Are Americans At Walmart Funding Beijing Spies?

‘Made in China’ sticker to be applied to U.S. president’s residence

 OCTOBER 21, 2014

Every day, millions of Americans walk through their local Walmart’s sliding doors, meander the bright blue aisles and, tempted by yellow smiley-faces, buy more items than are written on their shipping lists, snapping up what certainly seem like good deals at the time.

But are Americans getting more than they bargained for when they buy from the bargain store?

Many of those “rollback” products at Walmart or other leading retail outlets are made by companies funneling the profits back to China, money that some warn is being used by Beijing to get an uncomfortable foot in America’s front door.

Take, for example, the recent purchase of New York City’s famed Waldorf-Astoria Hotel by the Angbang Insurance Group. The Beijing-based company, which is run by a relative of Deng Xiaoping, communist leader of China from 1978 to 1992, bought the 47-story landmark from Hilton Worldwide Holdings on Oct. 6 for a sum of $1.95 billion, among the highest prices ever paid for a hotel.

“The money being used to buy the Waldorf-Astoria came from American shoppers who are buying everything that is made in China,” charged Curtis Ellis, communications director for the American Jobs Alliance, in a televised interview with Russia Today, or RT. “Manhattan Island happened when the Indians traded glass beads for the land. We’re now trading the crown jewels of America for the trinkets made in Shenzhen, China, and sold in the aisles of Walmart.”

“The Chinese have money to spend and the inclination to do so,” added Sean Hennessey, chief executive of consulting company Lodging Advisors, in a New York Times interview. “The property will continue to be an iconic hotel, even if it’s owned by a foreign entity.”

“What we are witnessing is the greatest transfer of wealth in human history,” continued Ellis. “America’s wealth, America’s productive capacity, the capital that had been accumulated over a couple of centuries of industrial growth, is being transferred to East Asia, and to China in particular, in a volume and a speed that has never been seen before in the history of any empire on earth.”

But Ellis also warns the danger is more than just economic.

For the 1,413-room Waldorf-Astoria also serves as the home of the American ambassador to the United Nations and hosts hundreds of U.S. diplomats and foreign dignitaries during the annual U.N. General Assembly.

It’s also the Big Apple home of the U.S. president.

“Remember, every time President Obama – or whoever the president happens to be – comes to the United Nations, he stays at the Waldorf-Astoria,” Ellis continued. “All of the heads of state, when they come to Manhattan, usually stay at the Waldorf-Astoria.

“Now, I understand there are already plans for several million dollars of renovations to be done at the Waldorf-Astoria,” Ellis intoned. “You can be certain that those renovations – along with wallpaper and paint – will include a fresh set of listening devices, electronic eavesdropping equipment and perhaps a little video camera as well.”

Ellis isn’t alone in his alarm over news the Chinese company first purchased the company and then immediately announced plans for renovation.

Within a week of the announced purchase, U.S. officials confirmed they are reviewing the deal in light of national security concerns.

New York City’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel

While the terms of the sale allow Hilton to run the hotel for the next 100 years, the renovation plans have reportedly raised eyebrows in Washington, where fears of Chinese eavesdropping and cyber espionage run high.

“The officials also said the sale could have implications for the government’s longstanding relationship with the hotel,” New York City’s WCBS-TV reports.

“We are currently in the process of reviewing the details of the sale and the company’s long-term plans for the facility,” said Kurtis Cooper, a spokesman for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations.

The officials told WCBS specifics of the renovation plan would be a key issue of the review.

“The State Department takes seriously the security of its personnel, their work spaces and official residences,” Cooper said. “We are constantly evaluating our security protocols and standard operating procedures to ensure the safety and security of our information and personnel.”

In fact, WCBS reports, the State Department routinely warns U.S. diplomats in China about physical and electronic surveillance and tells American citizens in the country to be aware of similar risks, notably in hotels.

“Hotel rooms (including meeting rooms), offices, cars, taxis, telephones, Internet usage and fax machines may be monitored onsite or remotely, and personal possessions in hotel rooms, including computers, may be searched without your consent or knowledge,” states the department’s latest travel advice for China. “Business travelers should be particularly mindful that trade secrets, negotiating positions and other business-sensitive information may be taken and shared with local interests.”

Ellis, whose American Jobs Alliance calls itself a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to developing the domestic economy of the United States, asserts, “This is the end of a story that began in the aisles of Walmart.”