1. #Austin& #39;s Mayor Steve Adler deep ties to China #Chinagate

May & #39;19 -
"Austin, Texas and Changsha in Hunan Province of China on midweek signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU), focusing on exchanges and cooperation in science and culture." https://tribune.net.ph/index.php/2019/05/19/mou-on-scientific-exchanges-signed/">https://tribune.net.ph/index.php...

2. March & #39;19 - a few months prior to MoU:

"...a Chinese delegation of more than 100 people... showed up at SXSW 2019... comprising those from Chengdu and companies like China& #39;s e-commerce giant Alibaba Group."
http://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201903/10/WS5c845cbda3106c65c34edb99.html">https://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201903/...

3. May & #39;19 - with the MoU signed, Mayor Adler of Austin participates in and promotes Innostars.
"Hosted by the U.S.-China Innovation Alliance, InnoSTARS was launched in 2017 with the goal to support US small businesses to link up with all kinds of business resources in China."

4. The MAIN hosts of Innostars are CSTEC and US CHINA Innovation Alliance.

CSTEC is the Ministry of Science and Technology for China

US CHINA Innovation Alliance is a 501c3 in the US working w China to host a Innostars Contest to find the latest and greatest innovations.

5. The top 3 companies that win the Pitch Contest (they have multiple categories) get all-expense paid trips to China!
Everything from AI to medical technology companies won and they hosted these events in 2019 in multiple US cities, Houston being one of them.

6. Found it a strange coincidence that one of the Judges was Zhenyuan Qi, the Vice President from the Dept of Research & Development, Wuhan University, however, there are MANY more judges. Im sure he wasnt looking for anything in particular.

7. Sponsors include:
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="▫" title="Weißes kleines Quadrat" aria-label="Emoji: Weißes kleines Quadrat">George H.W.Bush Foundation for US-China Relations
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="▫" title="Weißes kleines Quadrat" aria-label="Emoji: Weißes kleines Quadrat">Greater Austin Asian Chamber of Commerce
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="▫" title="Weißes kleines Quadrat" aria-label="Emoji: Weißes kleines Quadrat">UT China Public Policy Center
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="▫" title="Weißes kleines Quadrat" aria-label="Emoji: Weißes kleines Quadrat">Texas A & M
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="▫" title="Weißes kleines Quadrat" aria-label="Emoji: Weißes kleines Quadrat">Austin Chamber
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="▫" title="Weißes kleines Quadrat" aria-label="Emoji: Weißes kleines Quadrat">UT Dallas
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="▫" title="Weißes kleines Quadrat" aria-label="Emoji: Weißes kleines Quadrat">Texas China Investment Summit
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="▫" title="Weißes kleines Quadrat" aria-label="Emoji: Weißes kleines Quadrat">and many more!

8. Politicians, like Sheila Jackson Lee, Al Green, Pete Olsen, Greg Abbott, and Ben Nurinberg, all sent in Congratulatory Letters.

9. For what?? China literally has US companies pitching their latest and greatest innovations and technology in order to get a free trip to China???
#ChinaGate isnt over.

10. And, it all gets credited to Mayor Adler and his crony that used to be at the Chinese Consulate in Houston.

11. July & #39;19
He (Steve Adler) said regardless of what happens at the national level between the United States and China, "we will do everything that we can within the bounds available to us to maximize those opportunities." https://www.shine.cn/news/nation/1907218806/">https://www.shine.cn/news/nati...

12. Wonder what kind of deal Mayor Adler got from China?

13. @threadreaderapp please unroll