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SECTION 2

State and Local Governments

In late 2017, an American city in the mid-Atlantic region was invited to form a sister city relationship with a town in southern China. The American partner city was home to a large number of national security professionals and university and government scientists, including many of PRC origin. The partnership was proposed and shepherded by the manager of a for-profit Chinese “exchanges” company—a woman of PRC origin. She was assisted by an American citizen of PRC origin who was running for a position on the local school board.

In a briefing, an American China expert told the local sister city committee that there was no reason not to explore a partnership, provided the American side had defined goals and was aware of Beijing’s increasingly repressive domestic policies, its growing suspicions of US influence, and its well-funded efforts to increase its influence overseas. The man running for the local school board objected to this characterization and pointed out that China’s constitution gives the CCP paramount authority in China.

After a long debate, the new sister city agreement was signed in the fall of 2018. Some Americans involved objected to China’s insistence that all sister city activities be carried out “in accordance with the principles on the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States of America and the People’s Republic of China (根据中美两国建交原则),” because this seemed to be a reference to the One China Principle, which might be invoked to preclude exchanges with Taiwan. Despite these objections, the phrase appeared in the signed agreement because the Chinese side said that the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries required that all sister city agreements include such language and the US side did not want to derail the agreement by insisting otherwise.

The story of this sister city agreement illustrates the challenges and opportunities “sub-national entities” (local governments, cities, and states) face in the United States when dealing with a China intent on maximizing its influence in America and across the globe. As this report details in other sections, the age of innocent engagement is over, and this is now true for American local officials as well as for representatives

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