US Pension Money Flows Into ‘Malign’ Chinese Companies: State Department

WASHINGTON—U.S. investors are unwittingly financing companies tied to the Chinese communist regime and its military through major index funds, according to a fact sheet released by the U.S. State Department on Dec. 5. The report, titled “U.S. Investors Are Funding Malign PRC Companies on Major Indices,” lists the names of publicly traded companies that present a national security threat to the United States. “The Chinese Communist Party’s threat to American national security extends into our financial markets and impacts American investors,” the fact sheet says. Many major stock indexes developed by index providers Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) and Financial Times Stock Exchange Group (FTSE) include Chinese companies that are blacklisted by the Pentagon and the Department of Commerce. MSCI and FTSE Russell are among the largest index providers in the world that influence how investors deploy their funds. Securities of many Chinese companies are embedded in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and other passive investment funds benchmarked against these major indexes.

The pension assets of American workers and retirees are supporting these Chinese companies as a majority of pension funds use the MSCI Emerging Market (EM) index as their investment benchmark, according to the fact sheet. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), through its aggressive national strategy called “Military-Civil Fusion,” uses Chinese companies to strengthen the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Meanwhile, the Department of Defense this year blacklisted 31 Chinese firms that are owned or controlled by the PLA. Among the Chinese companies on the indexes are the Aviation Industry Corp. of China (2357.HK) and China Unicom (0762.HK), which are known for supporting Beijing’s aggressive military activity in the South China Sea. China’s biggest telecommunications giants, China Mobile Ltd. (0941.HK) and China Telecom Corp. (0728.HK), are also on the list and their stocks are traded on both the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

Another well-known company tied to China’s military and whose shares are included in both the MSCI and FTSE indexes is surveillance equipment manufacturer Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co. Ltd. (002415.SZ). The company was accused by the U.S. government last year of being implicated in human rights violations in China. The fact sheet also provides the list of all 68 affiliated entities of these military companies. Most of them have stocks that are included in various MSCI and FTSE indexes. “Under Chinese law, Chinese companies and researchers must—under penalty of law—share technology with the Chinese military. The goal is to ensure that the People’s Liberation Army has military dominance,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated in the fact sheet. In addition to the military companies, at least 13 PRC firms on the Commerce Department’s blacklist (Entity List) had affiliates or parent companies included in the MSCI or FTSE indexes. Hangzhou Hikvision, Dahua Technology, IFLYTEK, and FiberHome Technologies Group are prominent examples of Chinese companies “with widely recognized ties to the oppression of Uyghurs that benefit from inclusion in the MSCI and/or FTSE stock indices,” according to the report. In addition, “the MSCI emerging market index included 230 A-shares Chinese stocks incorporated on the mainland, quoted in renminbi, and listed on Chinese Communist Party-controlled Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges.”

https://www.theepochtimes.com/us-pension-money-flows-into-malign-chinese-companies-state-department_3606990.html

U.S. Investors Are Funding Malign PRC Companies on Major Indices

https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/USSTATEBPA/2020/12/05/file_attachments/1618345/FACT%20SHEET%20-%20PRC%20Firms%20on%20Indices.pdf

Report Finds Microwave Energy Likely Made US Diplomats Ill

WASHINGTON—A new report by a National Academy of Sciences committee has found that “directed” microwave radiation is the likely cause of illnesses among American diplomats in Cuba and China. The study commissioned by the State Department and released Saturday is the latest attempt to find a cause for the mysterious illnesses that started to emerge in late 2016 among U.S. personnel in Havana. The study found that “directed, pulsed radiofrequency energy appears to be the most plausible” explanation for symptoms that included intense head pressure, dizziness, and cognitive difficulties. It found this explanation was more likely than other previously considered causes such as tropical disease or psychological issues. The study did not name a source for the energy and did not say it came as the result of an attack, though it did note that previous research on this type of injury was done in the former Soviet Union. In its report, the 19-member committee noted that it faced significant challenges in trying to get to the bottom of the medical mystery. Among them, not everyone reported the same symptoms and the National Academy of Sciences research did not have access to all the previous studies on the illnesses, some of which are classified. “The committee found these cases quite concerning, in part because of the plausible role of directed, pulsed radiofrequency energy as a mechanism, but also because of the significant suffering and debility that has occurred in some of these individuals,” said committee chairman David Relman, a professor of medicine at Stanford University. “We as a nation need to address these specific cases as well as the possibility of future cases with a concerted, coordinated, and comprehensive approach.”

The health effects were experienced by about two dozen Americans affiliated with the U.S. Embassy in Cuba as well as Canadian diplomats and personnel at the U.S. consulate in Guangzhou, China, in early 2017. Some of the Americans have been critical of the U.S. government’s response to their health complaints and at least one has filed suit against the State Department. Between late 2016 and May 2018, several U.S. and Canadian diplomats in Havana complained of health problems from an unknown cause. One U.S. government count put the number of American personnel affected at 26. Some reported hearing high-pitched sounds similar to crickets while at home or staying in hotels, leading to an early theory of a sonic attack.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/report-finds-microwave-energy-likely-made-us-diplomats-ill_3606865.html

>>11928274

Agree, have a thought they did know, but wouldn't say, question is why?

>>11928336

True.. they have nothing left to lose.