Lobbying Continues Before Vote On Controversial Bill

The Chinese Embassy has recently been facing scrutiny for holding meetings with congressional staffers in an effort to lobby against a bill that would force a sale of the popular social media app TikTok. The bill, titled the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, was passed by the House in March and is currently facing an uncertain future in the Senate.

The meetings, which involved Chinese diplomats, were confirmed by two Capitol Hill staffers who spoke on the condition of anonymity. In a separate incident, a third staffer, a Democratic Senate aide, was approached by an embassy official who expressed interest in discussing the House’s TikTok bill.

According to the staffers, the conversations with the Chinese Embassy were initiated without any mention of TikTok. During the meetings, the embassy sought to downplay national security concerns raised by the legislation and instead, focused on aligning the app with American interests. This included emphasizing the harm a ban on TikTok would inflict on U.S. investors who hold partial ownership in ByteDance, the Beijing-based company that owns TikTok. The embassy also highlighted the fact that not all of ByteDance’s board members are Chinese nationals.

TikTok, however, has consistently denied any involvement with the Chinese government and has attempted to distance itself from its Chinese origins. The app is headquartered in Singapore and the United States and has made efforts to portray itself as a global company. In response to the reports of the Chinese Embassy’s meetings, a TikTok spokesperson stated that the company was unaware of the situation and found it “absurd” to comment on anonymous sources. The spokesperson also reiterated the company’s opposition to the bill, referencing their previous public statements on the matter.

The Chinese Embassy, on the other hand, did not deny the meetings in a statement, stating that the embassy “tries to tell the truth about the TikTok issue” to different individuals in the U.S. The statement also mentioned that the embassy has emphasized the issue of fairness for Chinese companies and warned against the U.S.’s attempts to suppress TikTok. The embassy also argued that the bill would amount to a forced data transfer of a Chinese company and that the U.S. would not treat a company of different national origin in the same manner.

This effort by the embassy to portray TikTok as a Chinese company is in direct contrast to the app’s public efforts to emphasize its global presence. The company’s lobbying efforts have also been significant, with dozens of lobbyists and millions of dollars spent to sway public opinion and push back against the narrative that TikTok is a tool for Chinese influence in the U.S.

The app has also utilized targeted advertisement campaigns and leveraged its user base through push alerts to urge Congress to reconsider the bill. The conservative group Club for Growth, which is partly funded by an investor in ByteDance, has also played a role in promoting TikTok’s interests in Washington.

The broad efforts to lobby against the bill may ultimately prove successful, as the Senate remains divided on the matter. Negotiations are currently ongoing as Sen. Maria Cantwell, chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, attempts to solidify the legal standing of the bill. Meanwhile, the bill’s champion, Rep. Mike Gallagher, will be leaving the House later this month. The forced sale of TikTok is also expected to be included in a series of bills being released by House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday, covering topics such as foreign aid and foreign adversaries.

The lobbying efforts by the Chinese Embassy have sparked concerns about foreign influence in U.S. politics. However, diplomatic efforts are generally exempt from the regulations on foreign influence, which are encompassed by the Foreign Agents Registration Act. According to David Laufman, a former DOJ official, embassy officials in such cases would not typically face any repercussions. Some critics, however, have argued that the embassy’s efforts have only served to highlight the need for separating TikTok from its Chinese parent company.

Michael Sobolik, a senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council, remarked that Chinese diplomats “have done America a favor” by showcasing the app’s value as a tool for the Chinese Communist Party to influence Americans.