How deep exactly does corruption between China and the United States go? A Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs associate quietly met up with a billionaire insurance executive and other politically-involved individuals last week to talk about struggling U.S.-China relations, reported The Wall Street Journal.
Attending the meeting was CEO of Starr Insurance Companies Maurice Greenberg along with several business leaders and former U.S. government officials who talked about world affairs such as Taiwan, North Korea, and Russia’s war with Ukraine. Also present at the talks, which reportedly took place on Nov. 11 and 12 were representatives from the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs (CPIFA).
A Chinese government official posted about a meeting with himself and Greenberg in September of 2021.
“Paid a call with great respect to Mr. Maurice Greenberg, recipient of Friendship Medal for Contribution to China’s Reform & Chairman & CEO of C. V. Starr, which has long been in China,” he wrote online. “I shared with him mooncakes to celebrate China’s traditional Moon Festival for a reunion.”
Paid a call with great respect on Mr Maurice Greenberg, recipient of Friendship Medal for Contribution to China’s Reform & Chairman & CEO of C. V. Starr, which has long been in China. I shared with him mooncakes to celebrate China's traditional Moon Festival for reunion. pic.twitter.com/qeQfXdky76
— Qin Gang 秦刚 (@AmbQinGang) September 9, 2021
Greenberg has been involved with politics for a long time. The insurance executive has donated heavily to the GOP establishment, spending $10 million on a super PAC backing the presidential campaign of Jeb Bush in 2016.
Other individuals who joined Greenberg in his meeting included former Connecticut Democrat Sen. Joe Lieberman and former Obama ambassador to China Max Baucus, noted the Daily Caller. The two are part of a new group Greenburg created in July that allegedly is attempting to “re-establish a constructive bilateral dialogue” with China, per a WSJ piece by Greenberg.
Many have expressed concern about what relations between American billionaires and the Chinese Communist Party might mean for the national security of the United States.
“They are either demonstrating extreme naïveté or they are fully aware of who they are meeting with,” commented Peter Schweizer, author of “Red-Handed: How American Elites Get Rich Helping China Win,” in a statement to the Daily Caller. “None of these individuals strike me as naïve.”
