China

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley sent a letter to Secretary Steve Mnuchin calling on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to reject Oracle’s proposed partnership with ByteDance to obtain control of TikTok’s U.S. operations. Senator Hawley writes that the proposed partnership allows for continued Chinese Communist Party control of TikTok, putting American data at risk and violating President Trump’s executive order.

Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to Disney CEO Robert Chapek condemning the company for whitewashing the ongoing genocide of Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities during the production of Mulan. In producing the movie, Disney traveled to the Xinjiang province where atrocities are occurring, collaborated with local Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda organs, and gave “special thanks” to a CCP agency in charge of administering concentration camps in Xinjiang. Senator Hawley writes that Disney has crossed the line from complacency into complicity.

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley’s (R-Mo.) bill to ban TikTok on government devices unanimously passed the Senate. Senator Hawley’s bill, introduced with Senator Rick Scott (R-Fla.), would follow up on steps already taken by the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, and TSA to ban the app on federal government devices due to security concerns.

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella demanding that TikTok sever any and all ties to ByteDance and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in any potential acquisition by Microsoft. Senator Hawley writes that there have been a number of recent conflicting reports about Microsoft’s plans and it is not clear whether the app will include vulnerabilities that allow the CCP to access American users’ data.

U.S. Senators Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) sent a letter to Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers calling for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to open an investigation into Zoom and TikTok for reported violations of Americans’ civil liberties and of their close ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

In response to Senator Josh Hawley’s July letter to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum would not commit to protecting employees or players who publicly criticize the Chinese Communist Party, calling it a “hypothetical question.” Senator Hawley said the NBA’s letter “reads like lawyers in Beijing drafted it” and called for Commissioner Silver to testify before Congress.

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee unanimously passed U.S. Senator Josh Hawley’s (R-Mo.) bill to ban TikTok on government devices. Senator Hawley’s bill, introduced with Senator Rick Scott (R-Fla.), will now move to the Senate floor.

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to Zoom calling for the company to choose a side: American principles and free-speech, or short-term global profits and censorship. His letter comes after Zoom chose to close the accounts of prominent U.S.-based critics of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for discussing the Tiananmen Square massacre, claiming the closures were necessary to “comply with local law.”

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission asking for an investigation into Zynn. Zynn, an app almost identical to TikTok, has quickly risen to the top of the app store charts and pays users for views and referring friends. In the letter, Senator Hawley raises concerns that the app’s immediate dominance may drive competitors out of the market, notes that Zynn’s parent company, Kuaishou, has ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and has engaged in promoting propaganda and suppressing criticism, and suspects that Zynn is not abiding by Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) requirements.

On the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent an open letter to American companies operating in China calling for them to stand up against the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) crackdown on Hong Kong. Senator Hawley says the CCP uses its economic power to silence foreign governments and companies but relies on American companies to do so. He calls for these companies to align their actions with their words and stand with the people of Hong Kong.