Republican lawmakers opposed to the agreed-to purchase of the Chicago Stock Exchange by a Chinese company are asking the Treasury Department to intervene before it’s finalized.
The Chongqing Casin Enterprise Group (CCEG) has agreed to terms to acquire the Chicago Stock Exchange. But Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., and seven other Republican lawmakers asked the Treasury Department to examine how close that group is to China’s military.
“Should you determine CCEG maintains a close relationship with the Chinese government — and therefore with the Chinese military — we would urge CFIUS to deny this acquisition,” the letter said. CFIUS is the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, and is a body that could decide to block the transaction for national security purposes.
“It is outrageous that a communist Chinese company — a front for the communist Chinese government — will be given access to trillions of dollars in the struggling U.S. economy and secure information about US businesses. I strongly urge the Obama administration to investigate this firm and stop this purchase,” the letter said.
The letter references common complaints about Chinese economic practices, such as currency manipulation, which the letter said imperil U.S. exports with China.
“As you know, the Chinese economy revolves the artificial boosting of domestic firms. Rather than adhering to openness and free market values, this performance is generated by Chinese government dominance,” the letters stated. “Furthermore, government manipulation of currency in the Chinese marketplace continues to be an unresolved problem for the United States government.”
The stock exchange purchase was given significant national attention when the issue was raised by Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump in last Saturday’s debate.
“You take a look at what happened just this week, China bought the Chicago Stock Exchange, China, a Chinese company. Carrier is moving to Mexico, air conditioning company. Not only the ones I talk about all the time, Nabisco and Ford and — they’re all moving out,” Trump said.
