Chinese-state-media summaries of the meeting emphasized that the U.S. and China should seek cooperation rather than conflict.
A U.S. nonprofit group co-organized a dialogue between American political figures and a Chinese Communist Party department responsible for efforts to influence the perceptions of foreign political elites.
After Chinese state media reported on the virtual meeting, which included pictures that featured the logo of the George H. W. Bush Foundation for U.S.–China Relations, a spokesperson for the nonprofit confirmed that it co-organized the virtual gathering on May 22 and 23.
“Launched in 2010, this off-the-record dialogue serves as a platform for former Democratic and Republican public office-holders and current officials of the Communist Party of China to engage in a candid exchange of views about the U.S.-China relationship and the two countries’ domestic political landscapes,” a spokesperson for the George H. W. Bush Foundation for U.S.–China Relations told National Review in an emailed statement. “In this session of the dialogue, the U.S. and Chinese participants agreed that the U.S.-China relationship is of vital importance to each country and to the global economy and that conflict between the two nations would be extremely costly to all involved, but acknowledged and discussed in some detail areas of sharp disagreement on a wide range of issues in the bilateral relationship.”
The CCP office that participated in the talks is the international department, or the international liaison department, a party organ tasked with building relationships with foreign political parties to promote Beijing’s aims across the world. Scholars Clive Hamilton and Mareike Ohlberg wrote in their 2020 book Hidden Hand that the international liaison department’s conferences “are valuable because of the opportunity they provide for the CCP to befriend individuals, who then return home to inject Beijing’s viewpoint into their parties’ deliberations.”
Although the George H. W. Bush Foundation for U.S.–China Relations commented on its role as an organizer, it did not provide a list of U.S. participants. And while Chinese-state-media reports published pictures featuring the Chinese officials involved in the event, a video conference panel with other participants did not provide a clear view of the other people who joined the talks.
This is in marked contrast with dialogues in previous years, before the recent downturn in U.S.–Chinese relations made U.S. political engagement with China unpalatable, when host organizations shared the names of Americans who had participated. Previous iterations of this event involved former U.S. ambassador to China Gary Locke and former housing and urban development secretary Alphonso Jackson, as well as former officials from the Republican and Democratic National Committees. The U.S.–Chinese political parties dialogue did not take place last year. The most recent dialogue before this week’s was in 2021, and it was also co-hosted by the George H. W. Bush Foundation for U.S.–China Relations.
According to Chinese state media, Liu Jianchao, the head of the party’s international department, gave a keynote speech at the conference. Chinese-state-media summaries of the meeting emphasized that the U.S. and China should seek cooperation rather than conflict. “The two sides agreed to continue the exchanges and dialogues between the CPC and the Democratic and Republican parties of the United States,” the Chinese government’s Xinhua outlet stated.
The George H. W. Bush Foundation for U.S.–China Relations was launched in 2017 with Neil Bush, the 41st president’s son, as its founder. In 2021, Axios reported that the foundation had accepted a $5 million grant from the China–U.S. Exchange Foundation, a nonprofit group led by former Hong Kong chief executive Tung Chee-hwa, who is registered as a foreign agent with the Justice Department. CUSEF is linked to the CCP’s foreign-influence work through the United Front Work Department.
The George H. W. Bush Foundation for U.S.–China Relations also sponsored a student conference at Brown University this year featuring a keynote address by CY Leung, another former Hong Kong chief executive who espouses pro-Beijing views.