A new bill introduced in Congress aims to block the District of Columbia from maintaining sister city relationships with foreign adversaries, targeting its longstanding partnership with Beijing.
House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik and Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Chairman John Moolenaar announced the Washington Sister Cities Act on Wednesday. The legislation seeks to terminate D.C.’s sister city relationship with China’s capital, which marked its 40th anniversary last year.
“The Chinese Communist Party has weaponized so-called ‘sister city’ partnerships to advance their malign disinformation campaign in Washington,” Stefanik said in a statement. “I am proud to introduce critical legislation to terminate the D.C. government sister city relationship with Beijing, China which poses a threat to U.S. national security and prevent the District from entering into future sister city relationships with foreign adversary nations.”
The bill prohibits D.C. from entering or continuing partnerships with cities located in countries deemed foreign adversaries, including China, North Korea, Russia, and Iran. Lawmakers say Beijing’s involvement in sister city programs is managed through the United Front Work Department, which they described as an “influence and intelligence wing” of the Chinese Communist Party.
“In Washington D.C., our citizens enjoy freedom of speech, petition, and assembly,” Moolenaar said. “In Beijing, under the CCP’s rule, the Chinese people have no such rights.”
Earlier this month, Moolenaar and other GOP members of the China Select Committee sent a letter to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser urging her administration to reconsider the relationship with Beijing. They argued that continued ties with the Chinese government undermine the intended cultural purpose of sister city programs.
“As our nation’s capital, Washington, D.C. should stand as a beacon of American values and principles,” the announcement stated.
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