Biden-tied business elites hooked on China

FPI / August 24, 2021

Analysis by Joe Schaeffer

Americans in recent years have voiced their mounting concern over the moral repugnancy of leading U.S. corporations being cozily entwined with China’s increasingly sinister communist regime. A leading U.S. global business elite who works for a consulting firm with heavy Biden administration ties is sending his reply: Forget about it. The money’s too green here for us to ever give it up.

The quest for profit towers over all other matters for U.S.-based global corporations, be they basic human rights concerns or even the national security of this country. Kenneth Jarrett is a senior advisor to the Albright Stonebridge Group. If that first name rings a bell, well, yes, former Bill Clinton Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is Chairwoman of the company.

Forbes on Aug. 23 posted an alarming article on U.S. business executives’ continuing enthusiasm for working hand-in-hand with the Red Asian superpower. Speaking at the “U.S.-China Business Forum,” an event organized by Forbes China, on Aug. 19, Jarrett expressed an attitude of positive defiance over any opprobrium that may come these corporations’ way from such a murderous association (bold added):

“They are quite committed to this market, and they see this as critical to their global performance. Companies don’t intend to leave. There actually hasn’t been that much activity in terms of leaving or reshoring,” [Jarrett] said.

Consumer-facing businesses are going relatively well, as are chemical suppliers and auto companies, Jarrett said. “U.S. companies are still selling lots of semiconductors to China, but China is in the process of trying to build up its own industry,” he noted. Jarrett was less optimistic about “market access” issues, which he defined as equity caps and licensing challenges. These problems still affect financial services, law firms, hospital investments and movie studios. In addition, there are still entire industries that remain off limits to foreign investment.

“China will continue to be a work in progress,” Jarrett said. For companies with existing operations, however, they are “here for the long term.”
From the sound of things, Jarrett appears to be more tied to China than America:

[Jarrett is] a resident of Shanghai since 2005 who was president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai for five years before joining ASG in 2018. Previously, Jarrett was U.S. consul general in Shanghai, deputy consul general in Hong Kong and director of Asian affairs at the White House National Security Council. Following his government service, Mr. Jarrett served as chairman of Greater China for APCO Worldwide.

His Albright Stonebridge bio proudly boasts that he has been given a particularly prestigious award from the communist Chinese:

He is the recipient of the Magnolia Award (Silver) from the Shanghai government and is a member of the National Committee for U.S.-China Relations. A 2012 press release from a U.S. real estate company celebrating one of its execs receiving the honor states that:

The Magnolia Silver Award is presented annually to expatriates who have significantly contributed to Shanghai's economic and social development. Created in 1989 by the municipal government, this award remains one of the highest recognitions for foreign citizens living in Shanghai.

Here's where it gets really ugly. Albright Stonebridge is “a founding member of Dentons Global Advisors, a new independent advisory firm in unique partnership with Dentons,” the firm’s website states. Dentons is the world’s largest law firm.

The Washington Free Beacon reported in June that:

Albright Stonebridge Group, an advisory agency with deep ties to the Biden administration’s foreign policy team, announced it will partner with multinational law firm Dentons, which operates the largest legal firm in China, to build a new joint venture in international commerce called Dentons Global Advisors. Dentons Global Advisors will focus on "commercial diplomacy" and government relations worldwide, but likely will capitalize on its founders' foothold within the Biden administration.

Included among Albright Stonebridge alumni are several of President Joe Biden's top advisers on national security matters. Before joining the administration, U.N. ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield led the firm's Africa shop, while Vice President Kamala Harris's national security adviser Philip Gordon worked as a senior adviser for the organization.

Controversial State Department appointees Victoria Nuland and Wendy Sherman also worked for Albright Stonebridge during the Trump administration.

The Free Beacon highlights just how disturbing this close relationship is:

The firm, which was founded by Clinton administration secretary of state Madeleine Albright, will likely not just have access to officials close to the White House but also strong connections to Chinese business.

One of Dentons's subsidiaries is Dacheng, a powerhouse Chinese law firm acquired in 2015. Dacheng is considered by scholars to be a part of the "iron triangle" in the Chinese justice system, where the courts, lawyers, and law enforcement work together to advance the interests of the Chinese Communist Party.

The Chinese law firm formed its own Communist Party committee at one point, and several senior partners have assumed positions of responsibility within local party structures.

Apparently Jarrett’s profession of love for China is something of an annual affair. In late August 2020, he addressed Forbes China’s “U.S.-China Business Forum,” saying:

“China is simply too critical” to the long-term global strategic plans of U.S. business to be abandoned. ...“It's a consumption market that has arrived. Most U.S. companies are profitable and successful, and they find this a very important market to be, so there's no intention to leave.”

“I've been in Shanghai non-stop since 2005. There's really nothing about the atmosphere other than dealing with the political issues that companies face to suggest they are reassessing the importance of China to them.”

This is the orbit in which the Biden administration resides lock, stock and barrel. And so the sellout of this nation to China will continue. Another reminder: Never listen to those telling you to “just move on” from the fraud-riddled 2020 presidential election.


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