The president of a tech company planning a factory in Kansas near two military bases said some of its parent company employees are members of the Chinese Communist Party.
Shawn Montgomery, president of Cnano USA, confirmed the CCP links on March 4 before the Kansas House Committee on Commerce, Labor, and Economic Development.
Montgomery was testifying against House Bill 2766, which is designed to protect military installations by restricting foreign real estate purchases.
Calling Cnano USA “a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner in January expressed concern about the Johnson County location of the proposed 330,000-square-foot manufacturing facility, according to the Kansas Reflector.
LaTurner said it would be too close to Fort Leavenworth in Kansas and Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri.
Despite Montgomery’s statements regarding “misinformation” about Cnano wanting to steal U.S. military secrets and his pride in being an American, several committee members raised objections.
Republican state Rep. Patrick Penn brought up the reported CCP ties of Cnano USA’s parent company, Cnano Jiangsu.
“Cnano Jiangsu operates a CCP party branch with more than two dozen members and participates in CCP-backed initiatives including [the 863 Program],” Penn said.
“[The 863 Program] — which has sent money to the parent company, Cnano Jiangsu — [has] been a major CCP initiative to advance China’s military and civilian science technology, and according to a report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, it provides funding to clandestine acquirement of American technology [and] sensitive economic information,” he continued.
Penn asked Montgomery if any employees of Cnano Jiangsu are CCP members.
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Montgomery replied, “Cnano USA does not have any CCP members.”
But Penn said he was asking about the parent company, and Montgomery said Cnano Jiangsu has “23 or 26 party members in the company.”
“The same thing is actually true for most businesses that are actually doing business in China,” Montgomery continued. “That includes Walmart and Ford both. Having a CCP party branch is very, very typical there.”
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Republican state Rep. Kristey Williams expressed skepticism regarding Montgomery’s testimony, the Daily Caller reported.
She said he “provided no evidence or reliable assurances that Cnano [USA] works independently from the CCP.”
“Companies owned and operated by the CCP, whether in the U.S. or elsewhere, adhere to the policies, directions, and goals of their authorizing entity — which is the CCP,” she said.
Penn said that as a retired Army officer, “clarity, national security, and integrity” are important to him.
“We know that Cnano Jiangsu is calling the shots for Cnano USA when it is at the top of the chain of command,” Penn said, according to the Daily Caller.
“These are legitimate concerns, only heightened by the fact that Montgomery refused to directly address what we are asking.”
