Amid the fallout of President Joe Biden’s sudden announcement dropping out of the presidential race and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris, there’s talk that Senator Mark Kelly may be her pick for running mate — despite his ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
After his retirement from NASA, Kelly cofounded World View Enterprises in 2012: a Tucson-based aerial surveillance company that contracts with the federal government and has received funding from Tencent Holding Unlimited, one of China’s largest tech companies connected to the CCP.
Until China’s estimated millions in investments, the company had been focused on commercial space exploration. After, the company shifted its focus to surveillance balloons capturing enhanced imagery of the earth.
With rising concerns over the company’s involvement with the CCP during Kelly’s initial Senate campaign, World View Enterprises President and CEO Ryan Hartman and their spokesmen have denied Tencent Holding Unlimited having enjoyed any access, input, or control over their company.
Kelly served as a strategic advisor to the company from 2015 to 2019, and maintained his holdings through 2020.
Tencent’s U.S. representative donated several thousand to Kelly’s campaign in 2019.
Kelly also received a donation from a lobbyist out of Huawei Technologies, a communications technology company with close ties to the CCP. The donation came in despite Kelly’s pledge to avoid PAC donations using a loophole of technicalities. The senator was able to receive Huawei Technologies donation by advising wealthy corporate donors to issue donations through personal checks, not corporate PAC checks, so as to keep him true to his word in the loosest sense.
Then, in 2022, Kelly’s six-figure investment in another aerospace company selling U.S. technology to China, Boom Technology, was reported on. Kelly was seated on the Senate Armed Services Committee, which oversees the Pentagon’s budget, and the Airland Subcommittee, which oversees the Air Force’s research budget. Boom Technology enjoyed an increased contract with the federal government after Kelly took office.
And yet, Kelly has spoken and acted in ways that appear in conflict with Chinese interests. He has openly declared China as one of the biggest threats to the U.S. in interviews with the media.
Earlier this year, Kelly cosponsored a bipartisan bill banning U.S.-based facilities receiving CHIPS and Science Act funds from buying chipmaking equipment from companies owned or controlled by China, Russia, North Korea, or Iran. Kelly has supported the advancement of Taiwanese-produced microchips, especially the manufacturing taking place in Arizona.
Last year, Kelly introduced bipartisan legislation to “block” military knowledge from being given to China and other adversaries. Kelly has also issued vocal opposition to the CCP’s takeover of Taiwan, most recently at the latest McCain Institute Sedona Forum.
Kelly isn’t the only rumored horse in the race for vice president. There’s also a slew of governors rumored as considered per a vetting process: Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro, North Carolina’s Roy Cooper, Kentucky’s Andy Beshear, Illinois’ JB Pritzker, North Carolina’s Roy Cooper, and Minnesota’s Tim Walz.
Though included on some lists of candidates, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer told reporters earlier this week that she wouldn’t accept the offer to run.
Biden administration members are also being considered: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.
However, some reporting has placed Kelly, Shapiro, and Cooper on the shortlist, citing sources familiar with a vetting team led by former attorney general Eric Holder’s law firm.
Reports also suggest that the Harris campaign is considering unnamed individuals who don’t hold an elective office.
The DNC is weeks away: Aug. 19 through 22.
