Two prominent Republican lawmakers have called on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to delist major Chinese companies, including Alibaba Group, over alleged ties to the Chinese military that they claim threaten U.S. national security.
John Moolenaar, chair of the House Select Committee on China, and Rick Scott, chair of the Senate Committee on Aging, sent a letter to SEC Chair Paul Atkins urging action against 25 Chinese firms currently trading on U.S. stock exchanges.
“These entities benefit from American investor capital while advancing the strategic objectives of the Chinese Communist Party—supporting military modernization and gross human rights violations,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter. “They also pose an unacceptable risk to American investors.”
The list of companies flagged by the lawmakers includes well-known tech giants such as Baidu, JD.com, and social media platform Weibo. Despite their commercial appearance, the lawmakers argued that these companies are “ultimately harnessed for nefarious state purposes.”
They also emphasized that the SEC has both the authority and tools, under the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, to suspend trading or force delisting of these firms from U.S. markets.
The SEC, along with Alibaba, Baidu, and JD.com, did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. The congressional committees involved also declined to comment.
Currently, over 100 Chinese firms are listed on U.S. exchanges, with a combined market capitalization of approximately $1 trillion. Investor concerns about the forced delisting of Chinese companies have intensified in recent years, particularly amid ongoing trade tensions between Washington and Beijing.
On Friday, Beijing announced it was evaluating an offer from the U.S. to initiate talks aimed at resolving the ongoing tariff dispute, suggesting a possible step toward easing the broader trade conflict that has unsettled global markets.
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