By Michael Martina

WASHINGTON (Reuters] – China has been pressing U.S. companies, executives and business groups to combat China-related U.S. Congress bills, sources told Reuters. This was in letter to and in meetings with a variety of players in the business community.

The sources revealed that the Chinese embassy in Washington sent letters to executives urging them to change or drop particular bills designed to boost U.S. competivity. Reuters also saw the text of a correspondence sent by the embassy’s economic and business office.

Chinese officials told companies that they might lose revenue or market share in China if this legislation became law. The text of the letter states so.

According to sources, China asked for some information from individuals. These people were worried that they might be considered violators of the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

Therefore, no one wanted to identify the source that received the letter.

Zhao Lijian (China’s foreign minister) stated that certain bills were inaccurate and based on Cold War thinking. He stated that if passed they would damage bilateral relations between the countries and hinder cooperation.

“China has always opposed it,” he declared at Beijing’s daily briefing.

U.S. legislation is a powerful tool to support competition with China and finance much-needed semiconductor production. It’s known as “The U.S. The Senate approved the Innovation and Competition Act in June with bipartisan support. The House of Representatives has also passed the Eagle Act (which is more policy-oriented) but it has been stalled because Congress was preoccupied by other domestic initiatives.

The letters were sent to a large number of individuals separately, according to Reuters.

‘NEGATIVE BILLS’

Beijing views the U.S. measures that take a tough line against China in human rights issues as part of an effort by Washington to combat its increasing economic and geopolitical power.

The Chinese embassy sent a single letter in November stating that it hoped they would play a positive part in asking members of Congress to drop the “zero-sum” mindset and ideologies, to end touting China-related legislation, and delete all negative provisions in order to foster bilateral economic and trade cooperation.

Reuters confirms that the language used in the letter was shared with all four sources.

It will not result in the U.S. companies being protected from negative China-related bills, while Chinese companies will suffer. It will only hurt everybody,” the report stated.

It stated that “promoting a China free supply chain will invariably result in a decrease in China’s desire for U.S. goods and American businesses losing market share and revenue to China.”

According to two sources, similar messages were exchanged during meetings with the staff at China’s Embassy.

Sources said it was an “outright ask” by a foreign government. They also highlighted the implications of FARA which mandates that persons acting for a foreign power/political party disclose their relations to the Department of Justice.

According to a second source, the goal of the tactic was to persuade companies not only to stop the bill from being passed but also delay it.