Rep. Mike Gallagher and Lawmakers to meet with Disney, Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, about China

A bipartisan group of lawmakers led by Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-WI) will be traveling to California this week for several high-level meetings with industry leaders, including studio executives from Hollywood, tech industry leaders in Silicon Valley, AI executives, and leaders from the rare-earth minerals mining industry.

The meetings will take place as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) will be meeting Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen Wednesday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, despite warnings from China to not to hold the meeting.

Wednesday the delegation will meet with Bob Iger of Disney as well as top Hollywood producers, screenwriters and studio executives.

Thursday they will meet with Microsoft president Brad Smith, and Alphabet president of global affairs and chief legal officer Kent Walker. The groups of lawmakers will be meeting with  Palantir and Scale AI executives, as artificial intelligence will be a import topic on the agenda.

The group will also meet with venture capitalists like Marc Andreesen and Vinod Khosla.

Finally, on Friday, the members will meet with Tim Cook of Apple, and have discussions about Russia-China relations with former Defense Secretary James Mattis and Stanford fellow Oriana Skylar Mastro at Stanford, as well as discussions about China’s digital currency with experts.

A source close to the committee told the Globe that the lawmakers are there to learn of CCP pressures and influences in these industries, but to also shift attitudes.

Here’s partially why:

Axios reported:

• “China blocked most of Disney’s major theatrical exports during the pandemic, but has since begun to let more films back in. Disney has tried for years to curry favor with the Chinese, in part by bowing to its censorship demands.”
• Cook last month touted Apple’s strong relationship with China at a business conference organized by the Chinese government, just days after a bipartisan group of lawmakers grilled TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew on Capitol Hill.

The CCP has also pressured Hollywood screenwriters and studio executives.

The Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party is committed to working on a bipartisan basis to build consensus on the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party and develop a plan of action to defend the American people, our economy, and our values.