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US lawmakers accuse VC firms of funding Chinese military-linked firms

US lawmakers accuse VC firms of funding Chinese military-linked firms

File photo of Chinese and US flags.

Sequoia Capital China, Qualcomm Ventures and three other venture capital firms plowed at least $3 billion into Chinese tech companies that support Beijing's military and its repression of minorities in Xinjiang, a U.S. congressional report alleged on Thursday.

The House of Representatives' select committee on China, led by Republican Congressman Mike Gallagher, released the report, which also scrutinizes investments made by GGV Capital, GSR Ventures and Walden International in Chinese artificial intelligence and semiconductor firms with unsavory ties.

Reuters could not reach the venture capital firms for comment.

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The Committee called on the Biden administration to restrict USinvestment in Chinese firms sanctioned by the USgovernment over ties to China's military or its repression of minorities and urged it to bolster recent UScurbs on USinvestment in China to include more sectors.

"The status quo is untenable... Decades of investment—including funding, knowledge transfer, and other intangible benefits—from USVCs have helped build and strengthen the PRC’s (People's Republic of China) priority sectors,” the report said.

The White House did not respond to requests for comment.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington said the use of national security and human rights as a pretext to restrict USinvestments in China "will undermine the principle of free trade..., destabilize the global...supply chains and serve the interests of no one."