A US congressional committee on China is to hold a war game simulating a Chinese invasion of Taiwan with financial and business executives in New York to show the risks of investing in China, the Financial Times reported yesterday.
US House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party Chairman Mike Gallagher and US Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi are tomorrow to lead the simulation, the newspaper said, citing an unnamed source close to the committee.
The participants are to include representatives from investment banks, current and former pharmaceutical company executives, and retired high-ranking US military officers, the Financial Times said.
Photo: Reuters
The panel is expected to meet Wall Street executives to scrutinize how potential US investment in China could harm US national security.
On Tuesday, they are to hold a hearing that would include testimony from former US Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Jay Clayton and investment manager Jim Chanos.
The Financial Times quoted the source as saying that the lawmakers wanted comments from the financial community about “the systemic risks that come with American capital flowing to China and how banks and other financial institutions think about their investments in China and exposure to the Chinese economy in the event of a political crisis.”
The war game is to explore the economic ramifications of a conflict between the US and China over Taiwan.
The US representatives in April attended a war game in Washington that “raised questions about whether the US and its allies were doing enough to prepare for sanctions on China and an economic war with Beijing,” the Financial Times said.
Earlier this year, the committee met Apple chief executive officer Tim Cook and Disney chief executive officer Bob Iger in several discussions that showed that Hollywood and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs underestimate the risk of war in Taiwan, Gallagher told the Financial Times.
Krishnamoorthi was quoted as saying that it was “important that our committee hear from the financial industry about how [Chinese Communist Party] policies are affecting Americans’ savings and investments and what Congress needs to do to help protect American investors and our national security.”
The bipartisan committee was established in January to assess and manage the national security threat posed by China. It has also addressed issues such as Beijing’s predatory economic practices and human rights transgressions.
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