chinese companies, over <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/blackburn-introduces-amendments-to-counter-china-and-iran\/\" title=\"Blackburn Introduces Amendments to Counter China and Iran\">national security concerns<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt takes a certain level of shamelessness to lobby the U.S. Congress on behalf of a CCP company linked to genocide, then run for a seat in the House of Representatives,\u201d Michael Sobolik, a China expert and senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council, a think tank in Washington, D.C., said.<\/p>\n<p>Hikvision counts its largest shareholder as China Electronics Technology Group, a state-owned corporation formed in 2002 by China\u2019s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, according to 2023 Hikvision financial disclosures. The records list Hikvision as having other state-owned shareholders, including the Beijing-based Central Huijin Investment Company and CETC Investment Holdings. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cRepresenting the interests of Hikvision, a company that has aided and abetted Beijing\u2019s attempts to destroy the Uyghur people, displays a profound lack of moral judgment and should disqualify anyone from public service in the United States of America,\u201d Sobolik, author of <em>Countering China\u2019s Great Game: A Strategy for American Dominance<\/em>, added.<\/p>\n<p>One person who has been personally affected by China\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/saudi-court-jails-womens-rights-activist-posing-challenge-for-biden\/\" title=\"Saudi court jails women\u2019s rights activist, posing challenge for Biden\">human rights violations<\/a> against Uyghurs, Rushan Abbas, said it\u2019s \u201cextremely disappointing\u201d that Rehberg and Mercury have prioritized \u201cprofit from China\u2019s blood money over human rights and human dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s very disturbing,\u201d Abbas, a Uyghur American who leads a group called Campaign for Uyghurs, said.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title><strong>CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Abbas has a sister named Dr. Gulshan Abbas who, in 2018, was detained by China\u2019s government in Xinjiang.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnless he denounces or publicly apologizes for what he did, he should not be elected to represent the American people,\u201d Rushan Abbas told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former Congressman Denny Rehberg, vying for the Republican primary in Montana&#8217;s 2nd Congressional District, views China as more than a competitor\u2014it&#8217;s an enemy. Emphasizing national security in negotiations, he aligns with Montanans who share similar concerns about China&#8217;s stance towards the US<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":381,"featured_media":2251869,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/AP110205031831-1024x673.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2251868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/AP110205031831-1024x673.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2251868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/381"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2251868"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2251868\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2251869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2251868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2251868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2251868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}