House Lawmaker Introduces Legislation To Expose CCP Exploitation Of Sister City Agreements
by Frank Fang via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
A House lawmaker has introduced legislation to prevent foreign ad
What the Documents Show
8833) doesn't expose an existing scandal. It exposes the absence of any oversight mechanism whatsoever. For years, roughly 1,800 sister-city partnerships have operated across the United States with zero mandatory reporting requirements, no centralized registry, and no systematic review by the State Department, Department of Defense, or any other federal agency tasked with counterintelligence. Roy's statement framed the problem plainly: "America's local communities should never be left vulnerable to foreign influence operations masquerading as cultural exchange." This is the real story buried under the legislative announcement. If these partnerships were already being monitored, Roy wouldn't need to introduce a bill asking the Government Accountability Office comptroller general to *start* studying them.
Follow the Money
The measure itself—directing a GAO study to identify how foreign municipalities select U.S. partners and whether "economic activities or demographic factors" drive those selections—reads like someone finally asking questions that should have been asked a decade ago. The bill's targeting criteria reveal the scale of the problem. Countries scoring 45 or lower on Transparency International's 2019 Corruption Perceptions Index qualify for scrutiny. China scored 41 in 2019 and 43 in 2025, putting it firmly in the adversary category. Yet 157 municipalities in that country maintain formal partnerships with American cities without any federal requirement to disclose what activities occur under those agreements, what technology transfers happen, what intellectual property flows, or who funds the "cultural exchange" initiatives.
What Else We Know
Roy serves on the House Judiciary Committee, which gives him visibility into intelligence matters other representatives lack. His decision to legislate suggests his committee has seen intelligence indicating these partnerships are being weaponized in ways local officials don't recognize. He doesn't allege specifics in the public statement—a careful move that protects classified information while still forcing action. What's striking is that no Democratic co-sponsor appears in the available reporting. No State Department official preemptively defended existing oversight. No agency issued a statement saying sister-city partnerships are already monitored.
Primary Sources
- Source: ZeroHedge
- Category: Government Secrets
- Cross-reference independently — don't take our word for it.
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