U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) | congress.gov
U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) | congress.gov
U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) joined Republican North Carolina Sens. Thom Tillis and Ted Budd, along with seven other Republican senators, to seek answers regarding alleged service centers in the United States that are linked to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In a letter addressed to the Department of Justice earlier this month, the senators demanded information about what was previously known regarding the operations and what measures are being taken to protect national security.
"If the CCP is using these cultural stations – including one right here in Nebraska – as a front to spy on Americans, they must be shut down immediately," Ricketts said in a Twitter post this week.
"We write to express our grave concerns regarding reports of 'Overseas Chinese Service Centers' (OCSCs) operated by an intelligence service of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in conjunction with the PRC’s national police force," the letter said, according to the United States Senate. "One such OCSC is reportedly housed at the Carolinas Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the other centers are collocated with nonprofits in San Francisco, California; Houston, Texas; Omaha, Nebraska; St. Paul, Minnesota; Salt Lake City, Utah; and St. Louis, Missouri."
The letter, composed on July 10 and directed to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, expressed numerous concerns regarding the centers. It included a series of questions that require a response by July 31, among them: "What action, investigative or otherwise, is DOJ taking in relation to the seven aforementioned OCSCs?"; "What actions will DOJ undertake to ensure that it has identified every OCSC or similar PRC facility in the U.S.?"; "What action, investigative or otherwise, is DOJ taking in relation to the seven aforementioned OCSCs?"; and others.
The letter, which was signed by a total of 10 senators, included representatives from North Carolina, Utah, Texas, Nebraska and Missouri; along with two senators from each state; the Carolina Journal said this week. Among the signatories were Josh Hawley from Missouri, Mitt Romney from Utah, and Deb Fischer from Nebraska.
"Further, the ongoing discovery of additional OCSCs raises the question of whether DOJ’s response sufficiently addresses the threat, particularly because OCSCs have openly operated for several years and their activities have been reportedly documented in Chinese state media and social media posts," the letter said.
This is not the first time OCSCs have made headlines, the Associated Press said. In April, two men were apprehended for running an unreported police station in New York City linked to the CCP. They allegedly used the facility to conduct surveillance on Chinese individuals living in America and harassed them through social media.
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