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The administration granted the board of directors overseeing the savings plan until Wednesday to comply with the president’s directives.
National Economic Council President Larry Kudlow and National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien wrote a letter Monday to Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia asking the board of the Pension Fund to keep funds away from Chinese stocks.
The letter warned that such investments raise national and humanitarian security concerns because they operate in violation of the United States’ penal code and help China to strengthen its military and suppress religious minorities living in the country.
“The plans … will be implemented by the fund … during a period of growing suspicion of China’s relations with the rest of the world, including the possibility that future sanctions are due to massive measures by the Chinese government. in relation to the global spread of the Covid 19 pandemic caused by HIV, “the message read. Sk “.
Scalia followed up with a letter to the fund asking her to abandon her plan to use the funds in Chinese stocks.
In November 2017, the fund chose a new benchmark to invest some of its money in an area that contains emerging market stocks, including China.
Scalia wrote that the fund evaluated this decision last year after a group of senators expressed concern that companies benefiting from this investment “would include those involved in military activities, espionage, and human rights violations by the Chinese government. “
The fund declined to withdraw from its decision, and the fund is expected to soon invest up to $ 4.5 billion in Chinese projects.
In her letter to Scalia, Scalia indicated that her members are working after the end of her term, and that Trump nominated three other members last week to take over the fund’s affairs.
