If you have a 401(k) or IRA, some of your money may be helping to fund Chinese companies the U.S. says threaten national security and are accused of human rights abuses. Congressional investigations and hearings over the past two years reveal that billions of dollars have flowed from American retirement accounts into firms linked to the Chinese Communist Party, military development, and forced labor in Xinjiang.
In April 2024, the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party released findings showing that Wall Street firms, through index providers and asset managers, had channeled roughly $6.5 billion into 63 Chinese companies appearing on U.S. government blacklists. The report identified holdings in firms linked to China's military-industrial complex, companies capable of producing nuclear warheads, and others tied to forced labor in Xinjiang.
