Those concerns have arisen amid escalating disputes between the U.S. And FBI Director Christopher Wray last year accused China of seeking to “cultivate talent early-often state and local officials-to ensure that politicians at all levels of government will be ready to take a call and advocate on behalf of Beijing’s agenda.”Īuthorities in other countries, including Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom, have sounded similar alarms. The National Counterintelligence and Security Center in July warned state and local officials about “deceptive and coercive” Chinese influence operations.

Beijing believes, the report said, that “local officials are more pliable than their federal counterparts.” intelligence community reported that China is “redoubling” its local influence campaigns in the face of stiffening resistance at the national level. In its annual threat assessment released earlier this month, the U.S. However, they said, few nations have so aggressively courted local leaders in ways that raise national security concerns.

officials and security experts have stressed that many Chinese language and cultural exchanges have no hidden agendas. It is not unusual for countries, including the U.S., to engage in local diplomacy. in 2015 that “without successful cooperation at the sub-national level it would be very difficult to achieve practical results for cooperation at the national level.”Ī spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington told the AP that China “values its relationship with Utah” and any “words and deeds that stigmatize and smear these sub-national exchanges are driven by ulterior political purposes.” China’s leader, Xi Jinping, said during a trip to the U.S. ‘DECEPTIVE AND COERCIVE’īeijing’s interest in locally focused influence campaigns is not a secret. A Utah professor who has advocated for closer ties between Washington and Beijing told the AP he’s been questioned by the FBI twice. In Utah, the AP found, Beijing and pro-China advocates appealed to lawmakers’ affiliations with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, better known as the Mormon church, which is the state’s dominant religion and one that has long dreamed of expanding in China.īeijing’s campaign in Utah has raised concerns among state and federal lawmakers and drawn the attention of the Justice Department.Ī state legislator told the AP he was interviewed by the FBI after introducing a resolution in 2020 expressing solidarity with China early in the coronavirus pandemic.

Security experts say that China’s campaign is widespread and tailored to local communities. “If the Chinese can succeed in Salt Lake City, they can also make it in New York and elsewhere.” “Utah is an important foothold,” he said. officials say local leaders are at risk of being manipulated by China and have deemed the influence campaign a threat to national security.īeijing’s success in Utah shows “how pervasive and persistent China has been in trying to influence America,” said Frank Montoya Jr., a retired FBI counterintelligence agent who lives in Utah. and its western allies have turned acrimonious. Its work in Utah is emblematic of a broader effort by Beijing to secure allies at the local level as its relations with the U.S. Those efforts have paid dividends at home and abroad, the AP found: Lawmakers delayed legislation Beijing didn’t like, nixed resolutions that conveyed displeasure with its actions and expressed support in ways that enhanced the Chinese government’s image. SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - China’s global campaign to win friends and influence policy has blossomed in a surprising place: Utah, a deeply religious and conservative state with few obvious ties to the world’s most powerful communist country.Īn investigation by the Associated Press has found that China and its U.S.-based advocates spent years building relationships with the state’s officials and lawmakers.

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