Cotton: ‘The Act of Accepting the Chinese Money — That Should Be Criminalized’

Wednesday on Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) argued for “criminalizing” those accepting money from the Chinese Communist Party or state-owned enterprises of China, given the Asian superpower is a threat to intellectual property and national security.

Cotton also suggested measured be taken to protect U.S. intellectual property.

“The Chinese Communist Party continues its campaign of intellectual property theft and forced technology transfer,” he said. “It is past time for us to insist this stop. The Trump administration and the president have been doing that in various ways. I’ve got legislation that would take more steps, as well. So, for instance, criminalizing the payment of money to American professors and academics who are on the payroll of the Chinese Communist Party or their state-owned enterprises.”

“Right now, you can only prosecute those cases for things like wire fraud or lying on federal documents,” Cotton continued. “It’s the act of accepting the Chinese money, itself, that should be criminalized. There are other steps we can take, as well, to stand up for American companies that shouldn’t have to transfer their intellectual property to Chinese partners simply as a condition of doing business with Chinese consumers.”

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