At a House hearing on China's threats to America, Stephen J. Cox, Counsel to the Governor of Alaska, warns about the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party-tied fintech firm Airwallex.
Sensitive U.S. financial data may be exposed to CCP access!
Cox notes, "Many of the Chinese Communist Party's threats to Americans increasingly manifest themselves through areas traditionally governed by states: public safety, consumer protection, licensing, and infrastructure."
Cox's testimony: "One area that has drawn my particular attention involves cross-border payments platforms and money transmitters operating inside the United States. And I want to give kudos to Senator Tom Cotton on this commission who deserves a lot of credit for publicly raising concerns about Airwallex with the U.S. Department of Justice and the potential exposure of sensitive American financial data to CCP influence or access. I share those concerns about Airwallex and this industry more broadly, and I have begun to have conversations in Alaska about whether our state licensing and regulatory authorities should take a harder look at money transmitters that are connected to foreign adversary governments.
"A money transmitter license is a privilege, it's not a right, and I believe state regulators should be asking whether companies entrusted with sensitive financial information can satisfy their state law obligations when data, operations, and key personnel may be subject to foreign adversary influence. States do not need to, and we shouldn't, conduct foreign policy to play an important role here, but states can protect consumers. States can safeguard critical infrastructure. States can ensure that Americans are not unknowingly exposed to foreign adversary leverage.
And that mission resonates particularly strongly in a state like Alaska. Alaskans have an express constitutional right to privacy, and we take that right very seriously. If Alaskans are paying a premium for products and services, and we are, they deserve to know what they're getting and what risks may come with it.
We're also America's Arctic state and Pacific state. We sit at the intersection of strategic cargo, telecom, critical minerals, ports, fisheries, and Arctic logistics. As a result, many of the threats that we might be discussing today are not abstract for us. So my message is simple: many of the Chinese Communist Party's threats to Americans increasingly manifest themselves through areas traditionally governed by states: public safety, consumer protection, licensing, and infrastructure.
And because of that, states have both the authority and the responsibility to act carefully and lawfully and strategically alongside our federal partners."