U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) want to ensure that sister city partnerships in the United States don’t leave American communities vulnerable to foreign espionage, particularly the 157 partnerships with Chinese communities.
Sister city partnerships aim to promote cultural exchange and economic development, but the lawmakers found that the Chinese Communist Party has begun using those partnerships to achieve its geostrategic objectives.
“Communist China is exploiting sister city partnerships to achieve its own strategic objectives, and we need to make certain we are not enabling this activity in our own communities,” Sen. Blackburn said. “This legislation would shine a bright light on these partnerships to keep our enemies from furthering their own dangerous agendas.”
To facilitate proper oversight of sister cities and to prevent malign activity, U.S. Sens. Blackburn and Tillis introduced the Sister City Transparency Act, S. 1351, on April 8.
The legislation, if enacted, would create a Government Accountability Office report on sister city partnerships in the United States and would also direct the Comptroller General to study partnerships involving foreign communities in countries with significant public sector corruption like China and Russia.
According to a bill summary provided by Sen. Blackburn’s office, S. 1351 would identify oversight practices that U.S. communities implement to limit the risks of foreign espionage in sister city partnerships; assess which foreign entities could be using sister city partnerships to conduct malign activities; and review best practices to ensure transparency regarding sister city partnerships’ agreements, activities and employees.
“This commonsense bill is an important step towards protecting our security and economy by studying our sister city partnerships with cities across the world,” Sen. Tillis said. “We must ensure sister city partnerships don’t expose us to harmful market practices, limit free speech, or support foreign interests that undermine our values.”