Chinese ‘Friendship’ Group Grows U.S. Outreach Despite Intel Warning

Tacoma, Wash. — On a sunny afternoon here last month, the Sixth U.S.–China Sister Cities Summit kicked off with a land acknowledgement, a salmon bake, and warm words about friendship between the two countries.

Ricki Garrett, the president of Sister Cities International, the American nonprofit that organized the summit, suggested that Dwight Eisenhower — its founder — would have appreciated the scene “because it was his belief that it was only through citizen diplomacy, people-to-people, community-to-community relationships that true peace could be achieved.”

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Jimmy Quinn

Jimmy Quinn is the former national security correspondent for National Review.

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Tacoma, Wash. — On a sunny afternoon here last month, the Sixth U.S.–China Sister Cities Summit kicked off with a land acknowledgement, a salmon bake, and warm words about friendship between the two countries.

Ricki Garrett, the president of Sister Cities International, the American nonprofit that organized the summit, suggested that Dwight Eisenhower — its founder — would have appreciated the scene “because it was his belief that it was only through citizen diplomacy, people-to-people, community-to-community relationships that true peace could be achieved.”