The Washington D.C. government removed its sister city agreement with Beijing from its official website in August without making any formal announcement, sparking concerns and questions from U.S. federal senators. Several senators, including Marsha Blackburn, Tommy Tuberville, Tom Cotton, Rick Scott, and Ted Budd, raised inquiries to Mayor Muriel Bowser regarding the current status of Washington D.C.’s relationship with Beijing.
In a letter to Mayor Bowser, the senators highlighted that earlier this year the Washington D.C. government still had a sister city agreement with Beijing listed on its official website. However, since August, Beijing is no longer included in the public list of D.C.’s sister cities.
Given the national security implications, the senators emphasized the need to ensure that all formal and informal agreements between U.S. and foreign cities are not exploited by foreign governments, particularly to prevent the Chinese Communist Party from using them as tools to promote their own agenda or suppress dissenting voices.
The senators requested specific information from Mayor Bowser, including whether the sister city agreement with Beijing has been formally terminated or just suspended, copies of any memoranda of understanding, contracts, or agreements with any Chinese government entities past or present, and whether Washington D.C. is currently reviewing or reassessing any other international partnerships to mitigate potential risks.
This questioning comes after Senator Blackburn introduced legislation that prohibits Washington D.C. from maintaining sister city relationships with hostile countries such as China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.
On July 17, the House of Representatives took action as well. Chairman John Moolenaar of the House Committee on U.S.-China Strategic Competition, along with several Republican representatives, introduced the “District of Columbia Sister City Integrity Act.” This legislation similarly prohibits the D.C. government from forming or maintaining sister city relationships with jurisdictions in hostile foreign countries.
The legislation mandates that Washington D.C. must terminate sister city relationships with jurisdictions defined as “hostile foreign” under U.S. law. The city has up to 180 days after the law takes effect to end these relationships, or risk being prohibited from utilizing federal funds for international exchange activities.
Moolenaar stated in a release that while citizens in Washington D.C. enjoy freedoms of speech, petition, and assembly, the Chinese people under Beijing’s rule do not have these rights. He pointed out the particularly alarming nature of sister city relationships with countries like China where human rights conditions are deteriorating.
It is known that Washington D.C. and Beijing have maintained a sister city relationship since 1984, with several renewals over the years, including in 2012. On the 36th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square democracy movement crackdown on June 4, Moolenaar and other Republican representatives wrote to Mayor Bowser urging her to end the sister city relationship with Beijing, but as of now, they have not received a response.
The Office of Mayor Bowser has not yet responded to this matter.