This story from @metzsam on how the Chinese government has cultivated influence among Utah lawmakers is damning.
Pro-China advocates appealed to lawmakers' affiliations with the LDS Church, which has long dreamed of expanding in China #utpol #utleg
apnews.com/article/china-…
Lawmakers delayed action for a year to ban Chinese-funded Confucius Institutes at state universities. The programs have been described as propaganda instruments #utpol #utleg
apnews.com/article/china-…
In 2020, Chinese leader Xi Jinping sent a letter to a class of Utah fourth graders, prompting praise from a GOP legislator on the floor of the Utah Senate.
One China expert said Utah lawmakers are "acting as mouthpieces" for the CCP #utpol #utleg
apnews.com/article/china-…
The article details how groups of up to 25 lawmakers routinely took trips to China every other year since 2007.
That includes former House Speaker Greg Hughes, who now believes the trips were a mistake #utpol #utleg
apnews.com/article/china-…
Weber State Professor Taowen Le was a paid representative of China's from 2003 to 2017.
Senate President Stuart Adams turned to Le for help when the state spent more than $800K on hydroxychloroquine during the early stages of the pandemic #utpol #utleg
sltrib.com/news/politics/…
Dan Stephenson, the son of former Sen. Howard Stephenson, has links to Chinese groups allegedly active in covert influence efforts.
He gave Sen. Jake Anderegg language for a resolution supporting China during the pandemic. Anderegg was later interviewed by the FBI #utpol #utleg
Stephenson has links to several Chinese organizations but says he has never taken any action at the direction of the Chinese government.
In 2020, he urged elected officials to record videos to air on Shanghai television to boost that city's fight against COVID #utpol #utleg
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