Washington, D.C. – On Tuesday, Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee issued a warning, highlighting the potential surveillance activities carried out by service centers affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on American soil. The Daily Caller News Foundation’s investigative reporting uncovered the existence of these service centers, operated by a Chinese intelligence agency, which maintain communication with Beijing’s national police authority. Sen. Blackburn, during an interview with Fox News host Maria Bartiromo, expressed her concerns about the CCP’s use of these centers for both “soft propaganda” dissemination and surveillance targeting Chinese Americans.
Sen. Blackburn explained that the Chinese Communist Party has been employing various tactics to exert influence and promote its ideologies. In addition to Confucius classrooms, Confucius Institutes, and sister city programs, it has now come to light that these cultural centers are being utilized as surveillance hubs, enabling the Chinese Communist Party to monitor Chinese citizens residing in the United States, as well as individuals who have immigrated for work purposes.
Highlighting the gravity of the situation, Sen. Blackburn, along with seven other Republican senators, penned a letter addressed to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) on July 10, urging them to launch an investigation into these service centers. The senators argue in the letter that these centers aim to target Chinese Americans who hold views contradictory to the CCP’s principles.
The concerns raised by Sen. Blackburn and her colleagues shed light on the potential risks posed by these service centers. They call for a thorough examination of the activities conducted within these facilities to safeguard the interests and privacy of Chinese Americans residing in the United States. This bipartisan effort seeks to ensure that individuals are not subjected to surveillance or intimidation based on their political beliefs or opposition to the CCP’s agenda.
“The CCP’s intent is clear with its operation of these [Overseas Chinese Service Centers]: to intimidate and surveil Chinese Americans with dissenting opinions,” the letter reads.
Blackburn also said that the group of senators that endorsed the letter want to investigate the extent to which the CCP is using these centers to surveil U.S. citizens.
“We know that they are doing it on Chinese people. What we are wanting to do is to see how far this has spread. Are they surveilling Americans? We are looking at the seven cities where we’ve been able to pinpoint these OCSCs … and look at what they are actually doing behind these closed doors. What type of surveillance are they getting?” Blackburn told Bartiromo.
