The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party is investing US venture capitalist firms that are funding Chinese startups.
The US has been cracking down on China’s tech industry, restricting access to semiconductors, AI, and other advanced tech. The House committee is expanding its focus, looking at VCs who are funding Chinese startups, according to The Wall Street Journal. Lawmakers are concerned that tech funded by US VCs could ultimately be used against US interests.
âWe shouldnât be funding our own destruction,â said the panelâs chairman, Rep. Mike Gallagher, in an interview.
Similarly, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi told WSJ that American investment and expertise should not enable Chinaâs âadvancements in the technologies that could undermine our national security or American values.â
The committee sent letters to VCs to question their investments, specifically to GGV and Qualcomm Ventures over their investments in Chinese firms Megvii Technology and SenseTime.
The committee’s work is framed within the scope of the bigger issues between the US and China.
âWe may call this a âstrategic competition,ââ said Rep. Gallagher at the committee’s opening hearing. âBut this is not a polite tennis match. This is an existential struggle over what life will look like in the 21st century, and the most fundamental freedoms are at stake.â