Charles Boustany, president of the Association of Former Members of Congress (FMC), engaged in a panel discussion titled "50 Years After President Nixon’s Trip: The Meaning and Durability of the One China Policy" in April.
Boustany praised China on multiple fronts, including the One China Policy and healthcare and public health, according to the discussion. Boustany seemed to express Americans should not be distrustful of China due to the COVID-19 pandemic. FMC reportedly established ties with the China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF).
"Let me just say that I do agree with the title of this program" Boustany said in the discussion. "The One China Policy is absolutely the cornerstone of Sino-American relations."
Some have expressed concern about the ties Boustany and other prominent Americans have with China.
"It’s not good that all these former members of Congress are involved in this way, but aren’t captured in a disclosure framework," Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, government affairs manager at the Project on Government Oversight, told the Washington Free Beacon.
The FMC maintains strong connections with the CUSEF, hosting numerous events for the group during the past several years, the Washington Free Beacon reported. These events have included criticisms of pre-democracy activists in Hong Kong, as well as criticism towards the U.S. for directing "vitriol" against China. Since 2020, FMC has hosted or participated in at least eight policy discussions with CUSEF.
The Free Beacon described CUSEF as a prominent think tank for the Chinese Communist Party. CUSEF pays FMC to sponsor its gala each year. Former Louisiana Congressman Charles Boustany is both the president of the FMC, in addition to being a partner at Capitol Counsel, which also has ties to CUSEF. CUSEF allegedly pays Capitol Counsel $180,000 per year for consulting services.
CIA Director William Burns said during his Senate confirmation hearing last year that he severed his ties with CUSEF, the Daily Caller reported. Burns took over the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in 2015, and said that he "inherited" Carnegie's relationship with CUSEF. However, Burns said he halted the relationship "not long after” because he was “increasingly worried about the expansion of Chinese influence operations.”
CUSEF hosted a webinar earlier this month titled "The Cultural Differences between China and the U.S." which was centered on "the two countries’ different attitudes and norms around the government, the relationship between an individual and the government, authority, social interactions and gender relations."
The One China Policy is a position started in 1979 recognizing the People’s Republic of China as “the sole legal Government of China," and which acknowledges Taiwan as part of China, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
In 1982, the U.S. confirmed it would not go after a stance of "two Chinas" or of "one China, one Taiwan," according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. This position permits the U.S. to maintain formal relations with the PRC, while only maintaining unofficial relations with Taiwan.
