The leader of Chattanooga’s Sister City Association has denounced U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn for her criticism of Chinese sister cities, calling the remarks xenophobic and encouraging the Tennessee senator to participate in the cultural exchange program.
Last month, Blackburn suggested the decades-old cultural exchange program “may be Beijing’s newest political weapon” and signed on to a bill to rein in the programs in the interest of national security.
“Across the globe, China has exploited these relationships, which are ostensibly intended to promote cultural exchange, to achieve geostrategic goals,” Blackburn said in the November release, calling it “imperative we shed light on these partnerships to determine whether they leave American communities vulnerable to foreign espionage and ideological coercion.”
This week, in an open letter written to Blackburn, Sister City Association of Chattanooga President Karen Claypool condemned Blackburn’s remarks.