Sheena Chestnut Greitens, Associate Professor of Public Affairs at the LBJ School and Strauss Center Distinguished Scholar, was recently interviewed on On Balance With Leland Vittert. Greitens discussed the recent news regarding Huawei’s hiring of former Democratic Lobbyist Tony Podesta as a consultant. Greitens noted the long history of people working in the United States Government and thereafter accepting money to lobby on behalf of a foreign government. This type of work, she noted, must be disclosed under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) which helps to make the scale of foreign lobbying in the U.S. “visible.”

In response to a question regarding Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman’s recent visit to China, Greitens noted that the Chinese Communist Party is well-known for its use of rhetoric related to “foreign humiliation” and “foreign exploitation” as a justification for its own hold on power. Greitens also discussed the recent debacle over NBC’s map of China, which did not include Taiwan. Greitens identified this as part of Beijing’s broader effort to “narrow Taiwan’s international space” as China has tried—and often succeeded—to block the island’s participation in global affairs. She argued that the COVID-19 pandemic illustrates that Taiwan’s participation in global affairs is a matter of health, security, and safety. Listen to the full conversation here.