China Using Wall Street To Strengthen US Ties

Communist China is reportedly attempting to rework ties with the U.S. by deploying a back-channel delegation of advisors and business leaders to meet with their counterparts on Wall Street.

The Wall Street Journal reports the meeting took place just days before President Joe Biden met with Chinese President Xi Jingping at the G20 Summit in Indonesia.

The sit-down was organized by American businessman Maurice “Hank” Greenberg, a 97-year-old World War II veteran. Greenberg is the CEO of CV Starr and Co., an insurance and investment company.

He and his associates spoke with the Chinese delegation on issues ranging from the Russian invasion of Ukraine to Taiwan and North Korea. Further, the WSJ reported the Biden administration was briefed on the gathering.

Joining Greenberg at the table was former Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman and the former U.S. ambassador to China, Max Baucus. Each belongs to a panel Greenberg created in July with the expressed purpose of re-establishing “a constructive bilateral dialogue” with the communist nation.

The U.S. side met with the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs. The group is described as a think tank associated with the country’s foreign ministry.

Tensions have been high between the superpowers since the 2020 outbreak of COVID-19 originated in China. The U.S. has taken exception to China’s notoriously negative human rights record, and the issue of reunification with Taiwan has also been at the forefront.

Greenback has a long history of political involvement and in recent years became a large Republican donor. In 2016 he gave $10 million to a super PAC endorsing Jeb Bush’s campaign for the White House.

Experts question the wisdom of such talks between the Chinese-government-affiliated group and American business interests. Peter Schweizer, who wrote “Red-Handed: How American Elites Get Rich Helping China Win,” took exception to the talks.

Schweizer told The Daily Caller that the U.S. side was either naive or knew well who they were meeting with. He added that the American delegation did not “strike me as naive.”

Hoover Institution analysts allege CPIFA is a front group for the United Front Work Department (UFWD). The State Department in 2020 declared that UFWD practiced espionage, propaganda, and used violence to further Beijing’s aims.