{"id":2393227,"date":"2025-01-21T12:30:01","date_gmt":"2025-01-21T17:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lobbying-firm-retains-ccp-military-corporation\/"},"modified":"2025-01-21T12:31:27","modified_gmt":"2025-01-21T17:31:27","slug":"lobbying-firm-retains-ccp-military-corporation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lobbying-firm-retains-ccp-military-corporation\/","title":{"rendered":"Lobbying firm retains CCP military corporation"},"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\">12<\/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%2Flobbying-firm-retains-ccp-military-corporation%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=2393227&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>The article \u200ddiscusses how Brownstein\u200b Hyatt\u200d Farber \u2063Schreck, the\u200c largest lobbying firm in the U.S.by revenue, continues to represent Tencent, a Chinese tech company \u200brecently added \u2064to the Pentagon&#8217;s list of entities associated with the Chinese \u200dmilitary. Despite Tencent&#8217;s ancient ties with the Chinese\u2062 government and the Pentagon&#8217;s designation,Brownstein has not\u200c terminated its\u200c lobbying \u200brelationship,nor have they filed any paperwork \u2062to do so. The article highlights the ongoing partnership \u200cbetween the firm and Tencent, even as the latter \u2062denies any allegations of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/well-known-pro-beijing-chinese-american-arrested-by-fbi-for-attempting-to-obstruct-justice\/\" title=\"FBI arrests prominent pro-Beijing Chinese American for obstructing justice.\">military\u2062 ties<\/a>. Brownstein \u2063recently submitted a\u2064 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/huawei-reportedly-paid-democrat-lobbyist-1m\/\" title=\"Huawei reportedly paid Democrat lobbyist M\">lobbying report<\/a> that \u200bdoes\u2062 not indicate any change in this relationship.  <\/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<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Top lobbying firm retains Tencent as client despite links to China<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1927263\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opensecrets.org\/federal-lobbying\/top-lobbying-firms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">largest<\/a> lobbying firm by revenue in the United States, has yet to terminate its relationship with Chinese tech conglomerate Tencent nearly two weeks after the Defense Department designated it as a &ldquo;Chinese military company,&rdquo; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lincoln-project-founder-used-donor-cash-to-shore-up-shoddy-finances\/\" title=\"Lincoln Project Founder Used Donor Cash to Shore Up Shoddy Finances\">public records show<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>On Jan. 7, the Pentagon <a href=\"https:\/\/media.defense.gov\/2025\/Jan\/07\/2003625471\/-1\/-1\/1\/ENTITIES-IDENTIFIED-AS-CHINESE-MILITARY-COMPANIES-OPERATING-IN-THE-UNITED-STATES.PDF\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">added<\/a> Tencent to its list of entities that are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.govinfo.gov\/content\/pkg\/USCODE-2020-title10\/html\/USCODE-2020-title10-subtitleA-partI-chap2-sec113.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">either <\/a>&ldquo;directly or indirectly owned, controlled, or beneficially owned by&rdquo; the Chinese military or that are &ldquo;military-civil fusion contributor[s] to the Chinese defense industrial base.&rdquo; Tencent, which has historically maintained close ties with the Chinese government, denies these allegations, and Brownstein, its U.S.-based lobbying partner has <a href=\"https:\/\/lda.senate.gov\/filings\/public\/filing\/search\/?registrant=Brown&amp;registrant_country=&amp;registrant_ppb_country=&amp;client=Tencent&amp;client_state=&amp;client_country=&amp;client_ppb_country=&amp;lobbyist=&amp;lobbyist_covered_position=&amp;lobbyist_conviction_disclosure=&amp;lobbyist_conviction_date_range_from=&amp;lobbyist_conviction_date_range_to=&amp;report_period=&amp;report_year=&amp;report_dt_posted_from=&amp;report_dt_posted_to=&amp;report_amount_reported_min=&amp;report_amount_reported_max=&amp;report_filing_uuid=&amp;report_house_doc_id=&amp;report_issue_area_description=&amp;affiliated_organization=&amp;affiliated_organization_country=&amp;foreign_entity=&amp;foreign_entity_country=&amp;foreign_entity_ppb_country=&amp;foreign_entity_ownership_percentage_min=&amp;foreign_entity_ownership_percentage_max=&amp;search=search#js_searchFormTitle\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">yet to file<\/a> paperwork terminating the relationship between the two.<\/p>\n<p>Brownstein filed its fourth-quarter lobbying report for Tencent on Monday with no indication that the firm had dropped the Chinese tech conglomerate as a client.<\/p>\n<p>Federal lobbying disclosures show that Tencent paid Brownstein $800,000 in 2024 to <a href=\"https:\/\/lda.senate.gov\/filings\/public\/filing\/9166efe1-ea13-4e26-9449-3def3e5ef8ca\/print\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">monitor<\/a> &ldquo;developments regarding regulation of applications,&rdquo; citing the importance of &ldquo;international data and communications applications&rdquo; to both Tencent as a whole and WeChat, a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">text-based messaging service<\/a> that it owns.<\/p>\n<p>WeChat engages in surveillance and censorship on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2020\/09\/28\/chinese-tech-firms-fueling-beijings-repression\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">according<\/a> to Human Rights Watch. The Tencent-owned platform has, among other things, provided the Chinese government with information leading to the arrests of religious and political dissidents.<\/p>\n<p>WeChat&rsquo;s allegiance to the Chinese government is unsurprising given that Tencent co-founder and CEO Ma Huateng <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tencent.com\/en-us\/investors\/board-members.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">served<\/a> two terms as part of the CCP-controlled National People&rsquo;s Congress.<\/p>\n<p>While the Pentagon&rsquo;s 1260H list does not function as a formal sanction, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cov.com\/en\/news-and-insights\/insights\/2025\/01\/new-law-appears-to-restrict-defense-contractors-from-retaining-consultants-who-lobby-for-chinese-military-companies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">provision<\/a> in the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act that takes effect in June 2026 would bar defense contractors from doing business with any lobbying firm representing Pentagon-designated Chinese military companies. This would block Brownstein from millions of dollars in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/u-s-lobbying-firms-terminate-contracts-with-sanctioned-russian-enterprises-banks\/\" title=\"U.S. Lobbying Firms Terminate Contracts with Sanctioned Russian Enterprises, Banks\">lobbying contracts<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Even before the 2025 NDAA passed, some lobbying firms <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/newsletters\/politico-influence\/2024\/02\/21\/lobbyists-dump-chinese-clients-after-blacklist-threats-00142523\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">folded<\/a> to pressure from lawmakers and dropped clients that had been labeled as Chinese military companies. Akin Gump Strauss Hauer &amp; Feld, the second-largest U.S. lobbying outfit by revenue, parted ways with Hesai Group in February 2024 amid rumors of congressional offices blacklisting lobbyists who worked with Chinese military companies. The Vogel Group, similarly, dropped drone manufacturer and Chinese military company DJI as a client around the same time. Even Brownstein dropped Hesai amid similar concerns in 2024.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"><strong><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Chinese military companies have attempted to exert considerable sway on U.S. policymaking, with such entities spending over $20 million on lobbying between 2020 and April 2024, <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2024\/04\/11\/chinese-military-companies-have-spent-over-24-million-lobbying-the-us-govt-in-recent-years\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">according<\/a> to a <em>Daily Caller News Foundation<\/em> analysis.<\/p>\n<p>Brownstein did not respond to multiple requests for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1927263\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1927263\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Top lobbying firm keeps Tencent as client despite military ties<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":894,"featured_media":2393228,"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\/2025\/01\/China-hacking-cybersecurity-gg3-1024x576.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[7126,4381,35821,4198,48938],"class_list":["post-2393227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-ccp","tag-ethics","tag-government-relations","tag-lobbying","tag-military-corporation"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/China-hacking-cybersecurity-gg3-1024x576.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2393227","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\/894"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2393227"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2393227\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2393231,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2393227\/revisions\/2393231"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2393228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2393227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2393227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2393227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}