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Sen. Max Baucus (D., Mont.), President Barack Obama’s nominee for the next U.S. ambassador to China, has advised a foundation funded by the U.S. branches of Chinese state-owned banks and companies and a Chinese telecommunications giant accused of spying on Americans.
Baucus has advised the U.S.-China Policy Foundation (USCPF), according to the group’s website, which does not mention how long he has served in that role or what his responsibilities were.
The USCPF is a nonprofit organization founded in 1995 that “promotes understanding between policymakers, government officials, researchers, and the general public in the United States and in China.”
Obama announced Baucus, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, as his nominee for the next ambassador to China last month.
“For more than two decades Max Baucus has worked to deepen the relationship between the United States and China,” the president said in a statement.
However, Baucus’ ties to the USCPF raise questions about his approach to U.S.-China relations.
Annual gala dinners hosted by the USCPF have been funded by U.S. subsidiaries of banks and companies owned by the Chinese Communist government, according to the foundation’s online newsletters and donor categories. The funders include telecom giant Huawei Technologies.
Huawei was a “supporter” of the USCPF’s 2012 gala, a qualification that required a contribution of $10,000. A House intelligence committee report in 2012 concluded that equipment installed by Huawei and ZTE Corp. for U.S. companies could be used to “beacon” sensitive communications data back to China and poses a national security risk.
Huawei gear is used to manage traffic on wireless networks and experts have said it is vulnerable to hacking by government agents or third parties. Former CIA and National Security Administration head Michael Hayden also said last July that intelligence agencies have evidence of spying by Huawei, which is one of the world’s largest telecom equipment makers.