Policy group wants to engages candidates on Big Tech and China ahead of Iowa caucuses

DES MOINES — A new policy advocacy group is using the Republican Iowa caucus campaign to warn about U.S. companies’ operations in China, arguing they present a national security threat.

The 501(c)(4) nonprofit, Tech Integrity Project, intends to engage with Republican presidential candidates and Iowans ahead of the caucuses, to raise concerns about potential trade secrets and national security risks from U.S. companies operating in China, said it executive director, Nick Boeyink.

“Our mission is to encourage them to hold our American Big Tech companies accountable that have investments and operations in adversarial countries, especially China,” he said.

Tensions between the United States and China have risen in recent years, and Republican candidates for president frequently point to the country as a major national security threat.

Boeyink said the issue of American tech companies operating in China is relatively new, and a lack of strong safeguards to keep those companies’ trade secrets from the Chinese government could threaten U.S. security.

“These are companies in Big Tech that are on the cutting edge of national security and defense technologies like AI and quantum computing,” he said. “And these are companies that have huge presences in China, where they're governed under different law.”

Boeyink, of Des Moines, is a longtime Republican strategist in Iowa. He holds positions with Des Moines-based public affairs groups and the Iowa Conservative Energy Forum. He was the field director for Gov. Kim Reynolds’ 2018 campaign. Boeyink is the only person listed in the “About Us” section of the organization’s website, and he did not disclose the group’s current donors.

Several large tech companies — including Microsoft, Apple and Amazon — have offices and employees in China, and conduct operations to tap into the large consumer market in the country. Boeyink argued those employees may be influenced by the Chinese government, which often takes a major role in business in the country.

The group has a pledge it wants Republican candidates to sign promising to “do everything in my power to block adversaries from benefiting from U.S.-made next-gen technologies, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and quantum computing.” None of the candidates have signed it so far.

Boeyink said the group does not have any policy proposals to address the issues it is presenting, but he suggested American industry in China could be safeguarded with trade agreements and diplomatic relations.

The organization has paid for billboards around Des Moines and conducted polling on the issue, and it plans to sponsor upcoming events with several Republican candidates, conduct digital advertising campaigns and sit down with presidential candidates and their staffs to bring attention to its campaign.

The Chinese government has been a primary target of Republican candidates running to be the party’s presidential nominee in Iowa. Candidates have warned about Chinese ownership of land in the United States and the potential for companies to steal intellectual property, but few have raised concern about U.S. companies operating in China.

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said China has been “planning war with us for years” and tied the national security issue to agriculture. If elected president, she said she would ban China from buying U.S. land.

Tim Scott, a U.S. senator from South Carolina, has also run on being more aggressive against China. He also promised to stop selling land to Chinese entities, and he said he wants to stop U.S. companies from making products in China to avoid intellectual property theft.

“We are the ones that come up with the ideas and then they literally steal it from our companies,” Scott said. “That’s one of the reasons why we must have a president who brings home our supply chains, who brings home our jobs, and creates it, makes it in America.”